Thanksgiving

The two-day Thanksgiving weekend in McMurdo is coming to a close. Saturday was the day for celebrating Thanksgiving. Most everything was shutdown for the day with only the bare essential personnel working. Today, Sunday, was a bit more like a normal Sunday but a little more quiet. Given that I had spent the two days prior to the weekend on the edge of uncertainty involving transitioning to WAIS, I really enjoyed the opportunity to slow down and enjoy the long weekend.

One of the big activities for the Thanksgiving weekend was the Turkey Trot run. There were two version of the race, the first was called the "Turducken" and it took place Friday evening at 9:00 PM for those that would be working during the larger Turkey Trot. The second was Saturday morning at 10:00 AM and there were about 100 participants. The race was a 5K run. I had done a similar race on my first trip to Antarctica and I remembered it being miserable and that was when I was a much stronger runner. Meanwhile, this time I am no longer as fast as I used to be and I've run once on a treadmill since arriving on continent. The race is on the roads of McMurdo, which are made up of crushed volcanic rock. More significantly, the first half is basically all uphill and the second half is all downhill. I had a great time doing the Turkey Trot, despite the running being slow and difficult. The atmosphere was festive with a number of people in fun costumes as well as numerous colorful running outfits. I was definitely happy to have been able to experience this Antarctic Thanksgiving tradition.

The start and finish of the Turkey Trot were at the Chapel of Snows. While McMurdo doesn't look much like Antarctica, you can see the sea ice, Mount Discovery, and the Transantarctic Mountains in the background that are much more representative of Antarctica.

My roommate and another friend at the starting line of the Turkey Trot 5K at McMurdo Station.

The start of the Turkey Trot. I am on the far right edge of the photo. 

Finishing the Turkey Trot 5K.

The big event for the Thanksgiving in McMurdo is the Thanksgiving dinner in the Galley. The meal is divided into three separate dinners at 3:00, 5:00, and 7:00. We had to sign-up beforehand for reservations for our dinnertime. Some of the people that I worked with and I agreed on the 7:00 PM dinner. The Thanksgiving Dinner is also one of the few times that people in McMurdo all get cleaned up at the same time and wear their best clothes that they have brought with them to Antarctica. We arrived to Building 155, which includes the Galley, at 6:30 to get in line for the meal. Apparently, sometimes the seating can get filled towards the end so it may not work to get your family of friends and coworkers to sit together. We waited in line with anticipation of the big meal and shortly after 7:00 the doors opened and we were able to gradually work the line through everybody picking up their food. Overall, the food was very good and had all of the basics that are expected with a classic American Thanksgiving meal. The normal Saturday night rules applied so that people could bring wine into the Galley to go along with the dinner. The one downside is that at about 8:45 we needed to leave the Galley as there was another dinner for people who were working the night shift. Once leaving the Galley there were a number of gatherings at various dorm lounges, the coffee house, and the two bars.

Waiting in line outside of the Galley for the 7:00 Thanksgiving dinner.

Waiting with some friends for the Thanksgiving dinner.

Serving lines for the Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner had all of the fixing and then some that would be expected for Thanksgiving.

Sitting down at the Galley to enjoy the Thanksgiving dinner.

The remainder of my Saturday afternoon was spent taking a nap to recover from the late night and early mornings with the attempts to fly to WAIS. Then it was also laundry time as a large percentage of my clothes are checked for the flight to WAIS. After dinner in the evening I went to the coffee house to hang out with some friends there for several more hours. Overall, it was a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving, even if it was on a Saturday.

We are on the schedule to go to WAIS in the morning. The weather is looking rather bleak right now, although that might change and the logistics people might try to take a chance if there is hope for a window of good weather. If not traveling to WAIS, we are also on the schedule for another Twin Otter flight, which of course, is also weather dependent.