{"id":66,"date":"2008-03-06T16:11:21","date_gmt":"2008-03-06T22:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wordpress\/?p=66"},"modified":"2020-02-23T14:37:06","modified_gmt":"2020-02-23T21:37:06","slug":"3-weeks-to-everest-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2008\/03\/06\/3-weeks-to-everest-2008\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Weeks to Everest 2008!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"alan.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>Three weeks, six hours, four minutes and \u2026 well you get the idea! I can\u2019t believe that after a year of planning, training and dreaming it is almost time to leave for Kathmandu.
\nAfter 17 or more expeditions, I have everything I need so there will be only a few last minute s.
\nI will send another dispatch before I leave introducing my teammates.<\/p>\n

\"patrickrobert.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>I am continuing my training and will up to the weekend before I leave and have to pack all my bags. My friends Patrick and Robert have been great partners especially in the hurricane force winds with driving snow!! Thanks Guys.<\/p>\n

\"stratfordintro.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\nMost of my time right now is spent giving presentations on my previous Everest climbs and raising awareness and funds for the Cure Alzheimer\u2019s Fund. I just completed a four stop tour in California and will do five next week in Colorado.
\n\"stratford.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The one was to 200 2nd though 5th graders. Their energy was contagious! I had a huge smile on my face the entire presentation. The question was from a young girl: \u201cHow do you know when you reach the top?\u201d
\n\"stratfordgift.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\nAt the end of my presentation, which could have gone on for hours with all the questions, the student council presented me a check for the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. They had raised money through a bake . They made my day!
\nMy sincere thanks to my friends Bryan Mekechuk and Jo-Anne Sinclair and to Katie Cutler with Cure Alzheimer’s Fund for their tireless help with the events.
\nThe last few weeks before a big expedition are a time of contradictions.
\nI cherish each moment at home, sleeping in a warm bed with clean sheets \u2013 on a real mattress. I look at \u201cmy\u201d Colorado mountains with appreciation. Time with my friends take on new meanings. And each brush of their tail on my leg creates a lifelong memory of my precious kitties.
\nA serious tone often takes over my mind and my eyes focus on nothing. My mind goes to high up on the Hill as I walk through the routine. I can almost feel the chill against my cheek, the numbness in my fingers, the glare of the sun in my eyes. But a soft \u201cmeow\u201d brings me back. I am still home.
\nI am often asked how I feel at this point \u2013 excited, anxious, afraid? Any second thoughts? As you would expect \u2013 all the above except for the second thoughts.
\nThis is my climb. I know myself and how I do in the mountains. I have put the work in to be ready for this. The four \u201ctraining\u201d climbs gave me what I wanted \u2013 more experience and more confidence.
\nBut this is more than just another climb.
\nI spoke to my Mom this morning. She was doing well. I told her only three weeks to go before I left. She didn\u2019t remember that I was going back to Everest. She didn\u2019t remember that I had gone twice before. Then she asked me again \u201cNow, where do you live?\u201d
\nRemember: Memories are everything
\nClimb On!
\nAlan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three weeks, six hours, four minutes and \u2026 well you get the idea! I can\u2019t believe that after a year of planning, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[147,10,545],"tags":[448,435],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everest","category-everest-2008-climb","category-weekend-update","tag-everest","tag-everest-2008-coverage"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}