I'll be headed to Antarctica on January 12, 2005

c.i.

You really make me sick! You get to do all this travel & I don't get to do any! Nah, don't tell me how well managed finances make all this possible! It's too late!

Just wanted to vent ... please continue!

ci, please send me some ice particles.

It's good to see you, by the way.

Where ya been?

My God! You're back C.I. Wonderful!

C.I. I thought you got the boot. Glad you're back.

Why would C.I. get the boot?

Do you think his wild rogue personality would cause his dismissal?

I could have sworn that man was too stubborn to get back into the A2K fray.

Hmmm. and I also thought that Gus knew everything. Live and learn, Letty.

I know almost everything, Letty.

I'm a little weak in the Etruscan department though.

and I'm a little weak in the knees...<smile>

January? Wait, it's summer then, right?

hey C. I., welcome back, we missed ya.

Thanks to everybody that welcomed me back. Yeah, I was banned. Missed all of you guys too! Just felt that strange emptyness the past several months. SeattleBuzz is nice, but it's a bit too tame for my blood. Can't even tell somebody to go fly a kite; absoutely no personal attacks. Will stay engaged at both sites to keep me grey matter active for the old age to do everything I can to delay that senior syndrome.

I'm glad to see you back, ci.

I love your new dress, swimpy.

Very fetching.

Thanks, swimpy. Glad to be back!

I saw a program on the Travel Channel about a Russian Icebreaker that plows you a vacation onto the Ross Shelf andthen, once youre there, they chopper and snowcat you to the transantarctic mountains.
HAving worked in baffin Island and Ellsmere Island, there is no way i would actually pay to go to such a place, even in their summer. the ice on n ice shelf is many times bluer than those in glacial debouchment areas like in aLaska or Greenland. You will see blue colors that , on a clear and bright sunny day, will look like the color of the sky in yosemite.
The one thing about the ice breaker trip that left me blown away was the overabundance of all kinds of gourmet foods. They fed the people like veal calves and I got full just watching the 5 or 6 meals a day.

Will you sail near Tierra del Fuego as you head south or north? My secret fantasy is to sail the Horn. however, fat chance of that since I dontever figure owning a sailboat and my boating buddies who do, arent open for that kind of thrill.

farmerman, Yes, we will fly into Ushuaia from Buenos Aires after spending three nights. We sail due east for two days from Ushuaia to South Georgia where we land at three spots, and also get to visit Shakelton's grave. From there, we sail southwest to to Coronation Island and Elephant Island, then down to Hope Bay. We then cruise the Drake Passage, go around the Horn, and return to Ushuaia for our flight home with a layover in Buenos Aires, total of 18 days.

btw, this will be my second time around the Horn. I did my first one back in November of 2002 when I sailed from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires.

yep, always interesting holidays. Please continue your report.

Thanks, Gus. That's actually my grandmother in her grass skirt that my uncle brought her back from the South Pacific when he returned from WWII. When I was a kid it was my favorite picture of her.

Sorry for the interuption, ci. Please carry on.