Mt. Everest anyone?

I am looking for 5 more people to join a group to climb Mt. Everest.  Seriously. 
First things first though.  We need some climbing experience.  So we will have to spend a lot of time and money traveling around the country and abroad climbing other mountains first.  One does not simply climb Mt. Everest on his first foray into mountain climbing, just as one does not simply walk through the gates of Mordor.  Experience, experience, experience.  Then it's all about the money, money , money.  The guides I am looking at are called the Himalayan Experience.  You can find them at himex.com.  They have been featured on TV and some of you may have seen their expedition.  I made the mistake of watching an episode from like 2006.  There were deaths, horrible frostbite complete with amputations, grueling conditions like
-40F temps debilitating winds and I thought that looks like fun I want to do that. 
The trip runs from like May 1st to June 11th.  Yes it takes a long time to climb Everest.  It also cost about $60,000 dollars.  That does not include your gear or your flight to Khatmandu.  So in the mean time we need to get rich and possibly retired or really chummy with our employers.  Think I'm joking?  Look at this!

I can't stop thinking about it. 

Give it time you might say and you feelings will change.

They would but why would I want to let them?  Why should I spend my whole life letting things fade away?

Because I'm not good enough?  Because I don't have the money?

I have been doing that most of my whole life and where has that got me?

I flat out refuse to just accept my fate should that be the case.

I have made a few forays into elements outside my place of residence.

Most were hunting excursions, the mountains of Montana chasing elk, the plains of Wyoming searching for the elusive antelope and scouring the draws and gulches for mule deer.  Trekking the tundra in Northern Quebec, where the perma frost inhibits the growth of anything more substantial than a shrub, stalking caribou.

I still dream of these places and I hear them calling once in awhile.  I can still smell the sage brush in Wyoming.  I can hear the stream trickling through the mountain meadow in Montana.

I don't want to miss it if I don't have to.  

We can start by hiking Yellowstone.  Colorado for some altitude hiking, there are plenty of "low" mountains in the US we can hit.  Then we'll go big and hit Denali, the tallest in North America.

Then on a double vacation we can hit Italy and enjoy the culture and the food and work our way North on the reverse route that Hannibal took when invading Rome.  Into the Himalayas.

Can you imagine going to Nepal?  Sherpas?

Maybe some things are just dreams that will never come true.  It's sad that we accept this.

Some may say I was never meant to climb Everest just as an ostrich was never meant to fly.

Do you think ostriches dream of flying?  I think they do.

I really don't know where I'm going with this, perhaps I have hit my mid life crisis stage.  Does everyone have these?  Perhaps I am just bored with my life and unwilling to accept it.

I am always searching for my purpose in life.  I surely haven't found it yet.  There are many things I thought it was.  My first true passion was hunting I thought that was all there was to life.  Then it was work, my business.  I was going to be a big shot someday.  Then it was drinking.  That really numbed me up for a long time.  You don't need dreams when your drinking let me tell you.  Then I thought it was cooking.  I still sometimes say it is writing.  Woodworking?  Gardening? The list goes on and on.  However, nothing lasts for very long and I am left with that feeling of emptiness again.  Like I need to prove myself.  Certify my spot in this world.  Make a difference.  Champagne taste with a beer pocketbook I guess is what it boils down to.

Who knows, but if all I can do is dream then damn it,  I'm going to dream big!