Hello again Everyone, It was anyone long day of travel here in Russia for us again. We departed Moscow moderately early and flew southward to the town of Mineralnye Vody (which means mineral water) where we were meet by our local guide Alexander. We loaded all of our duffels into the waiting van and continued heading south towards Mt. Elbrus. This part of Russia is very rural and the countryside is mostly used for agriculture purposes, especially sunflowers! It has been heavily influenced by the Turkish and is therefore predominately Islamic. It's beautiful here, but it also seems a bit behind the times when compared to Moscow or St. Petersburg. The team enjoyed the views, had a little fun, but everyone is ready for some exercise! RMI Guide Casey Grom and Crew

Hello from Russia everyone! The team arrived yesterday, and after the long flights we took it easy with a brief team meeting and a quick bite to eat. We then retired to our rooms to sleep off the jet lag. Today we woke up rather leisurely, had a continental breakfast, and walked just a short distance to meet our tour guide at the Red Square and Kremlin. We spent the better part of the day walking around the Kremlin, Red Square, and the famous St. Basil's Cathedral. Along our walk we also passed by the tomb of the unknown solider and had a brief lunch at the G.U.M. After our tour we took a short break to do a little exploring on our own, or snuck off for a quick cat nap. We wrapped up the evening with a nice walk down to a diner to grab dinner where we enjoyed mingling with the locals and getting to know each other better. All is well and everyone is looking forward to heading to the mountain tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and team