Vail

Snowing a ton in Denver

In Denver until the enf of March for a temporary assignment. It snowed a lot, this was after driving on the freeway for 3 1/2 miles. A little weird because yesterday it was 70 degree, sunny and nice. Today I was going to go to work early to take advantage of an early satellite pass over the pole but I didn't have a snow plow!

Hot Springs

In LA for the weekend before heading off to Denver for a temporary assignment with the US Antarctic Program. Had an awesome day at the hot springs in Hesperia. Weird thing about the hot springs, the nudists love to hang out there.

Korean BBQ

Ate myself into the next time zone.

How my last full day in Mcmurdo started

Rentbaru makes it up to Arthurs Pass

Tip for all you USAPers, if you stay at the Copthorne they have deals on Forrester rentals. Right hand drives takes some getting used to. It took the sacrifice of a few curbs and traffic cones to realize that half the car is on my left side.

A kea

Domestic parrot about to tear the sh!@t out of a trinket sale lady's prius.

Waterfall and moss in fairyland

The Botanical Gardens

This breed of rose was given the name Ingrid Bergman. It's roses certainly caught everyone's attention.

Ferns.

Angeles. Home Sweet home.

I like how this sign has to be in 3 asian languages

Gross habit yo.

Arthur's Pass Village

A cafe up by Arthur's Pass Village. Incredibly green up there, some amazing waterfall pictures to come. Had such a great time in NZ, wish I could have stayed more than 2 days.

This ain't no frosty boy

Green tea ice cream! Creamy. I held off onthe chocolate sauce. Couldn't have anything distracting from the Matcha.

Upside down tree decoration in Ace Wasabi.

Ace Wasabi

Great Sushi restaurat on Papanui Road between the Elms and the Pavillions hotels. We went the day before on Claire's recommedation but they were extremely busy due to it being Valentines Day. The owner Harry Kim and his wife, were gracious hosts and we came back the next day. I like the maple leaf. Ambiance was nice, and the patrons beautiful. I guess sushi is a chic in Chirstchurch as it is in LA.

No way! Gas station Indian Food again.

It was Valentines Day, and it was a little hard looking for a restaurant. So we went with the old standby. Had Prawns, Beef, Chicken Masala, Spinach, extra garlicy naan and a mango lassi. Indian hot on most of it. Amazing, it tasted even better than pre deployment.

Pizza

Steak, bacon, onions with BBQ sauce on it. Ate about half of it in one sitting. Argh, left the last slice in the rental!

Big Bowl of Kimchi

First thing I ate when I got off the plane. Delicious!

All gone. Now who wants to drive in the car all day with me?

Look a like

This guy looks like Matt Cherf the fuelie.

Stacks of Big Reds

Won't be needing these anymore.

Once in a lifetime treats

Baker's Bourbon on the rocks. I saved this stash of bourbon all the way from home for my last saturday in Antarctica. These are special rocks from my pal Joshua from Crary Supply. They cubes in my drink came from discarded ice cores drilled from the glaciers. This batch is likely thousands or hundreds of thousands of years old. The water and gas mixing with my bourbon has changed state for the first time in about that long. This ice is a little different from regular ice. The pressure of millions of tons of ice bearing down on where this ice was drilled from has made the ice and the air bubbles in it super dense. As it mixes with the bourbon, it pops continuously as the gas is finally released. The ice is also crystal clear. Please exuse the plastic tumbler.

Three Ships in the distance

The ice breaker on the right. The Italian Cargo and fuel vessel, Italica. and the Nat B. Palmer next to it taking on fuel.