100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

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We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...
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There were quite a few penguins up in town in the last couple of days. They just come right up to people seemingly because they are just curious. They are definately strange. The antics you see the penguins do on TV are for real. The music and the anthropomorphic dialog are not. The statements regarding the penguin's moral and ethical constitution are also added in the editing phase of film production. (just so you know).

There are also Weddell seals everywhere. Someone said they are in fat city this time of year because they don't have to worry much about a couple of holes in the ice to fight over. There are cracks and plenty of holes near the pressure ridges.

Last night I was on the 20 meter amateur radio band working a very large pile up across the Pacific and I made contact with a expedition coordinator in Patriot Hills Antarctica. Patriot Hills is quite a ways from here certainly, and I knew that the Polar first helicopter team was to be moving through the camp at this location about now. I discovered through my contact on ham radio the news of the team actually making it to the pole. I had heard about it before the world. The news is out now. K2ARB at patriot hills (KC4/K2ARB) and I had quite a chit-chat about staying warm and the goings-on on continent. I was hoping I could have talked with the pilots on the team but they had already moved on. That was great ham radio. The folks listening had a great listen I am sure.

Bonnie has hurt her ankle. That is not a good thing.

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