Crew 61 got to a great start on March 30 by meeting at the Whispering Sands Motel in Hanksville at 9:30 pm. Paul, the most intuitive engineer I have met, gave us a tour of Hollow Mountain. Hanksville's premier tourist attraction, this convenience store was blasted into the sandstone wall of a small mesa. Paul made this tourist trap a meaningful experience by commenting on the feasibility of such a cave on Mars. We then proceeded to the Hab, with stops along the way to admire the view by full moon. Desolate red rocks highlighted by surreal blue moonlight certainly set the stage for our entrance to another planet. When we rounded the final bend, the fluorescent purple glow of the cylindrical Hab was downright extraterrestrial. It is also entirely possible that these psychodelic experiences were influenced by our travel exhaustion. Crew 60 welcomed our late arrival with open arms and PILES of spaghetti with meatballs, which we were told is an illegal combination in Italy. We settled in, got the Toilet Tutorial, and started winding down, but by 2 a.m. we realized that 60 needed some...encouragement to go to bed. We had a regular sleepover set-up, and a spicy little debate about whether Lichtenstein is a country or a state.

Crew 60 took a short nap and began buzzing around again until we kicked them out at about 11 the next day. They were a lovely little pack of Georgians, and Jonathan and Marcus took such a liking to each other that they swore eternal loyalty as life-long bosom buddies. After the tearful good-byes we commenced with cleaning the Hab like inmates at a commune for OCD. We all fought our internet addictions long enough to go for a short hike to the neighboring mesa, where we acquired some stunning pictures and a deep spiritual appreciation for the stark beauty of Utah that had been unappreciated by most of the crew until then, man. We returned, dinner was cooked, and Marcus's horizons re widened by his introduction to the avocado. Paul returned and briefed us on the proper use of the ATVs, showed us some stunts, and appropriately busted parts of his anatomy (unintentionally) after asking us if we wanted to see something funny.

We invited Paul and his three Italian friends up for dinner, and were instead treated to a comedy show by Fabio. Fabio (his real name) is a pumped up Italian Steve Carell look-alike who has the manner of Pepe Le Pew (although not the smell, thank goodness). We haven't laughed that hard and will probably never again in all honesty, as nothing can ever compare to a "gun show" put on by a casa ova Steve Carell. After insulting our bottle of Australian dinner wine (and North Dakotan women), he was unable to open said bottle and much good natured embarrassment and hilarity ensued. Apparently he will return tomorrow.