All Beer Is Good, Some Is Better

The weather the past couple of days has been great (Sunny, mid-80s).  I decided to go for a walk and get something to eat.  A co-worker recommended a place called 'The Tap Room'.  I was just going to have one pint with lunch, but their beer was so good I had three! :)  This pub features the  brews of Monteith's Brewing Co. and they were very great.  I tried the Celtic Red, Black Beer, and the Reddler.  The Celtic and Black were excellent! The Reddler was good, but a little too sweet for my taste.  The food was good and the menu had a lot of great quotes by famous people about beer and drinkinng.  The title of this post comes from Monteith's slogan.  I wanted to buy a t-shirt with it on it, but no luck.  Thanks for the recommendation, Mark!

Yesterday, Dave F (a co-worker) and I went to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens near downtown.  The weather was beautiful and I ended up getting a decent sunburn.  The gardens were free and definitely worth it.  They had all kinds of different plants but our favorite were the trees.  I took a bunch of pictures to get better at using my new camera (Nikon D40x).  I will have to upload them later as the hotel's Internet charges over $1 for each MB for 10 and it could get pricey.  When I get to the station I will upload them.

Happy New Year!

I've made it to New Zealand safely and with all of my bags.  They were checked in at Denver and I didn't see them until today.  I was planning on a more detailed post, but I'm too tired having been up for most of the last 48 hours or so.

Here We Go Again!

Well, today (29 December 2007) at 1750 MST I begin another journey to Antarctica.  I setup this blog for my first trip because I was going to be on a boat with only limited email access and wanted an easy way to keep family and friends up-to-date on what was going on.  To my surprise, it was very well received and many asked if I was going to start it up again.  So here here is the first post.  I have three hours to kill at LAX on my way to New Zealand so I'll try and get an update out then.  Still a lot to do but I hope that blog improves upon the last.

Back Home

For the trip home, I had a great group of traveling companions: Sam, Stella, Patrick, Jesse, and Chris.  The flight from Punta Arenas to Santiago went very smoothly and passed more quickly than expected.  We had a few hours to kill so we got some dinner and then I decided to do some duty-free shopping.  I went a little crazy in the duty-free alcohol section in Santiago and bought four bottles of wine and three bottles of Pisco.  Since I bought them in a duty-free shop, they kept the bottles and gave them to me on the jetway after having my bags searched.  I had a row to myself on the way from Santiago to Dallas which definitely made the flight much more comfortable for me.  We picked up our bags and said goodbye to Jesse.  Stella, being a non-US citizen, took a lot longer to get through immigration.  She eventually showed up in time for a quick goodbye to her, Patrick, and Sam.  It was probably good that it was quick as I tend to get mushy and teary-eyed at goodbyes much more now that I am older.  It was sad to see the last of the seal team go as I had really enjoyed their company and their letting me be a part of their adventure.  I met and enjoyed spending time with a lot of great people on this trip, but they were definitely my favorites.

Now that I had my bags, I had some creative packing to do.  Since liquids are not allowed on US flights, the trick came in figuring out how to pack seven glass bottles into my checked luggage in a way that would keep them all from breaking.  It took a little time, but luckily I brought a huge suitcase.  The flight from Dallas to
Denver seemed the longest, but I made it home without any problems.  A soon as I got my bags, I opened up the one with all of the bottles, and was VERY relieved to see that they all made it safely.

I'll continue to add a post every few days as I go back and fill in moments and upload pictures now that I have a bit more time and am on solid ground.

Returning Home

I'm leaving Chile today to head home.  My flight leaves at 1:55pm EDT and I get back to Denver at 10:40am tomorrow (AA 0701 for those at the airport who might want to stop by).  It's been a great trip, but I'm really looking forward to getting home.  I'll work on a summary post on the flights home.

Almost to Punta Arenas

The real-time map shows that we are 19 nmi from Punta Arenas with the

Drake, the South Atlantic, and Antarctica behind us. I'm scheduled to

disembark from the LMG tomorrow, check into the Jose Nogueira hotel,

turn in the massive amount of gear that I was issued, and still wrap up

some work on the LMG and in the warehouse. Needless to say, I'm going

to have a busy day, so there might not be a post tomorrow. Good news is

that I'll be sleeping in a hotel and not on the boat. Also, I'll

hopefully be getting some different food. Carl, if you ever read this,

no offense to you or your staff as I know you have limited means with

regard to your land-based competition.

Not Getting Off Easy

We finished the Drake yesterday, but the South Atlantic is not letting

us go home without a fight. I think most have spent too much time in

their bunk as I'm starting to see more of my companions throughout the

day, but for lesser amounts of time. I've given up on the Melcizine as

it makes me too groggy and incoherent. We are supposed to make it to

the Straits of Magellan this evening and be in Punta Arenas around

0400. I've also had about all I can of the ship's food. For dinner

last night I had an orange, some Fruit Loops, and a sugar cookie. I'm

REALLY craving a good pizza.