Well I’m about to set off on my attempt to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (the tallest spot in Africa at 19,340 ft). If all goes well, we should summit the mountain on Super Bowl Sunday. I have read a guide book, looked at the outfitter’s schedule, but still I feel clueless about what to expect. How cold will it be? How windy & dusty? Peeing into a bottle in the tent at night? Will my body adapt to the high altitude? The list goes on and on. I’m in good shape, but that doesn’t seem to have much to do with how you will handle the altitude. I’m expecting the climb to be a grind once we are above 14,000 ft. Hopefully I will have the mental toughness to reach the top or turn back if my body can’t handle the altitude & the wisdom to know the difference between weakness and good health.
I’m wondering if our group will have any of the interaction problems you hear about on real mountain expedititions. Since we are tourists being cared for, I’m thinking we won’t see the conflicts that come from shared work load and decision making. Past trips have been great & the folks in the group have made the trip better for me. I’m going with a friend from Portland, but we’ll be joined by 4 other people (plus the support staff) on the climb.
So, as I set out on this adventure I’m like the little engine that could… a positive attitude and a willingness to work hard, but who knows what the outcome will be. Watch this space for future updates. The last time I was actually a bit scared on a vacation was when I rafted the Main Salmon in an inflatable kayak. As we checked into the hotel at Salmon Idaho I stepped outside and watch the river flow by… water tumbling by at a huge rate & I wondered what I had gotten myself into. But it was a wonderful trip & one of the best outdoor experiences I have ever had. Hopefully this trip will be more of the same.
The group I’m going with (Wilderness Travels) is going to ascend via the Western Breach Route. We will take 7 days going up & 2 days coming down. I like this route for several reasons:
- It is a wilderness route & hopefully we won’t see anyone else until we summit the mountain.
- The slow ascent takes the altitude seriously and should help improve our chances to aclimate.
- I want to enjoy the climb, I am as interested in the process of getting to the top as I am in actually reaching the top. (Not quite true, I really want to reach the summit. But I do want to soak in the surroundings as well.) I was so glad we took it slowly up Whitney & could pause to take in the spectacular scenery.
- The route should feel more like a climb than a walk. The stretch up to the summit crater has some exposure & scrambling, that should give this more of the feel of a climb than just another trek in Nepal.
My hopes are high for an exciting and fun adventure. I’ll be writing all about it once I’m back in the states.
My family will tell you I hate to shop, which in general is correct… certainly for clothes. But there are times that I enjoy shopping. Almost every trip to REI is worth extending a bit longer. I accompanied my wife to the Columbia Sportswear Employee store & I purchased twice as much stuff as she did. And there is always some new device at Home Depot that needs further exploration. So with this in mind, a few shopping highlights from 2008.
My favorite manufacturer… Pearl Izumi… mostly for biking gear. These guys/girls have stuff figured out. I love my “screaming yellow” jacket/vest. First off, why doesn’t anyone else make biking/running gear in this vibrant yellow color? Does Pearl Izumi have a patent on its brightness? This color is visible day or night from far away… I feel so much safer wearing it than anything else. The jacket I have can be converted into a vest by zippers on the sleeves. This is very cool because I like a full jacket for biking, but a vest is better for running because I get hot.
I’ve just picked up another Pearl Izumi item… toe warmers for my bike shoes. We took a ride last week with temps in the low 40s and while my wife and son’s toes were nearly frost bitten, I was happy as a clam. The covers just slide on over the front of your shoe & stay down low enough that you can just leave them on for the whole winter… no need to pull on a second layer over your shoe each time you go out… just slide your shoe on, lace up and go. The covers stop the wind & provide a bit of insulation that I found to be just right for our winter temps here in Portland. I had thought about designing my own toe covers because I didn’t want a full shoe bootie… but I’m happy now, Pearl Izumi has taken care of my needs.
My final item is REI.com. I like shopping on the web, but my last visit to REI.com was the best ever. I was picking up a number of small items for a long trip and the comments about various products were very helpful. No only did the comments help me choose between alternative technologies & competitive manufacturers, but they also provided tips on usage. REI’s staff is pretty good, but these hints were better than the best sales person and they were all there for the taking. In the past, comments have not mattered that much to me & usually the product referals feel forced… but this time they were very helpful. Of course, when I return from my trip, I’ll have some battle tested tales and may return to REI.com to praise or chastise those who went before me.
Today we took our youngest son to the airport for his return to college in Colorado. Returning to our empty nest is always a bitter sweet time for me. It is such a joy to have either (or both) of our sons with us, but there is also the relief of returning to our normal pace of life, without comings and goings late at night.
This year’s winter vacation hammered home another reality… I’m no longer top dog. That has been true for some time, but I’ve fought the idea, denied its presence. On our driveway basketball court, at the pool table, down a black diamond tree run, or over a board game in the family room, I’m an undeniable easy mark for my boys… I’m a loser. I play hard, I trash talk, I foul them without hesitation… but the result is always the same, they win… and I’m frustrated by my inability to stop them.
This is crazy. If I were to meet my boys at our local gym, I would expect to get smashed on the basketball court. Why would a nearly 60 year old man think he could hold a candle to a couple 20-something young men? As my aunt Harriett used to say “If at 50 you think you are as good as you were when you were 30, then you weren’t much when you were 30.” Despite all of this, when I’m going head to head with my own children at my own house, I think I should win. It shakes me up when I don’t win… frustrates me that despite my strongest effort, they swat me away like a fly. How can they do this to me?
I guess it is the old alpha male survival genes kicking in. After all, this is MY house. These are my children that I have spent countless hours nurturing and teaching. Decades of playing games where I controlled the pace and determined the outcome. Now the tables have turned… my children set the pace & determine the outcome. With a little perspective, I could not be prouder of my independent, talented, accomplished children. I would probably be worried about them if they could not beat me at most anything.
So, at this point I am officially conceding that I am no longer top dog at my house. I hope the young bucks will remember what the old man did for them & throw me a few scraps now and then. I know I look forward to watching them grow even more & I hope they will continue to invite me along to share in their adventures even if I can no longer keep up with them.
One of the joys of being with extended family & with having our college age son home over winter break, is that we get to reopen old games and try out new ones. Not only is it fun to play these games, but it brings back my own childhood memories, and stimulates conversations with family members that might never have happened otherwise.
Here are some comments on a few favorites that we have been playing in recent weeks.
Skittles – a game mostly of chance involving spinning tops. This was one of my favorite games as a child and I have inherited the game my grandmother used to have… a beautifully aged wooden set. There is something exciting and engaging about the way the top jumps and skips around the box as it knocks over small bowling pins.
Blokus – a strategy game first introduced to us by the Johnson cousins from Kansas City. This is a classic game of capturing territory. The subtle twist in this game is that you can only extend your territory if you can touch only a corner of your existing territory. The concept of “corner connection” has all kinds of wonderful impacts for the game, both in terms of defense and offense. A great game, but it can only be played by 4 people (yes, you can play with 3, but it is not as engaging).
Catch Phrase – We learned about this game this winter while we were visiting my wife’s brother and his family in Denver. This is a fun party game that can incorporate many people, but requires a minimum of 4 people (I’d say 6-8 people is an ideal size). A great mixer for people that don’t know each other well. While skill plays a role in this game, there is a huge element of luck because the winner of each round is simply determined by who is holding the card when the timer runs out. This makes it much easier for reluctant game players to become involved… losing is not a personal black mark. I would recommend the electronic version of the game over the paper version, far more words and phrases and the whole game is self contained in a single unit about the size of a portable CD player.
Tzaar - This is a new strategy game for 2 people that our oldest son sent as a gift. The game is inbetween checkers and chess. Once again, subtle rules (first move of a turn must be a capture) lead to interesting consequences and the need for deeper strategic thinking. We are just getting started with this game, but I think it will be a family favorite. Right now I’m on the bottom of the pile, with more losses than anyone else. At this point I don’t look far enough ahead down the line of possible moves and I leave myself cornered.
Check these games out… I think you will like them. Let me know what you think or other games that you like.
Over New Year’s week our family joined up with the families of my 3 brothers for a ski holiday in Colorado. Two of my brothers started this tradition about 7 or 8 years ago. Our family has been involved for the last 5 or 6 years and it has been all 4 families for the last 3 years or so.
I was close to my extended family during my childhood and my children not being close to aunts/uncles/cousins was one thing that concerned me about living in Oregon, far from the rest of my family. I should not have worried… the “Johnson cousins” are a tight group with a bond of kinship that seems to be renewed within minutes of having gotten together. This group is usually the life of any party from weddings to bar mitzvahs to casual family get togethers… they have a special chemistry that is fun to watch. Now that the youngest is a teenager it will be interesting to see how the group dynamics change.
Even when our boys were very young, they seemed to sense that this group of people (our extended family) were different. There was an openness and warmth that did not exist with other people. I really don’t know how much influence aunts and uncles have had on my boys, but I am sure that my boys know they are loved and have a special bond with at least 16 other people on this planet.
This family ski trip is great for my family because my wife does not downhill ski. So this has meant that ski trips have been a “boy thing” in our house. But with the larger group, there is always someone else around to keep my wife company while most of us are out skiing. This year she went snow shoeing on 2 of the 3 days.
We stayed in a great house near Keystone (8 bedrooms, 3 living areas, etc) that I would highly recommend. (Found on the internet by the cousins, of course) We skied 3 days; Copper Mountain, Keystone, Breckenridge. The last day was my wife’s birthday and so I joined her and my sisters-in-law for a nice snowshoe outing near Breckenridge… it was a beautiful scene with fresh powder on the ground and light snow falling the whole day. Besides getting to spend the whole day with me (the best gift, I thought), I also gave her the complete DVD set of the TV show “The Wire”.
Here are a few photos from this trip.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned how lucky I am to have such a warm, loving, and fun extended family. The chemistry we have and the willingness to accept others for what they are is a far more rare commodity than I ever imagined.
Hi. My name is Dave Johnson. I live in Portland, Oregon USA. I’m 57, married with 2 grown sons (26 & 20). I grew up in Lincoln Nebraska and after finishing school began my professional career in San Diego, CA. After 4 years in San Diego it was clear to my wife and I that southern California was not where we wanted to raise a family. I found a job with Intel in Portland in 1979 and we have been here ever since.
We love Portland. It has a midwest friendliness combined with uncommon beauty and plenty of opportunities for outdoor adventure. I feel blessed to have been able to raise my family here.
I’m starting this blog thanks to my oldest son. He is trying to teach this old dog new tricks by kick starting my foray into web 2.0. I don’t know if anyone will read what I have to say, let alone comment on it… but I’m hoping they will since interaction is the whole reason for doing this… anyway this is the place to go if you want to know what is happening in my life or hear my opinions on various topics. I hope this blog will be informative to at least a few people.
This post has officially launched “Dave’s World” on daawgs.net.