**** What a hectic day! Tying up loose ends at home, making sure everything is packed, and . . . WHOA! Almost forgot my passport! Kind of tough to travel to Svalbard, Norway without your passport. (And your Muck Boots. More about those later.)
With passport in hand I checked in at the Boise airport with one big ‘ole duffle bag full of warm socks, lots of fleece, & my Muck Boots. Plus, a daypack , and laptop computer bag. Let’s hope nothing was forgotten. (I have my passport and warm socks – so we’ll be ok.)
This entry is actually being written in the Denver airport. One of the MANY stops on the way to Svalbard from Boise. There is a nasty, nasty thunderstorm going on outside. Driving winds, rain and hail! Gotta love weather! (That’s why I love teaching Earth Science!)
Fortunately, I’ve got a 3 hour layover before heading on to Washington D.C. The storm should pass before we take off again.
Denver? Washington D.C.? YES! It’s not easy to get "there” from "here”.
Pull out a world map and I’ll take you through a trip from Boise, Idaho to Ny Alesund, Svalbard, Norway.
Ready? Boise to Denver. Denver to Washington D.C. Washington D.C. to Hartford, CT. Hartford, CT to Amherst, MA. Everyone meets in Amherst at Julie Brigham-Grette’s house. (She’s one of the P.I.’s, or researchers, I’ll be working with. More about her later.) Then Amherst, MA to Boston, MA.
Boston, MA to Reykjavik, Iceland. Reykjavik, Iceland to Oslo, Norway. Oslo Norway to Longyearben, Svalbard, Norway. Longyearben to Ny Alesund, Svalbard, Norway. Um, yeah. Need to take a breath ? ? ? And that doesn’t even take into account the 8 time zone changes. Uh huh . . . that’s another thing we’ll talk about later.
So . . . keep following my journals for your virtual trip to the arctic. This is gonna be awesome!
Link to Google map: