The bags are packed! How did I ever get packed for expeditions in the past before the lovely and talented Marian was in my life? It’s so helpful to have her to bounce ideas off of and she keeps me from packing too light. Tonight she showed her spacial intelligence prowess and got my “ice” bag packed into a duffel smaller than either of us ever imagined.
Last night, from the spreadsheet, I thought I was going to be many pounds over…today with gear separated into “ice duffel”, “wearing on Antarctica plane”, and “carry on”, I’m in good shape. My ice duffel (things going directly to the logistics company for weighing and not seeing again until we make it to Antarctica) is sitting at 48 pounds. Perfect! I need to add two more pounds of lunch food to that one and that will make the 50 pounds I was aiming for. I’ll wear my big boots and down suit and a few layers on the flight (you have to be ready to step out into minus 30 degrees at the Union Glacier runway). There are no buildings at the blue ice runway…the logistics camp is five or six kilometres away.
I’m still deciding whether or not I’m taking my “big camera” if so, I’ll likely be a few pounds over target but I can live with that. I’m so relieved that almost all decisions are done and I’ll make it work with what I’ve chosen. The ice duffel is sealed and locked! Wahoo!
Lots of hugs good bye as Marian’s kids came over for brunch and the St. John’s Christmas parade. I think I have seen almost every single parade since moving here and today, my favourite was the button accordion marching band. It was nice to have a hit of Christmas cheer and now I don’t mind missing the rest of the lead-up though I do hope it works out to be home for the holiday. Played my second to last hockey game. I got rocked by a hit again on Friday night so I was once again a bit tentative today but it was good to get some exercise and burn off some pre-trip stress. With the bags packed, the butterflies do now seem to be flying in formation!
Marian will be posting the RMI blog updates from the mountain daily. If by chance, you don’t want to wait a second extra to hear how things are going, you can visit the RMI Blog and sign up for updates (the button is located after the most recent update)-you’ll get an email the moment an update is published.
TA Loeffler's Adventures that Move 
Ernest Shackleton set off for Antarctica and no one heard from him for 3 years. A century later–more or less–we instantly get the news when climbers summit. It’s a bit mind boggling.
Indeed…I actually chose a book about Skackleton’s expedition as my “on ice” reading material for this trip…Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing and I have South: The Story of Shackleton’s 1914-1917 Expedition to read on the plane…I’ve read the first one two times before but it just seemed liked the perfect book for the occasion (it instantly eliminates any self-pity)