McMurdo at last

I made it!  I am writing from the hanger at the LDB (Long Duration Ballooning) site, about a 30 minute ride from McMurdo.  While I am still not completely checked out to use the internet from McMurdo proper, I can access it from the LDB site because I am behind their firewall.  We made great progress unpacking today.  There were two big sea crates awaiting us upon arrival. We made quick work of them and are now waiting for the instrument itself to arrive.  My guitar made it just fine, and I have checked it out a bit already after tuning it.

I am finding it much colder at this time of the season compared to the December and January I spent here before. Temperatures are single digits (Fahrenheit).  Long johns etc are barely keeping me warm if I stand around outside.  Fortunately, I only have to wait for a bus and walk to meals outside. The rest of my life is inside the hanger, galley, or dorm.

The food is excellent this year. It doesn't take much of a crystal ball to see a pudgier version of myself returning in the future.  Getting larger is a small price to pay.  This place really is magical. I can see Mount Erebus, the southernmost active volcano, smoking in the near distance. The Antarctic mountain chain is glowing a beautiful bright white right now. There is already 24 hours of daylight here, although in the late evening the sun dips enough to turn the mountains a rosy color.  The picture in the title at the top of this blog is a panorama of what I can see from McMurdo.