We arrived back at the hotel in Moshi this afternoon after the long bus ride from the park gate of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I so want to tell you of my summit day experience yet we face more challenges today with a power outage in Moshi. I was able to call my husband this morning and give him a brief summary of a day I’ll never forget. I’ll admit tears rolled down my cheeks as I spoke of being at “Stella” a summit stop one hour from Uhuru Peak. My brain continued to tell me I was done, that I needed to stop, but I remembered the words of a conditioning trainer I saw to prepare for this climb who said – don’t let the brain fool you – you have more in you.

So ten steps up, then 15 steps up and although I reached the summit over an hour after my team, I made it, and arrived at 2:15 pm January 6, 2014 with my personal guide. I will tell you so much more hopefully later today if we get power as I need to get this all off my chest so I can breathe again. I will tell you there was a moment I just wanted to sit down and give up after the summit. But my wonderful guide and porters talked me through each step with their kind and encouraging words. It was a harrowing experience for me personally and I know that once I can get my words on paper, well as my husband said this morning, you better tell people to sit down first before they read it!

I enjoyed the luxury of a shower as well this afternoon and now see a frost bitten upper lip and tip of my nose and unbelievably it seems the tip of my tongue. This evening we will have our last night together as a team at a Tusker dinner. I now have my certificate of completion staring at me and it still seems hard to believe I am, where I am this very moment. I have so many to thank who helped make this personal journey a reality, you are all in my thoughts today and soon to be in my words of appreciation.

Next blog entry will tell the whole story, I promise it will be a compelling read about perseverance to put one foot in front of the other to reach one’s goal. R