Getting there..

      At 4 am, December 28th I checked into the Trenton military base for my 6 am flight aboard a C-130 Hercules. There was only five of us passangers sitting with the cargo on the plane, wearing ear defenders to muffle all the noise from the plane ( I wore ear plugs under my ear defenders! ).  It was an awesome flying experience, and was also the last time I'd see day light for a couple months!  I'm not sure where we were flying over when this photo was taken, but it was an amazing view with humongous valleys and cliffs all covered with massive amounts of snow.

 It was around a 7 hour flight to Thule, Greenland, where we stayed overnight before continuing on to Alert.  Thule is the United State's most northern air base and is on the northwest coast on Greenland.  We ate dinner at the TOW (Top of the World) Club while I asked a million question to the people I was travelling with who were returning to Alert, anxious to know about the place I'd be living for the next four months.  At 5 30 am the hotel's fire alarm went off, and after gettling dressed in your arctic gear and waiting in -30 to -40 weather there was no chance of getting back to sleep before the flight.  (Below: getting off the herc in Thule)