Still in Mactown

Well, Kevin and I got up bright and early, dressed in our ECW gear, lugged our bags up to the shuttle, and got driven out to the passenger terminal at Willie field. As we got closer to the field, the fog got thicker and thicker. The six of us South Pole passengers joined several air crew types in the waiting room to wait. And wait. We didn't have much hope for a flight and finally the decision came down: no flights today. We then loaded back into the van drove back to McMurdo and moved back into our room. It was as if we had never left, except we had to make the beds again.

There are no regular flights scheduled for tomorrow (Sunday), so we'll try again on Monday. We did get to see a bit more of McMurdo in the howling wind, including the memorial to Seabee Williams (namesake of Willie field), the gyms (three of them), and the library. Tomorrow we've got plans to tour the Nathanial Palmer (NSF Research ship) and the (fairly) new science lab.
cheers,
Doug
posted by Doug Caldwell at 9:05 PM

We got some good news today at our clothing check: we are heading south tomorrow after all. Well, the news is somewhat mixed because we have to check-in 5am, but at least we'll be on the way again. Kevin and I both got our ECW (extrememe cold weather) gear fitted and packed so we can put it back on again tomorrow morning for the flight. We had to make a few exchanges to be sure that we had the most stylish items and that we were properly color coordinated, but we'll be resplendent in our Beaker-wear.

Cheers,
Doug
posted by Doug Caldwell at 3:09 PM