The Beginning of a Life-Long Dream....

In 1994, my Dad took me to see "Kilimanjaro: To The Roof of Africa" at our local IMAX theater. IMAX movies were quite new, and I remember asking my Dad at the time if there was anything cooler showing, like a Disney movie or something. He assured me the movie would hold my attention and I might even learn something along the way. Not exactly what a 7-year-old wants to hear! Little did I know at the time, but that one hour would so totally enchant me that it would lead to me someday making the trek myself, together with my father and husband, to the Roof of Africa.

The IMAX story was narrated by a young girl, very much like myself, with a scientist father, captivated by the world around her. The story follows her journey up the mountain with five other travelers and all that they experienced along the way. I'll save the details about the hike for future blogs, but suffice it to say, I saw too much of myself in that girl, that mountain and that journey to let the opportunity to climb it pass me by.

Over the 15 years since , my Dad and I have talked about climbing Mt.Kilimanjaro together on and off, but never really had the opportunity when our schedules linked up long enough for us to do it. I went away to university, he retired after 30 years with the same oil company, and we both started new chapters in our lives. Now, all these years later, separated by two countries and spanning several birthdays and a marriage, the dream still lives in both of us. But now, we've committed to making that dream a reality and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in the next year and a half. The plan is for me to graduate from my MBA program in May and immediately head to Africa with my husband, Rich. We'll meet my Dad there and begin realizing the dream a Daddy and his daughter have shared for over 15 years.

We hope you enjoy following us as much as we'll enjoy chasing one another to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro!