Flight out!

Wouldn't it be perfect if the only weather window for days happened to
be on a Sunday.  This morning at 3, it was starting to look like this
might be the case...  But the hopful sign was that the barometer was
rising, a reversal of the trend of the past few days.  By 7:00, when
the pilots were making decisions about whether to fly or not, it was
starting to clear, but not perfect yet; the word came from McMurdo
that they would delay by 3 hours, and make a decision at 10.  I'd
begun the packing process at about 4:30, noting the improving weather
trend and hopeful.

And as it happened, the weather continued to get better and better, to
the point where it was practically 'hot' out by the time the airplane
arrived.  But not everywhere; the pilot said that it'd been foggy up
until only a few miles (about 10) from where we were camped...  whew!

We'd piled our cargo for loading on the plane and were ready.  We
loaded up the plane, hopped on, and after a 2-hour flight, we were
back at McMurdo again!

[Loading the plane.  As when we arrived, the only evidence of our presence is the borehole casing!  We've extended it in case it's a long time until the next folks come for a visit.]