Hey, how's it going? Options

[Arabella]

Dear Lee,
Hey!!! How is the trip? is it fun? Is it cool? I hope that you have a fun time, and that you are busy. Bye!!!

Arabella Smith

[Lee_Cooper]

Hi Arabella,

As I mentioned to your brother in a separate post, we have had a good trip so far while working hard. Today I went to Little Diomede Island for an hour or so with the Captain of the ship and Jackie Grebmeier, who is the chief scientist, but is also my wife. We have had a project there on this small island in the middle of Bering Strait, but I hadn't been there in a year or so. Also one of the scientists on the ship, Gay Sheffield, got off the ship and will stay on the island for about a week as part of our project. I have spent some time on the island over the past several years, which is very isolated, but beautiful. For example, the mail only comes once a week when the weather is good and it comes by helicopter. You can look at a website I have at http://arctic.bio.utk.edu/AEO if you want to know a little more about what we are doing there. Anyway we met with some of the 150 or so people who live on the island who have helped us with our research over the years and it was very special to see them again.

Little Diomede is as far north as we are going to go on this research trip, so it felt a little bittersweet to leave because although we have a little over a week or so of more work to do, we are basically sailing south now toward Dutch Harbor, working along the way.

So now it is late and the sun is starting to move to the horizon, and we can still see the two Diomede islands, one in Russia and one in the USA, on the horizon.

The weather continues to be beautiful and sunny, and we're hoping it will continue for a few more days to help us finish up what we are doing.

Thanks for writing and best wishes from the Bering Sea.

Lee