Two Fantastic Birthdays!



What a great couple of days for me! Because of the international date line, I had two October 19thbirthdays. First up was on New Zealand time zone and secondly the next day on the US time zones. I had not expected much having a birthday out here. I arrived only a month ago. 

However, in that timeframe, I have met so many wonderful people and have become close to several groups here on station. One of these special teams is the South Pole Traverse (SPOT) team filled with hearty men and a few women that make a yearly trek to the South Pole in tractors to deliver fuel from McMurdo. When I came onboard in November 2021, this team was already out on their journey. I found it fascinating how they would drag fuel bladders by tractor ~25 days to Pole over very challenging terrain, including avoiding crevasses. I will do a whole blog on them, but back to the birthday….

 

SPOT team does a shorter traverse to a place called the Shear Zone in order to clear the crevasses on the first trek to Pole. They were to leave on my birthday. So, the night before, my co-worker, Marc, invited me to a SPOT sendoff party. Luckily, I got there on time because it was actually ……….a surprise birthday party for me, orchestrated by Marc. I was absolutely in shock when the speeches turned from “thanks for the hard work and good luck on the traverse” to…. a second cake being brought out and singing starting. I think it’s the most surprised I’ve been in a long, long time. 

 

Here's the first cake made by the galley: Happy Birthday Boss Carla…

 


Here’s my surprised face when I realized the party was a ruse…


 

I got to spend the evening with this fun team in a charming old building affectionately known as the Coffee House. It used to be the old officer’s club back in the early part of the program.

 

Rick and Lester have been a part of SPOT for many years. Lester (long hair) was driving the tractor that pulled the LDB buildings in my previous blog. He was sent in as the ringer at breakfast to make sure I was coming to the “SPOT party”.

 


Gundy is a staple on the team and readily gives me historical documents and homework to read about traverses.

 



We have not been able to get a flight in here for a long time due to mechanical and weather issues. Thus, we have a not had fresh fruit/vegetables my entire trip. Just on this day, an Italian C130 made it in and brought some goods. My first birthday gift was a banana from Luke, and it was awesome! 

 

Most of the guys on SPOT are over 6-7 feet tall. Here’s me looking like a shortie around them.

 

SPOT has their own food flown in for their journeys, including cakes. They gave up one of their chocolate iced banana cakes for me as well. It was fantastic.

 


Smart as a whip, Dan, and his sweet fiancée Marci.



All this would not have been possible without Marc putting it together. He went above and beyond.


 

I mentioned that “freshies” came on that plane. Well, for my birthday, I was pleasantly delighted to see spinach, grapes, and bananas galore for lunch and dinner.  

 




Marc took the opportunity to have the entire galley sing happy birthday to me at lunch. Not embarrassing AT ALL, Marc…..These are some of the IT guys we sit with at meals, another group I enjoy getting to know.



It’s been a constant “Happy Birthday” as I walk down the halls and the station. Everyone seems to know, and it’s been very sweet to have such acknowledgement from the community.

 


Then on day 2 of my birthday, many of you posted on FB or texted me. It was nice to see those notes as well. Thank you!

 

Also on Day 2….. the SPOT team drove me out to the location where the tractors took off today to start their Shear Zone journey. I might not see some of those guys before I leave in November for South Pole, so it was great to see them ride off into the ever present sun….. 

 

Fantastic birthdays!.


























Comments

  1. Mae TravelsOctober 20, 2022 at 1:37 PM

    Many happy returns! Great to hear that fresh food has arrived.

    best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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