The final two days of preparation to be traveling for 6 weeks continued to be chaotic - finishing sub plans, visiting with family and friends one last time and of course packing! At my school site, my students enjoyed playing dress up with some of the gear that I will be wearing. However, it was nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so trying on gear became extremely hot!
I tried to pack light, but also wanted to make sure that I had plenty of clothes to keep me warm. I have never travelled to a place so cold before, so I had to rely on advice from other PolarTREC teachers, the research team and the PolarTREC support office. Hopefully, I have everything I need. I'm sure I forgot something, but I'll have to make do with out it because there isn't a post office at the North Pole. (Don't worry kids, Santa has another way of getting all his mail :) )
Today has been an epic day of travel. I left my house at 5:15 am to get to the airport for my 7 am flight. In order to get aboard the Polar Sea, I have to first get to the Alaskan city called Barrow. Surprisingly, there is no direct flight from Oakland to Barrow! Instead, I travelled to Seattle, then to Anchorage, and on to Fairbanks, and finally to Barrow. The totally distance I travelled was about 2800 miles. The great part is that the time change is only one hour difference than California, so no jet lag!
I'm actually writing part of this journal on the final leg of the flight to Barrow and am costantly distracted by the beauty of Alaska that I can see from my window. There are vast expanses of snow covered peaks. According to the map in the airplane magazine, they are called the Brooks Range and are located just north of the Arctic Circle. Tonight, I stay in Barrow, which is one of the northernmost cities in the world. The northermost point of the US is at the nearby Point Barrow. Interestingly enough, this summer while in Hawaii, we were told that the South Point of the Big Island is one of the southermost points in the US. In the span of two months, I have been lucky enough to travel to the edges of our country - and they are vastly different!
Barrow is a small city of only about 4,000 people who live there. The homes here are built on pilings because the ground here is permafrost. At the airport, it seemed as if everyone knew everyone else - definitely a small town feeling.
I am staying at BASC (Barrows Arctic Science Consortium) tonight. They have huts for scientists to stay in as they complete their research here. I am lucky enough to have my own room and it's very warm.
Tomorrow I am off to the boat! I am very excited about riding in a helicopter for the very first time. It's something I have always wanted to do. Hopefully, I'll report in tomorrow to let you all know how it went.
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