Goodbye Cleveland!
I finally got to packing up. It took much longer than expected! Hit the road for Maryland to spend time with the fam for the holiday. Luckily, I got my airport of departure changed from CLE to IAD so I don’t have to fly back to Cleveland on Christmas day.
Packing was a weird feeling. Slightly different than the usual 1-2 month stint. The drive home was weird too. I felt slightly more nostalgic than usual as I made the drive across Pennsylvania, through State College and down rt. 83 to Maryland. It’s a drive I’ve done at least 100 times before, but there was just something different about it. A twinge of anxiety, maybe? The darkness of the drive (around Black Moshannon Forest) gave into some interesting day dreaming about Polar night-time.
I took my camping gear, to store at the CDC (clothing distribution center, in Christchurch) for when I return from Pole, and my large carry-on was bursting at the seams, so I had to use a third bag for bulky things like sweaters. I really only need about 1 week’s worth of clothing, since I can do laundry at Pole, but I also need enough clothes and toiletries to survive the unknown amount of delays after I’ve checked my bag into a pallet destined for Pole. USAP folks get 2 free checked bags so I figure what the hell, might as well pay to check an extra and bring a few extra sweaters :).
Unfortunately, I’m cheap and didn’t want to pay for WordPress and so I can’t upload videos to my blog… but you can check out my first ever timelapse (of me packing) on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allen.foster.96/videos/vb.596829281/10157905287534282/?type=3
How exciting
Allen's South Pole Winter-Over 2020 (+) 