12,395 feet, here I come!

I woke up at 6:15 this morning--even though school doesn't start for 19 days so it's possible to take advantage of sleep-in time. I woke up to run, but then just didn't feel like it. I'm justifying it by saying that in a few short days, I'm going to be climbing up Mount Fuji! So I'm just going to say that I'm resting up.
I don't know what to expect from old Fuji. The tour guide made it look like we'd be hanging vertically from the mountain face, but a few of my friends have done it before, and they said that's a scare tactic. Sometimes we'll be "bouldering", climbing/crawling over big rocks and stuff, but nothing I need a harness & some caribiners for.
They also told me it took them about 7 hours to climb. What??? 7 hours? Of walking? Oh boy... I was thinking maybe 3 hours. 4 if I stop to take a lot of pictures... but 7? And that's just one way... they said it'll be about 2 hours to come down. Why does it take 5 more hours to go up than down? I'm hoping it will not take us 7 hours. We're going to be careful, yet swift. Enjoy the scenery and experience, but waste no time. And, of course, I want to be the FIRST ones from our tour group to finish. And if I have to push David on the ground to cross the finish line first, I will... trample the weak, hurdle the dead you know. I'm usually very nice... sometimes it's just that this little competitive streak comes out.
The frugal part of me didn't want to buy one of the Mount Fuji walking sticks (what in the world am I going to do with a walking stick...it's too darn big for my scrapbook!)but I've been peer-pressured into it. Apparently, it is THE thing to get when you climb Mount Fuji and if you don't get one, you may as well not have climbed, because nobody is going to believe you. I wonder if I could find one cheaper on e-bay. Anyway, I decided that we'll get one...and share it. No need to display two. And, I'll probably make David carry it, along with everything else. I did get this cute little CamelBak um...fanny pack. I opted for the fanny pack instead of the backpack mainly on the advice of my old friend Paul the Adventurer who said that running in the backpack kind would turn out to be uncomfortable. And since I run more than I hike, I figured I may get more than one use out of the fanny-pack style. Maybe. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to reach that decision, because the backpack was so darn cute and would hold stuff, you know? Gosh, maybe I should've gotten the backpack one. Especially because, now that I think of it, how am I going to tie my sweatshirt around my waist when I have a fanny pack on? (and it's the "American fanny" not the British fanny...so I'd look like one of those old fashioned ladies with a big ol' bustle on my American fanny if I tie my sweatshirt over it. But it's Mount Fuji, not a Milan runway, right, so who cares?

I do. But only a little bit, and I'm trying not to.

Because we do not believe that torture should be the only part of a vacation, we're also going to go to one of the happiest places on earth, Tokyo DisneySea. It's not a waterpark, it's DisneySea, as opposed to DisneyLand or DisneyWorld. There's a DisneyLand in Tokyo too, but I hear DisneySea is better. I can't wait! It will be David's first time at a Disney park and I haven't been to one for 16 years either.

I'm so excited and ready to go on this little trip! Well, not exactly ready, because I haven't packed my suitcase yet, or even unpacked it all the way from our trip back here for that matter. But mentally, I'm ready! I'm especially excited because we climb Fuji on the 12th...and what an awesome 12 of 12 that will make! (I know I've been a bit of a 12 of 12 slacker for June & July, but August is going to make up for it!) I hope.
So...sayonara! I'll be back with an update on Tuesday!