MDRS Crew 66 encountered some weather difficulties enroute. A patch of
ice made our commander to go off the road on his drive down. He was
helped by some Utah farmers, until a state trooper informed them that
they could not. Finally, AAA was called to get him out. He was
unharmed and able to safely continue on his journey. The storm that
went though Ontario caused the cancellation of flights for half the
crew members. Anna managed to get on another flight that did leave,
however, Perry did not have her luck. His best chance was a flight
arriving in Utah arriving Saturday afternoon. Two crew members drove
from Burlington, Vermont to New York's JFK airport in order to get a
flight that arrived in Salt Lake City. The alterations in plans
resulted in a later arrival at MDRS than expected.

On Friday night, Arther, John, Cheryl and Anna stayed at the Comfort
Inn. They enjoyed a breakfast, although next time they may rethink
having the tacos. The rental van gave lots of room for gear and
supplies which we spent the morning picking up. After an enjoyable
lunch together, they all went to the airport to pick up Perry, the
final member of the team. A quick stop at Home Depot to pick up the
wire for an engineering project and to get some food for Perry meant
that crew 66 was on the road to MDRS by 4:30 pm.

Upon arrival at Whispering Sands Motel, the crew met Don and picked up
our food and supplies. Then it was off to the station -- we were awed by
the landscaped we were driving through. Crew 65 had tea ready for us
when we arrive then got right down to business, training the crew. We
all slept on the floor of the living area for a cozy sleeping
arrangement.

Sunday morning, crew 65 took off around 9 a.m. Prior to their
departure, they took time to train us some more. Mic got training on
ATVs by Chris. The GreenHab procedures were explained to several
members of our crew. The rest of the morning was spent cleaning the hab
and moving in. After lunch, the crew had its first EVA. We had great
fun getting into the suits and choosing names since our own tags had
not arrived yet. We climbed to the top of Hab Ridge. What a view!
We got to see a number of the landmarks on the map. Then we walked
along the ridge investigating interesting geological and biological
samples. It was an amazing experience.

Arriving back at the hab, the scientists made supper as the engineers
worked on their projects. We had a wonderful salad, peas and the pork
and rice stir fry. The rest of the evening will be spent on reports
and ice breaker games.