Dad's pictures from the mid-60's!

This Nod Well is very similar to the Deltas I drive, only a bit smaller I think. The brakes went out on one of these a few years ago coming back from Scott Base (a very steep hill). The driver panicked and jumped out of the vehicle while the passengers shut in the back box went backwards off three cliffs. Several were seriously injured. It is sometimes nerve-wracking driving these old trucks! I've been trained to hit the emergency pressure brake button if the gauge goes below 60 - and let me tell you, my eye is always on that dial.

Dad emailed these pictures to me yesterday! So cool! Dad, was this the East Wind Ice Breaker that you were on? There is now an ice pier in this spot and that building is not there. In January the big cargo ship comes in with supplies for the whole year.

There are a few of these quonset huts left on station. One is the gym and one is the coffee house. Others are used for storage.

I haven't seen any of these still on station.

McMurdo is much more built up now. Check out previous blog entries to see this very same picture. There are now about 1100 people here and even after 2 weeks it is still hard to find buildings. They are only labeled by numbers - not the function or common name. Maddening for new shuttle drivers like me.

This sign is still there and it is exactly the same!

Love this shot! I haven't seen any open water yet, but I hear that it gets almost balmy in January (up to 40 degrees!).

Dad, I need a current shot of you to put next to this one. For those of you who haven't met my Dad, he is one of the coolest guys I know :-) His hair has receded a bit, and his beard is pure white, but he is still the handsomest sixty-something-year-old I know! Samuel, do you see how much Ox resembles Dad? Uncanny.

The chapel is now quite large and overlooks the bay. I did yoga in there the other day and totally tweaked my back doing some sort of obscene pose with legs stretched way over the head for like 12 minutes. I'm sticking to jogging and hiking!

Now it's Gallaghers and I've only been in there once. A lot goes on late at night that I will probably never know about.

Dad won a contest when he was on the ship by answering some obscure trivia question on a test. He gave the answer to his best friend too, and they both were able to fly to the South Pole for the prize. These days boondoggles to Pole are still highly coveted. Scott gets to acclimate there in November, but he will have to stay in a camp outside because Pole is already over populated.

Everything is going well. I'm into the groove now, but next week we go to the 60 hour work week (5 12-hour days with two nonconsecutive days off). Scott was feeling a bit overwhelmed around the middle of the week, but he's also starting to figure out his way around. Everyone is in awe that he is going out to AGAP. Some people feel sorry for him and some people envy him ;-)