ducking out to denver

I've departed.

After a few long busy weeks of packing, transporting, and organizing my life all over the way-greater Chicago area, and packing through a power outage, I have boarded the plane with my two too-big bags and am on my way to my new "working adventure trip."

Today, I woke up, had breakfast with Erin, dropped off my last few items with Linda, ran to the post office to mail myself a package, put the left-over clothes in my trunk, parked my car at Erin & Ryan's, squished the last of everything in my bags, and then Mary dropped me off at O'Hare. Then I checked my bags which ended up being 4 and 5 lbs. overweight each. I pleaded with the very nice American Airlines lady, told her I was going to Antarctica, and she was kind enough to let my bags slide through. Phew!

So, after a shuttle ride to the hotel, I'm taking in the next two days at this place where the bed is twice what it will be in a week, and the weather is over twice what it will be on The Ice!
I've met a few people who are also going down, some for their first time, some headed to the South Pole (brrrr...), one from Chicago, one from Seattle, another from Alaska, and from Yellowstone!

Now, I have the space, time, and relaxation I've been waiting for...until tomorrow morning when I start orientating & training!

So, thank you for all those people who encouraged me, helped me store my material things, housed me, and drove me around, threw farewells, gave references, and spent time over a meal or coffee with me!