Get On My Yak and RIDE!
Today is the day. Have been working, waiting, fretting for it. When I set out for this adventure, I am not sure even I believed I would follow through with going. But here it is, March 24, 2012 and I HAVE set out on the biggest adventure of my life.
Along the way, I have learned a lot about myself. That the Karen I always was was inside waiting to get out. I learned that the biggest obstacle to success in anything I set out for is not the physical environment around me. Though many of those things are huge challenges, the actual obstacle is myself and the mental battle I fight with myself.
So here I am at the beginning. I was all packed up and ready to roll and Jim and Maggie arrived to transport me to McCarren Airport in Las Vegas. They came in and met my digs and we chatted and all of a sudden I was out the door. The dogs were behind the door while we were headed off to the car and I would not be seeing them for 22 days. Just that fast, I was leaving.
I got a comment on a post a while back from a person who is also doing this trek. We have been communicating about it ever since. He has a reason for going. Seems that is common…..exorcising some demon or another by putting ones self through some physical challenge far off from home. He phoned last night to give me a pep talk and encourage me. He is a few weeks after me. I’ll have been home a few days when he starts. It is somehow comforting knowing that somebody I have spoken with will be putting his feet where mine once were in a land far away and as high as you can get into the heavens. It also motivates me to work hard against the voices that chirp and bleat about when the going gets tough. He wants me to finish it for him. So that he can know that he can finish it too. I think he already knows he can.
So we sped down the 215 to McCarren, chit chatting with each other along the way. Jim and Maggie are stand up folks who I have come to know most recently and feel like I have known forever. Maggie came climbing in the gym with me Wednesday and she has now caught the bug. Guaranteeing more fun together. Jim works with me at Red Rock Search and Rescue. They are sporting their own WhelanTrek shirts and toting my baggage! What great friends they are to come clear across the valley and pick me up and cart me off on my journey!
In a flash, they, too were gone. So off I went, checked in and paid the extra $60.00 for my duffel and back pack, got my boarding pass and headed in to the gate. But first I tested out the Spot Connect and checked in from McCarren. I wanted to be sure to get used to using it and understanding it. I also wanted to be sure I get the trip from door jam to door jam. I was excited when I was sitting in the plain and got a text from another friend, Kristen, who had gotten the email Spot Connect sent out to her. So. It is working!
Airport security wasn’t too bad. Boarding went well too. And to my delight, nobody was sitting next to me. It is always a nice flight in coach when you have a seat between you the next person.
I was thinking as we flew along and I could see the Sierra Nevada Mountains out my window that those will see so very small in a few days when I see the big peaks of the Himalayas. And how this short flight to Frisco will seem like bliss compared to what flights lie ahead.
Just as I completed that thought, the flight attendant came over the loud speaker to say that we were about to descend to San Francisco International Airport. She wanted us to know, too, that she was about to take one last run down the isle of the plane to take all of our plastic cups from us for fear that they could be projectiles should the landing be a bit too assertive. At least that was what I heard her say. So here she came and I launched my cup her way as she blew past my seat
28A. Just like that I was at another airport. Only difference was, now there was all this rain coming down.
It was nice to get out of the plane and enter the airport and smell the wonderful bread! Moisture in the air always makes food smell so good! I headed out to the curb after collecting my bags and headed out shopping for some final things with my sister. Then back to her house for a piping hot bowl of Clam Chowder with fresh sourdough to dip! What a wonderful dinner on a cold San Francisco day.
Now my sister and I are done for the evening and we are drinking tea and petting her schipps. Makes me miss Cappy Jack and Katie Scarlet already!
So I’ll sign off now, from this my first dispatch of the journey. I will finish by thanking Jim and Maggie for their gracious assistance, and for the Trekkies for supporting me on this excellent adventure!
Posted on March 24, 2012, in 2012 Nepal, 2012 Trek to Mount Everest Base Camp and tagged Clam Chowder, Everest Base Camp Trek, Himalaya, Las Vegas, McCarran International Airport, San Francisco, Sierra Nevada, trekking, WhelanTrek. Bookmark the permalink. 14 Comments.
I got goosebumps reading this, Karen! You’ve got this, I hope you have the time of your life!
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THANKS! I sure hope so!
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Geesh!! I’m so excited!! Got my shirt today, can’t wait to follow you on this journey Karen. Hugs and prayers!
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YAY! Glad you got it! Now, on the 8th. Put a bag over your head and wear it and you will feel like me…NO OXYGEN!!!!
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Karen, I must admit, I got teary eyed reading your first journel entry. I am proud to be able to be a very small part of this with you, what an adventure for you my dear. First off, be safe, Second, have a GREAT time, remember to breathe! I am quite sure what you are about to endure, see, smell, feel, touch, hear will be with you forever, and because of you, with me also.Enjoy! and Thank You
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I am glad you are enjoying it..I do feel you guys here with me!
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I find your actual trip so symbolic to the rest of us on so many levels! You’re right in identifying that what’s REALLY challenging is more internal than external. I know you are doing this for yourself, but this trip also means so much to those of us who love you and who maintain a sacred place deep within for HOPE, DREAMS, and living meaningfully NOW! Take care pal ‘o mine!
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I will Govnah! Can you BELIEVE that the time has passed since I first told you o this idea? Remember the people that were ready to do it too? I cannot believe I actually got to this day and am taking the leap!
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Praying for you from Ellensburg!
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Thanks Judy!!!!
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Behave yourself, Rin Annie. I don’t want to get any panicky calls from Kathmandu begging me to bail you out of some hellhole jail.
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Locked Up Abroad or Locked Up A Broad
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Ha! I think you meant “Locked Up a Brat”!
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So excited, nerveous and envious all at the same time. You are such an insperation to never give up on your dreams no matter how long it takes to get to them. Will be praying for your safety and enjoyment and enlightenment of this trip. Know Jean and I love you lots and Dennis says your still crazy and he is so glad to know someone like you. Can’t wait to read all your other posts. (I still say you should be a writter.) Love you always, Kim
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