Rob came back today! We waited patiently for him at the airport, except for Jean, who was feeling antsy. There was a map of Alaska on the wall to keep us amused. It was fascinating, but also incredibly imprecise.

Our welcome back dinner was very pleasant. We had the whole restaurant to ourselves. The eggrolls were orange. They were the orangest orange, not an almost-brown one or a pinkish one. They tasted like eggrolls though. Most of the restaurant food here is Asian, or sometimes American style Chinese food, so I was taking a chance when I ordered a fried chicken dinner, but it proved to be more than adequate.

Rob’s time at NICOP was pleasant, from all reports. He did get an overdose of permafrost discussion, though (as if anyone could tire of such a subject!). His weariness was perhaps kept at bay with the help of the free conference beer (with custom Permafrost labels!). Atqasuk is dry and Barrow is damp (moist? balmy? spongy?), though given our own situation, in buildings where drinking is off-limits, it is as good as dry, so alcoholic beverages were quite the novelty. He didn’t let his moderate enjoyment of this treat keep him from remembering to bring mementos for the rest of the team. Jeremy, Jean and I each received a pen, a NICOP patch, and a photograph of a TREE!

Today was a half-day in the foggy field and tomorrow we have off for the Fourth, so this is my big “long weekend” of the summer (we don’t actually get weekends off). Seven more weeks!