Peering down a snow cliff, from left to right: Cindy, Nicole, Alex, Johnny, and Lauren.

Hello from Davis Ward! Boy has it been a long day. Cindy and I woke up at about 5:30 am to catch a shuttle from McMurdo to Willie field (a 1 hour very bumpy ride in a Delta). After the gear was loaded, including 3 snow machines, into the Basler, we took off. The plane ride was nice and smooth, we had to use oxygen because we went above 18000 feet. The views about an hour out from Davis Ward were incredible: the tops of snow covered, vertical peaks sticking out of an endless sea of puffy white clouds. We landed on a beautifully groomed runway (thanks Jim, Johnny, and BFC Brian) and were reunited with our teammates. After unloading gear, we watched the shiny red and white Basler depart and we then set up our tent. Although it’s about 5 degrees F here with little wind, we were all sweating from pushing the tent up, drilling holes for stakes, and shoveling snow. Johnny then took me, Cindy, Lauren, Nicole, and Alex on a meteorite hunting lesson and showed us a few sites around Davis Ward (a snow cliff pictured above). I’ll save the story about our meteorite hunting escapade for tomorrow! After a filling dinner and a meeting in the science tent, it’s about 10:30 pm (I’m sorry if there are typos or inaccuracies…I’ve been up for too long). But this has been one of the best, most adventure-filled days of my life. I can’t wait to experience more and find lots of meteorites. Brian and Marc are scheduled to fly down tomorrow morning; we very much look forward to welcoming them. And for all the 2019/2020 ANSMET member families (especially my mom), know that we are all happy and doing well!

-Emilie from beautiful, vast, sunny Davis Ward, Antarctica