Eclectic Echoes

For the past two years Eric’s dad has been globetrotting as a professional photographer. Jim’s been to Iceland, Alaska, New Mexico, Africa, and he just came back from a trip to Antarctica. We’ve shown Johann the destination of each trip on a map, but Johann wanted to follow the intinerary day by day for Grandpa’s Antarctica journey.

Marking the globe with tape and string seemed problematic to me, so I suggested we get a world wall map on which to chart the trip. Johann could trace the route Grandpa traveled on the globe with his finger. When we were up at Storrs to submit Eric’s graduate school application, we stopped by the campus bookstore for the map. That combined with some yarn and small circles of painter’s tape has become a geography unit for homeschool.

I said jokingly that following Grandpa’s trip was like searching for Waldo. Each day we read the itinerary and found on the map where Grandpa was supposed to be in the world. We decided to make a sign to hang above the map: “Where in the World is Waldo?” with “Waldo” crossed out and “Grandpa” printed above it. Originally, we intended to track all of Jim’s trips for this year, which will also include Alaska and the Galapagos. Each trip will have a different color of yarn on the map. Our project has quickly mushroomed, as it usually does, to include all of Jim’s previous trips too. Now you have to admit, that’s some Grandpa! He’s putting himself on the line and is traveling to all these absolutely wonderful places just to help in his grandson’s education!

Once he was unpacked from his trip, Grandpa sent on the GPS track from the ship’s navigational computers. Eric and Johann loaded it into Google Earth so we are able to see the ship’s exact path, including its dip below the Antarctic Circle as shown here.

You did what?!! This passage is only about 0.6km across when there is no ice, so with the always present ice it’s… pretty hairy! Grandpa reported the captain chainsmoked through this passage!

UPDATE:
Here is the image Grandpa sent in with the comment below! Thank you Jim!