It is already Friday, yet a lot has happened in the last few days.

Tuesday

We attended all our required training which included learning how to inspect and drive the various snow vehicles provided for our use. Our friend Julie shows us the finer points of the Pisten Bully, a tracked vehicle designed for getting around on snow and ice. Their long treads make it possible to cross cracks in the sea ice that other vehicles cannot.



While Julie educated us, I noticed a fascinating reflection in Anthony's glasses. I had a creative moment...



I am the USAP-inator.

The other vehicle we will be driving is the Mattrack. Here I am modeling #152, the Mattrack assigned to us.



Mattracks take a little getting used to. They won't steer unless you are moving and although they can do faster, it is not recommended to drive them over 40 mph because there is a tendency for the transmission to overheat.

This recent photo was the result of a Mattrack that was pushed far beyond its normal operating limits. Fortunately this was an isolated event that will probably never be repeated. Even so, we'll keep a light foot on the accelerator.



We also had a comms brief where we learned how to talk on the radio and how to check out of town. Since our NSF Event number is W-491-M, our call sign is "Whiskey 491."

Wednesday

We visited the Berg Field Center Food Room, where aisle upon aisle of tasty field treats await grantees such as ourselves. We needed to stock up for our excursions into the field and for our upcoming trip to the Dry Valleys. Peggy is the BFC Food Room diva and made our shopping experience a delight! We met a couple of other photographers, Chris Linden and another Mr. Powell (we have both racked our brains to remember his first name, but alas we plead cumulative effects of five consecutive Antarctic winter-overs). This is Chris preparing for their trip.



We took advantage of a gorgeous evening to take some shots up in the hills around Mactown, up by the Skiing Man.





Thursday

After lunch, we loaded up the Mattrack for a roadtrip up the coast, Antarctic style. In addition to the prerequisite road snacks, we picked up a survival bag for two, a couple of ice axes and a "Kovacs" drill used for determining the thickness of sea ice (which we would be driving on during our journey). Antz brought all his cameras and tripods.

A lovely day for a drive...



Some days you wish these things were convertibles.

Anthony "profiled" a sea-ice crack along the way to make sure it was thick enough to drive on. It was. In case you're wondering, the sea ice needs to be a minimum of 30 inches thick to drive on and cracks have to be 1/3 or less of your vehicle's track length.



Anthony stopped to set up a camera by a group of Weddel seals. Yep, those dark lumps are seals.



We arrived at our destination, the Barne Glacier. It is big. And awesome. And blue.



After a couple of hours of letting the cameras do their thing, we turned back for McMurdo.

This photo is for you Mom. X's and O's.