I can’t believe my time here is over.  Although the WEATHER has drastically changed, so it’s time to get out before we’re stranded!  The ‘winter-overs’ are here. They would like us ‘summer people’ to go home so they can set up their dorm rooms and begin the winter season schedule!  I know how they feel, as we experience those same things when we pull into McMurdo in October.

Ship off load went very smooth again. All the millvans are stacked neatly in rows awaiting the supply people to come and inventory each box inside. I trained one of the supply gals to drive deltas (she will be one of the winter-overs who drive the last pax to the planes and then also pick up the first people flown in!) She LOVES opening the boxes!   …’might be a box of post-it notes, or weird, electrical wire, -you never know what you’ll find!’…    A lot of the winter workers are supply people. Or Vehicle Maintenance type people.

Last night we had a long power outage. I’m not sure what happened. It was NOT a SCHEDULED one! “They” always send out an email to warn people of outages; when they will occur, and the duration expected.  This one came out of the blue,at the end of the supper hour.  Power = heat.  Power out for an hour = nervous people!!!    I haven’t heard what happened yet.  It does make you ponder the effects of no generators - and how long we could survive!!

Let’s see – also to finish up the season, we have to ‘bag drag’ the day before our flight to Christchurch. I had to have all my items packed – except for a small backpack to keep with me on the plane.  You have to take all your ECW gear – including big red and the bunny boots – with your luggage/bags up to the Air Services building to be weighed. (Huge platform scale – that holds bags and body, so no one has to know your actual weight!!!) Then it is taken from you so the Cargo crew can palletize it.  Then you get to wear big red and bunny boots back down the hill to the dorm to await the next day!   I packed my towel so had to rent one from the “corner bar” so I could shower this morning. It only cost 50 cents – or if you’re picky, they had a clean one for $2.00.  (I couldn’t see wasting my hard earned money.) 

Now it’s time to say goodbye….. lots of hugs and handshakes happening around here. I’ve told them I won’t be returning, so that makes the goodbye’s a little harder.  When I drove my final Willy Field run – I made sure to enjoy the view. The clouds even parted for awhile so I could enjoy the sunlight on the ice one more time.  Nice.

See ya back in Kansas!