We made it! It’s been a long day. We had a 5 a.m. wake-up in Munich, Germany for a 5:30 shuttle and an 8 O’clock charter to Sochi, Russia.

It was a U.S. Olympic Comittee (USOC) flight. We were on the plane with alpine skiers (some of the men’s and women’s speed teams), ice dancers, freeskiers, snowboarders and the women’s ski jumping team. Here is the hodgepodge of athletes in the check-in line.

The entire check-in process was super smooth because we had sent the bags ahead last night. We were asked to carry random athletes’ opening ceremonies outfits on the plane because it is crucial they don’t get delayed. I got figure skater Jen Burke’s outfit.

The charter was operated by Germania airlines. It was a normal plane but we could sit anywhere we wanted, and it was only about 60% full (so there was room for all the luggage.)

They served us a delicious pancake breakfast on the flight.

The flight time was about 3 hours. We flew over Austria, Hungary and Romania before crossing the Black Sea and landing in Sochi. At first the scenery looked like the central U.S., farm fields.

Then we saw salt flats. It looked like western Utah.

Finally we crossed the black sea. I could not believe how many ships were on the sea, especially tankers. It looked “busy” on the water.

As we approached Sochi the Caucasus Mountains came into view.

The Sochi train, which goes from the city and the Coastal Olympic Park into the mountains and which was not operational when we were here for the test event last year, looked pretty slick as we flew in.

There is a ton of Olympic signage and advertising around here, starting from the minute we arrived.

Customs, which was time consuming last year and which we were worried about today, were incredibly smooth. They had a ton of stations, and it didn’t take any time at all to get through.

As expected, there is a lot of security around here.

The day went as smoothly as it possibly could have. We got all of our bags. Even so, there was a lot of standing around time, and patience was required. Here are Kris Freeman (left) and coach Zach Caldwell:

There are volunteers everywhere, and they are all super helpful. They are easy to identify in their very bright jackets.

Each step of the process took a long time. First we had to move out to the curb with all of our stuff.

Then we loaded into the second bus of the day (counting the one in Munich).

I really liked the giant Olympic Rings that are spaced around the highway interchange by the airport, each labeled with a continent.

The first bus took us to the Coastal Village. We unloaded all of our stuff to go into the secure zone.

Every piece of luggage had to pass through the X-ray machines. The only item I heard that was taken away was a bottle of wine that Holly Brooks had in her bag. We were never told we could not take wine (I think the problem was the glass bottle) into the village.

After clearing security and getting our credentials validated (and doing some more waiting) we loaded up another truck with all of the gear.

There were lots of photo opportunities along the way. This volunteer asked Sophie Caldwell (left) and Sadie Bjornsen if he could get a picture with them.

Everybody on the team was taking tons of pictures. (Normally it’s just me.)

On our third bus of the day we drove into the mountains. There is a staggering amount of new development since last year.

Since we cleared security at the coastal village and were on a bus from a secured zone to another secured zone, we were able to drive right up to Laura Center gondola station.

Everything seems very secure.

It is a beautiful day in the mountains.

The sun was just going behind the ridge as we were riding up the gondola.

The gondola ride takes you from bare ground to lots of snow.

There are many new erosion guards that have been installed since last year.

At the top of the gondola we got on another bus, our fourth and final of the day.

Some clouds were creeping up from the valley.

The improvements in the infrastructure up here at the endurance village over last year are impressive. The roads, which were mostly rutted mud bogs last year, are now freshly paved.

Most of our housing and the main dining building didn’t exist 12 months ago.

We are staying by the Swedish complex…

…and the Czech complex.

We don’t have any flags or signage on our unit. When we arrived in the rooms we had more gifts waiting for us.

We were greeted by an anti-doping officer within minutes of arriving. Andy Newell had to give a sample for testing.

Here’s a look at what was inside our gift bags.

I’m sharing a small but functional room with Andy Newell.

We share a common area with Simi Hamilton and Erik Bjornsen (in the picture).

The new hotel/dining hall/multi-use building is enormous and impressive.

Here’s a look from the hotel back over our apartment buildings:

I really like the flags surrounding the snow making pond.

Dinner this evening was delicious. It is a huge improvement over last year. Now that I’m here, I’m a little disappointed that our village only includes the cross country and biathlon athletes. In the dining hall it feels like any other World Cup, and almost all of the faces are familiar.

We had a team orientation with the USOC staff this evening. It’s going to be a fun couple of weeks.