Sorry for the delay in posts! It's been a busy fall with getting ready for the holidays and family. But I have exciting news! We've officially put money down for our climb up Mt Kilimanjaro! We begin the ascent on July 12th, 2015 and hopefully summit 7 days later! We except to leave Seattle on the 8th to have enough time to get there and a day of rest to catch up from jet lag. Only 210 days left to get in shape and save enough money! Eek! We still have to decide on a safari, but we're looking at a seven day trip from Good Earth Tours that looks good. Sadly, it seems like we won't be able to volunteer as every program wants either a 3 month commitment or an outrageous amount of money. Instead, we will probably spend a few extra days on the beaches of Zanzibar. I know, life is rough.
I've been training really hard for the last three months, doing a TRX suspension trainer class on Mondays, running (the worst!), playing soccer and hiking on other days, and I even decided to go active again this year on the ski patrol. Since 2006, I've been a member of the Cascade Backcountry Ski Patrol, but for the last couple years, I've been inactive due to travel and other activities that didn't allow me to complete the time commitment needed. This year, I figured since our minimum duty day requirement is 10 days, that is 10 days I am guaranteed to get out hiking, skiing and getting used to being on top of mountains.
We had our first day last weekend as a full patrol, reminding us how to tie knots, navigate with a map and compass, and search an avalanche slope for potential burials. There was about 6 inches of snow on the ground, and it was pouring rain, which made it hard to pretend there was an avalanche, but we made it through. And the rain really tested my gear and made me realize none of it is as waterproof as I previously thought. I may need to get some new stuff before we leave for Tanzania. I'd hate to get half way up the mountain and not be able to continue because of hypothermia from my wet clothes. That would be so awful!
All that being said, we're going through a massive warm spell right now in Seattle and all of our snow is melting away! How am I supposed to spend the Christmas holidays skiing the slopes (I mean, training for Kili) if there's no snow?! So I'm currently working on my snow dance, hoping we get more soon so I can get out as much as possible this season. And in the mean time, I guess I'll stick with the running. Sigh.
On an unrelated note, my friend Amber recently painted me a picture and wrote a story inspired by my travels. She's so creative and talented, I wish I had half her ability to tell a tale. You can read about it and see the picture here. I highly recommend reading the rest of her blog as well as she really has a great way of making stories come to life.
I've been training really hard for the last three months, doing a TRX suspension trainer class on Mondays, running (the worst!), playing soccer and hiking on other days, and I even decided to go active again this year on the ski patrol. Since 2006, I've been a member of the Cascade Backcountry Ski Patrol, but for the last couple years, I've been inactive due to travel and other activities that didn't allow me to complete the time commitment needed. This year, I figured since our minimum duty day requirement is 10 days, that is 10 days I am guaranteed to get out hiking, skiing and getting used to being on top of mountains.
We had our first day last weekend as a full patrol, reminding us how to tie knots, navigate with a map and compass, and search an avalanche slope for potential burials. There was about 6 inches of snow on the ground, and it was pouring rain, which made it hard to pretend there was an avalanche, but we made it through. And the rain really tested my gear and made me realize none of it is as waterproof as I previously thought. I may need to get some new stuff before we leave for Tanzania. I'd hate to get half way up the mountain and not be able to continue because of hypothermia from my wet clothes. That would be so awful!
All that being said, we're going through a massive warm spell right now in Seattle and all of our snow is melting away! How am I supposed to spend the Christmas holidays skiing the slopes (I mean, training for Kili) if there's no snow?! So I'm currently working on my snow dance, hoping we get more soon so I can get out as much as possible this season. And in the mean time, I guess I'll stick with the running. Sigh.
On an unrelated note, my friend Amber recently painted me a picture and wrote a story inspired by my travels. She's so creative and talented, I wish I had half her ability to tell a tale. You can read about it and see the picture here. I highly recommend reading the rest of her blog as well as she really has a great way of making stories come to life.
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