Where in the world is Joe? - ANTARCTICA!

Quick recap: On January 17, 2008, I left Florida in search of a dream. I didn't know that at the time, but this is what I have come to realize. As you can read, Eric took road trip with me here, there, and everywhere. I settled in Colorado Springs on January 23, traveled around a bit with my new great friend Mary O'Brien. I broke down in Montrose, Colorado on my way to the Telluride Bluegrass festival which I am now in debt to Cathleen for (thank you so much for giving a total stranger a ride and for letting a total stranger stay a week on your couch) and left on July 1st, 2007. When I left, I went to see Eric in DC for the 4th of July : ) ! , then, Uncle Ken and Richard in Deleware, where I had a GREAT time (thank you so much!) watchin LauraLee, George Clinton, and Carbon Leaf, chillin on the beach, and going out to dinner with ridiculously enormous peach margaritas and so on... I should have taken many more pictures! Lesson learned. After hob nobbin with the fun and restless, it was back to DC to pick up Danielle and Bronco to continue the road trip! We hit up the Lurray Caverns and did one boatload of driving. We saw the infamous turtle walking across the road and sasquach. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Danielle and I saw the real bigfoot in plain daylight. Unfortuantely, we didnt get a picture, but I can tell you where he lives and that he has quite the emotional attachment to the turtle that tried to cross the road. Now comes Pensacola! It took some getting used to, but we all adjusted to the new lifestyle quickly. The days were long and the nights were hot. Here is an example of the rough and tough days we were put through: wake up and eat a fantatstic breakfast. Take the waverunners out and test their limits; you know, like the top speed, G-meter, and initial take-off. After the brutality, it was getting down to business with sebastian setting crab traps. Taking the treacherous trip back to the dock took about twenty minutes of flat calm seas, occasionally running into the afternoon sprinkle. Then taking the boat out for some attempted wake boarding and tubing training and relaxing in the pool with a few drinks can really take a toll on the body so we had to relax by playing billards, watching two different games while waiting for a gormet meal created fresh by the hosts of our evenings. Whew! Life gets tough at times.

Now, back to Orlando for a few days and then back to Stuart to spend my remaining time before my deployment date to Antarctica with my family and friends (and my tiki hut - I miss you baby and will be home soon).

All the great times I have spent with my family and close friends and all the great new friends I have made over the last year really can't be described in this blog or my online photo albums. I wish I had more time to tell everyone about everything I have done in detail, but I am still not very good at organizing my time and squashing my procrastination habits.

So, on to what everyone wants to hear about - ANTARCTICA!!!!


So, where to begin? First of all, I am NOT in Alaska. That is at the top of the world. I am in ANTARCTICA. It is at the bottom of the world. This is where the South Pole is.

I have not been there yet, but am itching something bad to get there. They have a right of passage at the South Pole called the 300 club. In the winter, it gets down to and below
-100 degrees Fahrenheit. They also have a sauna that can reach 200 degrees Fahrenheit. The only clothing you are allowed to wear is a pair of boots and a scarf on your neck and you’re off! Run naked from the sauna out to the pole (yes, there is a pole in the ground) run around it, and run back to the sauna before you get frostbite in places you REALLY don’t want it and hope you don’t get hypothermia in the process. The answer is yes. I would do it in a heartbeat.

Joe, if you are on Antarctica and not at the South pole, where are you? Well, that is a good question. Antarctica is not owned by any one nation and has been dedicated to scientific research by the entire world. 45 nations have a stake in the ice down here and work together for the most part. I am stationed at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.


Joe, why are you there? Aside from my personal adventurous endeavors, I am here to assist the scientists. I have a position of a Dining Attendant. Yeah, yeah. Big deal. It’s not glamorous. I am way over qualified to do the job I do, but so are all the people I work with. Every day, I sit down to a meal with engineers, archeologists, financiers, and people from every walk of life I never knew existed and they are all working next to me serving food and making sure all the happy people here, stay fat and happy. People will do anything to get down here for the experience and no matter what job they get, be it janitor, dish washer, helicopter pilot, or scientist, they are happy and 100% glad they did it. I for one, wouldn’t take back my decision for anything. There are thirty thousand or so applicants or so every year and I am one of the lucky ones.