05/23/2008 I am 48 years old and am the Director of Sales for Ware, a boiler rental, sales and service company in Louisville and have been employed here for 26years. Alex is my son and I have a daughter, Brandi and a wife of 28 wonderful years, Tracy. If not for my job I would bass fish competitively full time, that is my passion. I have been the President of the Kentucky Bass Federation, am currently Vice President and am President of my local bass club in Bardstown KY. Being from a family of ten siblings I understand what it means to fight for what you want in life. When Alex started talking about this trip I joined him in the fight to fund and manage our time to make this trip a reality. Now we are 8 days away and the excitement is unbelieveable.

05/23/2008 Born and raised on a farm, I have hunted and fished my entire life. Fishing competitively for the last 12 years has kept me busy outdoors and when the fishing season is over in Oct. each year it is time for deer season. Rabbit season follows that up and by the time I go through my fishing equipment in February it is time to start fishing again. I have a garden, 24 acres to maintain and a 2 acre lake to fish every night I get the chance. I have had some experience back packing with my son in Boy Scouts but that is about it. I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to test myself in Africa. And to have my son at my side is any Fathers dream come true.

05/23/2008 We started some intermittent training last summer but really got into it in February. Alex and I started running our private road each night to expand our lungs and get our heart pumping. For the last two months we have been hiking 5 nights a week on my farm. I made paths up and down the steepest parts of the hills with my tractor and bush hog to make it a little easier to walk. We started by just walking, then put our back packs on and for the last 6 weeks have had a 20lb weight in the back pack. We are currently up to the maximum of my distance plan, which is over 3 miles, and are completing it in just over 1 hour. The hill is steep enough that we have to climb with the front of our boots and pick our steps coming down. There are cut off cedar tree stubs to walk around, rocky creeks to cross, woods to hike and logs to cross. I believe we are as prepard as we can be with the exception of aclimating ourselves to the high elevation we will face on Kili. You would think that this training has been a task and grueling, which it has, but being able to do this with my son each night has been special and I will cherrish these last few days we have together before he heads off to college.

05/23/2008 My primary reason for going is to experience all that this trip has to offer with my son. Alex is heading off to college this summer and this will be our last opportunity to spend three weeks together for many years. We will build a bond and expand our relationship beyond anything we can imagine on this trip. The memories will be burned into that special place in our minds and having the pictures and video will enable us to relive it for the rest of our lives. We will have the opportunity to see things most people only get to watch on National Geographic. We will see different continents, cultures, artifacts and people up close and personal. We will see African wildlife like lions, elephants, zebras, monkeys and much, much more. The beauty of the mountain we will climb will be breathtaking and will render us speechless. To have the opportunity to experience all of this with my son is exciting beyond words. I am ready to start this journey that is only 8 short days away. The safari, the mountain climb, the view will all be more than we could ever dream about. Lets go Alex. We have animals to see and a mountain to climb. Are we there yet?