It was a long day, although with perpetual daylight and a lot of excitement, we hardly noticed. Starting at 4:30 AM, we were off to Punta Arenas airport to board our Ilyushin flight to Union Glacier Camp in Antarctica. The Ilyushin is a remarkable plane, capable of carrying huge payload long distances in tough conditions. But, luxury is not its forte. To get an idea, imagine 3 railroad freight cars tied together and sent aloft. Luxury aside, the Ilyushin is an experience of Antarctica not to be missed, and is quite a plane. The pilots dropped us on the 3 mile, blue ice runway as if it were a strip of cotton, and we all excitedly stepped off onto the ice. The new Union Glacier camp - Antarctica headquarters of ALE - is as nice as it gets in every aspect. The ALE staff, who spend months here on the ice helping people fulfill their Antarctic dreams, do great work making sure every need is attended to. It all started with a gourmet lunch in the toasty dining tent, filling our bellies and putting smiles on our faces. We were all pretty comfy at Union Glacier, and not too opposed to the idea of staying a night there. But, then word came we would continue our journey, flying in an hour on to Vinson Basecamp (VBC). It is rare to NOT have a delay at some point in the transition from Punta Arenas to Basecamp. Delays of a week or more are actually quite common. So, we weren't going to complain at getting all the way to Vinson Basecamp in one day - especially a warm, sunny one like we had. Yet again we were off, in a two-part journey to VBC. A larger plane ferried us to the Nimmitz Glacier, where a Twin Otter took us the final 10 minutes to VBC. Kent Harvey and I went first in order to get good imagery of the Otter landing on the snow at VBC and the team's arrival. Unfortunately, after dropping us off, the Otter pilot fell and broke his wrist. Fortunately he'll be OK, but that incident added another 4 hours to the rest of the team arriving. But, arrive they finally did, and we got camp set up in the stunning cirque of VBC. Jagged peaks soar above us, clad in massive glaciers under a never-setting sun. Seth made a great dinner of Dinty Moore meals, and sent us all to bed. It was 12:10 AM when I finally turned in, sunglasses still on. Welcome to Antarctica.