This is Sasha Miller - my year and a half year old daughter. This past weekend she was given an abandoned bear - left behind at a social function in town - apparently completely forgotten by someone who was supposed to come and pick him up. Since Washington DC is really no place for a wild polar bear - she decided that this bear would be happiest if it could be returned to it's proper - polar environment. The Arctic would have been nice - but since her Dad was about to depart for Antarctica on the Oden - this seemed to be the most logical route to get Mrs. Chippy II back to ice and cold. So this is how he came to be packed inside my luggage - popping out as a surprise stowaway when I arrived here in Salt Lake City at the National Science Teacher's Conference. I've named him in honor of a previous Antarctic explorer - Mrs. Chippy I , a male cat who was on the Endurance with Shackleton. He's pretty excited about the adventure we're about to undertake - and is even working on his computing skills as we speak in hopes that he too can send some posts about the trip!
Like myself - he's never been to Antarctica - but we both are pretty well-versed in the Arctic having lived in Alaska for years - so if you have any questions about the other pole don't hesitate to send them our way as well!
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