The Journey Begins!

Left to right at the Amsterdam gate to Tanzania: Harley, Merrie, Chris, Shane, and Pedro




Left to right: Harley, Dave, our guide Tim, and Jason (Ron and Eric are missing and must be grabbing a coffee or something; Patrick met up with us in Africa)



October 2nd, 2919 3:14 am Seattle time

Day time on the flight from Amsterdam, our second flight on the trip - flight from Seattle to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Tanzania.

We are roughtly at 31,000 feet and flying over some fantastic mountain peaks I can see from the plane window. It appears we are still flying over Europe so I assume those are the Alps I could love to visit again someday.

The flights are going well for the team. We are now on our 2nd flight from Amsterdam to Tanzania. Our first flight was out of Seattle at 1 pm to Amsterdam and was roughly 9.5 hours. Harley took some ambien and passed out on me! Chris got a picture. Shane and Chris stayed up with plans to be read to sleep when we reach the hotel in Tanzania where it will be night time. Ron and Tim were sleeping when we did a pass by. Pedro slept a little bit and Merrie and I slept for a short time. I think she and I are slightly wired from consuming our beloved chocolate!

I started out sick at the beginning of the flight after taking the malaria medication. I think perhaps I did not have enough substance in my stomach and it reacted with my stomach acids. After eating some chicken meal I felt better.

Flying internationally is pretty cool because they still give you a blanket and pillow as well as a free drink (and FOOD!!!). So I had a wonderful glass of white wine on the first flight over and a miniature bottle of white sauvinghon blanc-chardonay mix from Chili on the second flight. (I remember reading on the second flight about how they feature certain wines from different parts of the world on the flight out of Amsterdam). Harley had a red wine and coke which Merrie told us is a very popular drink in Columbia where Pedro is originally from.

I am more excited how that the team is together and we are underway. Prior to our depature I have been very focused on training, trying out gear, and anxious over the remaining fundraising left to do.

Dana Milkie, the VP of Gold's Gym NW, through us a lovely send off party which was an excellent way to unwind before we left as well as a distraction from trip anxiety. I know how physically and mentally challenging this climb will be for me.

The day before we left I further got into de-stress mode by getting a fantastic massage from Koko at the gym spa, going tanning to get in some Vitamin D treatment, and taking the dogs for a walk to Lake Sammamish.