What’s your last meal?

Having some Skyline as part of the ‘What food will you miss most while in Nepal?’ series.

Mile Wide Beer Co. fundraiser

Photos from the Mile Wide Beer Co. fundraiser. Over $900 was raised for Direct Relief. Thanks again to the MWBC family for putting on this fundraiser.

I woke up early today with my head swimming in things left to do before leaving. My brain woke up right before my eyes opened to look at the clock, 5:45, shit. Then the 'to-do' and 'don't forgets' started rolling like an old movie projector, boiling into shear anxiety before I even moved a muscle.

Our 90lbs lab/weineraner mix who we affectionately call 'Woodford' or 'the BBPA' (Big black pain in the ass) on his bad days, uses canine intuition to know when your body is awake and persistently and aggressively lets you know he is ready for breakfast. The cold nose and giant wet tongue in your face is just his way of making sure you didn't forget in the past second. Woodford has different wake-up times for different people. For me it's almost exactly 18 minutes before my alarm goes off at 6:20, early enough that its not light out and just enough time to NOT snooze for a few more minutes. With my wife, he tries the same routine and she pulls the sheets over her head and he resigns his fate to knowing it's not yet breakfast time in Mommies world and settles down. With our son, Woodford quietly lays in bed with him and doesn't move until Morgan is ready to get up shortly before noon. In fairness to Morgan, hes a college age kid that does copious amounts of homework, all night study sessions and differential equations. Sleep for him is a privilege, not a right. Woodford's preferred breakfast time when with Grandpa is approximately 4:30am. As you can see, Woodford's wake-up call is different for all.

Out of bed and downstairs to the kitchen where I feed and let the dogs out, it's raining great. A fresh layer of muddy dog footprints and my kitchen floor on square on top of my right foot as Woodford steps on my foot when coming back in. It's his way of adding a special 'hello' in the rainy predawn hours. I started to make a cup of Cuban Café con leche which requires a more involved process than rebuilding a Chevy small block engine. Boil 8oz of water, stir in the coffee, return to boil, strain, heat 6oz of milk, mix coffee and warm milk, dash of salt, sugar and stir. All this work rewards you with 8oz of light tan 'Hi-Test' Cuban coffee. It wakes you up and can also strip paint from 100 year old painted wood. I don't often drink caffeine but when I do, I like to do it right. And since I don't drink a lot of caffeine the result of this coffee on an empty stomach is a feeling I would equate to 'legal speed', rolling into the sunrise turbocharged! 

With the dogs fed and spinning their lay-down circles in the preferred daytime napping spots, I adjured back upstairs to the study to look at the to-do list and see what I could accomplish and perhaps knock down some of this pre-trip anxiety.  

Excerpt from Patrick's To-Do List:

Call NASA

Passport photos

Backup phone, phots & add music

 I called NASA yesterday because I always check in with them before traveling. How inconvenient would it be if you left home while there was an Earth bound asteroid plummeting into our atmosphere or worse, a back hole forming at your destination? "Hello NASA, Earth still spinning? Good, hear any good Space Force jokes this week?". I think by know you realize this is just a rouse, I have a NASA credit card and called them to make them aware of my international, multi-country trip so my credit card account won't get suspended when I charge something in Ka-ka-ka-katmandu. 'Check'
Passport photos for the Nepali visa, 'check'. I opted to print at home and not go to Walgreen's or the like because I am cheap and from multiple sources the Nepali administrators are not overly concerned with your photo for a visa to enter the country. A small photo of Big Bird and $40 USD can get you a Visa good for 30 days. The former is of less value than the latter, not many places you travel where cash in not king. That is unless you are in Malaysia, then the King is Almu'tasimu Billahi Muhibbuddin Tuanku Alhaj Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah. 'Check'
Lastly was the task of backing up, cleaning up and selecting music for the trip. Back up, done. Photos saved and removed from phone, done. Music. Open iTunes. I stop for a second. What is the soundtrack to a once in a lifetime three week trip around the world? That's when my brain started rolling like that old time movie projector on double speed. The wave of musical possibilities folded over itself like a breaker and I was flooded with the ocean that is my iTunes account. My brain was kicking out suggestions faster than I could drop the music into my phone, "You can play this when you land in Lukla, and there is this song to listen to in the morning to mediate to, and what about listening to this when you head home?". And of course Bog Seger's Katmandu. Wow, I guess the coffee is really kicking in. There was no shortage of music in my iTunes to pick from. Starting out with all the Napster downloads from the late 90s and early 2000s, to ripping CDs my friends lend me, iTunes music and the past years checking out CDs from the public library (thank you fellow tax payers!). In my mind I am putting together a soundtrack to a movie, a movie that has not yet been filmed but the score is the most important part. Before 'Back To The Future' was released and it was being tested in front of audiences it was not testing well. Then Alan Silvestri wrote an amazing score for the movie and as they say, the rest is history. So the music to accompany this trip is one of the most important things to 'pack'. 
So it was pure bliss to sit in a lightly lit study with my headphones on, sipping cocaine in a cup and creating a 480 hour playlist to be the soundtrack to what will be a remarkable trip. Albeit if it was before the sun came up and Woodford has long fallen back asleep and is dreaming of making me up once again for food.

Packing for EBC

I started the packing for Everest Base Camp last night and this trip is starting to feel very, very real. I only had a few minor freak-outs, most notably when I could not find my heavy duty cold weather gloves. I looked in all the ‘usual places’ around the house, which for me is on top of the fridge, on my study desk and under the pile of clothes I never wash. All three locations yielded a pack of astronaut ice cream I forgot to eat last summer, a bill I forgot to pay and some socks I was looking for, but alas no gloves. I talked myself through the situation using my inner dialogue voice asking where did I put them? (In my mind he sounds a lot like Barry White).  I tried the rationalize the situation with the logic that if I can’t find them I will simply go out and buy another pair. “You know, spring clothing has been out since early February, good luck finding gloves in March, cheers!”, Barry White said. Funny, I didn’t think he was British. Thankfully after what I’m sure was a brief search that felt like days freaking out I found them…..where? I can tell you where they were not. They were not in the multitude of places I am known for stashing things. They were not in the mail bin by the entry, or in the basement workshop. They didn’t even make their way into the sock basket, the clothes basket full of lost and misfit socks. I get it, gloves and socks are close cousins but my gloves were not in there doing what socks do in the dark. Nor were my gloves anywhere in the study, bedroom or kitchen, all the other places I looked. After giving up on places I could look for them in the house I decided to venture outside. To the car. And in the car trunk. Were my gloves. I gave them a little kiss and pat on the fingertips and promised them I would never let them out of my sight. After that crisis and narrowly avoiding it, not being able to locate some nail trimmers was a walk in the park. I was a seasoned veteran by this point, I knew to ask my wife where they were.

I still had some clothes in the wash that I am planning on taking so I have not yet packed them, however I am confident that it will all fit in my bag (one concern eliminated). I weighed it all and it was 22 lbs, 11lbs under the 33lbs weight limit on the tiny flight from Ramechhap to Lukla (second concern eliminated). I, of course, have a check list of equipment and clothing needs I made and printed out to keep track of what I need, packed and brought with me. Even with this list, which I am sure will be in my hand and quadruple checked while on the way to the airport will only put a minor dent in the anxiety over forgetting something, something important. So I will likely be holding on to this checklist with a white knuckle death grip until I touch down in Nepal. A Linus blanket of sorts for Peanuts followers. After that it will be up to the travel Gods and possibly another blog entry. ‘That one time I forgot to pack ‘loo’ paper and used leaves for a week’ or ‘ That one time I forgot socks and had to use banana leaves on my feet to hike through Nepal’, these are working titles of course. And there is a just reason for having these concerns for forgetting something, ‘That time Patrick forgot to load the cooler of food in the car for a weekend at the lake’, based on a true story!

I feel rather confident I have a solid game plan put together and I will have everything I need for the trip. Or at least that is what I keep telling myself and maybe I will believe it. I’ve got 6 days to sort it out, and counting.

Link to Crowdrise fundraising site

Donations for Direct Relief can be submitted via my Crowdrise site:

Click here

My DEQ entry questions

Here are the questions and my responses that the section committee viewed to select the 14 participants.

Describe how you have overcome personal or professional obstacles in the last 3 years to prove that for you there ‘Ain't No Mountain High Enough'

My story starts when I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on Halloween. As with most cancer diagnosis I was in total shock. Just going through hospitalization, multiple rounds of chemotherapy and the toll it took on my body was hard enough. But in addition to this I developed an infection in my lungs that spread through my body. The infection became so intense that I had to be medically sedated and put on a breathing machine. I remained this way for 12 days. Things were so bad that at one point my wife felt like she was watching me die (spoiler alert, I got better). Thankfully by day 12 I was improving and I was able to come off the ventilator.

While I was sedated all my muscles had atrophied and I was unable to walk. At this point I was at the bottom of the mountain looking up to the peak. I was going to have to go back up the mountain in order to get back to where I was before I was first diagnosed. The doctors said I would be able to rebuild my muscles with time.

When I was healthy enough to be discharged to home, I started walking for exercise. Over the next few months I was walking 3-5 miles a day while enjoying every step because I could walk.

Since then I have started running 5k & 10K races & obstacle races that are 10 miles and have 20+ obstacles you have to overcome. (One of the obstacles is named Everest!). I am still climbing, challenging myself to reach the peak. After everything that has happened to me I take every opportunity to experience life as I was so near to loosing mine. I see this opportunity to experience something new, challenge myself physically and raise money for a good cause. All three of these things are things I am passionate about.

Tell us what makes you a perfect team member for the Basecamp Quest

I find myself being successful in team environments and having been a team leader, I feel I have the tools needed to be a successful member of the basecamp team. Even from a personal level I have always been a team player; playing sports, social activities and interacting professionally with my peers. I love working for the World’s Most International Shipper because I have been able to interact with people from all over the globe. These relationships have helped me gain a lifetime of experience with other cultures and be able to interact with others. I love learning new things about other people and listening to the stories that make them themselves.

I think with this experience with working on a team with so many people from many different backgrounds makes me an ideal candidate. I am also a people person that gets along with anyone and very considerate of others. I know that given this opportunity to be a part of the basecamp team I would forge lifelong relationships with all those involved.

I enjoy writing and taking photos of my adventures and I think having someone to help journal the entire process from the team perspective would be a great record of this trip.

Describe how you will raise funds for the nominated charity (DIRECT RELIEF) prior to your departure, and what is your target?

I have experience in fundraising for charities. I have experience with the planning committee for the American Cancer Society. I have also captained successful teams for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s fundraiser. I have participated in a fundraiser for Cancer Free Kids. This is a fundraiser in which people donate money in support of me participating in foot races.

I have been directly responsible in raising over $3000 and see myself as a good candidate that has had success in fundraising.

I can use my experience with fundraising efforts to be successful for Direct Relief. I have a professional and personal relationships with local business that I can tap into and place change jars for donations in these establishments. I have good inroads with the college I graduated from and could be featured in the college newspaper to tell my story, raise awareness for direct relief and solicit donations through their readers and community. I can reach out to the local morning news show that features charitable causes to solicit donations. Lastly, I use social media a lot in fundraising because most people are more likely to donate if they can click a link on social media and make a donation.

My goal is $5,300 (one dollar for each meter in height of Everest basecamp).  

Link to Fort Thomas Matters article

Here is a link to the article that was featured in Fort Thomas Matters

Article