...and he's off!

Luggage Tags!? It must be official!

Reinhart and I made it back to Denver with a few days to pack, see the sights, and stick Reinhart on a plane to LAX-Sydney-Christchurch-McMurdo. The weather here in Denver is unseasonably warm, so we decided to head up to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park for a little hiking. It is absolutely beautiful and we can’t wait to do some camping up there in 2009. Reinhart couldn’t procrastinate anymore, so he started packing on Sunday…packing for 3 months on the moon isn’t nearly as complicated as I thought it would be, and now there are two fat bags standing in the hallway, ready for their 24 hours of transit to Christchurch, New Zealand. Reinhart leaves Monday at 6pm and will arrive in NZ on Wednesday afternoon (there is a 20 hour difference from Mountain Time). Weather permitting, he‘ll take a military flight to the McMurdo station on Friday. I’ll send an email out with his contact information once he settles in at the station. He’ll be posting his pictures on our picasa site (to the right) and I’ll be adding mine from the states, as well.

Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park (see our picasa link to the right for more pics)

I don’t know if I mentioned it, but I have accepted an alternate position at Raytheon as a laboratory operations supervisor at the Palmer Station…this means if the primary person cannot make it, I may be deployed to the Palmer station for about 3 months in June 2009…yes, just like the runner-up to Miss America. It is a great job, but it would have Reinhart and I separated an even longer time. I don’t expect to be deployed for it; actually, I am hoping to hear something more concrete about a full-time position here in Centennial or a temp position at McMurdo for the ‘09-‘10 season. Filling out the paperwork for this one and starting my PQ process (physical qualification) will keep me pretty busy this week and next, along with my job as an Election Judge for Douglas County. I am very excited about working the polls on Tuesday, but a little bummed I won’t know what is going on since we aren’t allowed to watch TV, talk on the phone, or use any electronic devices until the last voter has cast his/her vote. I’m guessing I may get home around 10pm, so maybe we’ll already know the outcome already!! That should be about the same time Reinhart is arriving in Christchurch as well. I’ll keep y’all posted.