The team together at McMurdo station.
As you know, John S. and friend (Hailey from the Berg Field Center) are currently already out at Davis Ward. They finished grooming the runway and were/are waiting there for the rest of the team. I’ve also heard that they’ve gotten a head start on the meteorite hunting and have already found/flagged 15! Way to go, guys!
This morning (12/12), Johnny Ringo, Paul, and Hosie officially left McMurdo for Davis-Ward. This is one full day early! AND they didn’t get turned around! Very big news!! John S. called this morning to verify the weather and said that the winds are at 30 knots. Should be fun to put the tents up in! Brian Rougeux (formerly known as Brian with a y*) said the tentative plan for the gang out there is to arrive, unload cargo, move the cargo away from the planes (this is so that it doesn’t get blown away when the plane flies away), and set up tents. The boys left McMurdo this morning at 0800 and are expected at Davis-Ward around 1300. By the time they set up tents, it will probably be 1430/1500 and they might have an early dinner. We shall see! Hailey (who went out to help groom the runway) will be returning to McMurdo on the flight that dropped the boys off.
Tomorrow (12/13), Elena and I will head out with Bija (another BFC friend [actually I am pretty sure she is el jefe at the BFC but don’t quote me on that] who is coming to see how we run camp. She’s awesome! Basically, she’s going out to kind of get an idea of what we really do out in the field so that she and her team at the BFC can help us to the best of their abilities). We will have 3 skidoos and some other cargo with us. I am pretty sure we will follow the same schedule as the boys… leave McMurdo/McM/MacTown at 0800 and arrive at camp at 1300… with an added bonus of getting to show Bija around the blue ice!
The next day (12/14), Jim and Brian R. will fly out with the rest of the cargo. And then we will have our entire team together at Davis-Ward. So, if you don’t hear from us in the next few days (which hopefully you do), it’s because we’re in transit.
See ya’ll in windy Davis-Ward!
Sheridan
P. S. Shout out and big thank you to Mike Lotto for taking us out on a private tour to the Arrival Heights Research Laboratory! That was pretty cool to the see the setup for science physics space lasers!!!
*Mrs. Rougeux emailed Brian R. and asked why I continue to say “Brian with a y” even though his name is spelled with an i… funny story actually. I drove to Bootcamp back in October and Ralph asked me to pick up two team members: Bryan and Brian. So I texted the boys and said, “Hey, Brian with an I and Bryan with a y, I’ll be at the airport at XX time.” To which they responded, “I think we’re actually both Brian with an i.” Which was odd to me because Ralph definitely said Brian and Bryan multiple times. So, all of Bootcamp, it became a thing – who will be Brian with an I and who will be Brian with an y?! Hosie somehow won the battle of the i’s. But no worries Mrs. Rougeux, from now on I will refer to Brian, your son, as Brian and the Brian you’ve probably never met before as Hosie. 🙂
-Editor’s note (from rph): I apologize too, Mrs. Rougeux. As Sheridan says, the “Brian with a Y” thing is my fault. Of course as a man of significant experience and wisdom (i.e. old), once my error was corrected I immediately dropped it. But young and energetic types, eager to replace us old-timers, make sure our mistakes are never forgotten. In response I’d tell Sheridan to get off my lawn, but I’m pretty sure there’s no grass within 3000 miles of her.