Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday, Nov 27.  It was a full  and exciting day for me: I met the first people who skied to the SouthPole this season; I gave a station tour to a group of tourists; I spent 4 hours out and about, running and skiing; and I had the first sit-down dinner with wine and candles since ... oh, I don't even remember.

When I went into comms to check out for my run at 6 in the morning, I found everyone stuck to the windows with binoculars looking at 4 people approaching the station on skis.  We did not know who they were.  I was ready to go out, so I ran out to welcome them to the South Pole.  I found out they were a group of Slovakian who had skied the last degree - meaning that they got dropped off at 89 degree latitude from a plane, and they skied from there.  It took them 7 days to cover the 69 miles to the Pole, pulling sleds and camping along the way.  Unfortunately I did not have my camera to take photos of them, but they looked strong and happy.
After my morning run I got back to the station to guide a group of nine tourists (eight from Russia and one from Switzerland).  We give a canned tour that lasts approximately 90 minutes, showing the highlights of the station, and divulging some of the trivia.

This is the DC-3 that brought the 9 tourists to the pole on Nov 27 and took them back 4 hours later.  It also picked up the 4 Slovakian that had skied the last degree.

I took this picture with the Swiss tourist in front of our Post Office.  If someone can help me identify him, please let me know, so I can send him this photo.  All I know is that he lives in Morges, Switzerland.

The galley transformed into a fine restaurant on Thanksgiving day.  Everone contributed some.  I ironed the table cloths and helped make apple pies.