Bj: We made the date for the next Sat. not this one.! I would be playing poker this weekend. Nothing was going to keep me off the Whale for this game . It was going to be a very important game. I said to Mercedes how high is this mountain and do we need special equipment? I wanted to be prepared. Are we going to try out that bed I am beat. It's a good thing that tomorrow is Friday I would hate to call in. I think I've missed your company. I thought that was a good time to kiss her so I did.
Mer: Let's try the bed, I'll find out about everything else this weekend. So you did miss me! He kissed me, and somehow we found the bed.

That weekend, I found all the info we'd need for this little journey we had decided to take. I picked up all the things Ariana had been holding for me, and took care of filling the wine cabinet, and replacing some things that had been either lost, or that I had gotten rid of in order to buy new ones!. I bought BJ some cookbooks, and myself some of my favorite ingredients. I picked him up the next weekend, leaving the cookbooks in his kitchen. We drove up to the mountain grandpa had written about, and I thought maybe we'd just walk up instead of climbing?

BJ: The drive there was nothing special and then we turned a corner and there it was. If we hadn't known there was a road up it we would never have seen it. I coaxed Mercedes out of the car and we walked over to where they must have started . Then we looked up and up. Alright I said , so this is supposed to be the climb? Are you sure they climbed it I asked ? I knew the answer, I had read it. I was in good shape, but this wasn't happening . I didn't think either of us were going to be doing this today, or next week. We didn't have anyone experienced to help us . Mercedes suggested that we walk. I can't I told her. If the experience is in the climb and not just getting there, we would never really know what it was like for them if we walked it first. I couldn't believe how much I was getting into this thing. I hadn't really read much of the journal. I had just held it most of the time. Minute by minute the climb was becoming real for me not just words on a page but, an actual place! Something to accomplish, to experience. We had our lunch at the climb sight. Talking all the time about what she remembered reading about that first climb . Why they had done it and who was there and how they had come to find it!
When we got back to my place I made a list of things I would need to do on Monday starting with my dr. appointment. I didn't expect much trouble with her oking a workout schedual for me. I decided that I would hire a personal trainer and I told Mer that if she wanted to do this with me I pay for her trainer too. I knew she didn't need me to do that but, if it was incentive enough for her to do this with me I would do it. She was starting to get that thinking expression on her face, when I kissed her.

Mer: I hadn't expected to be the one wanting to back out. BJ was getting more and more into this thing, made a doctors appointment to ok a training program, offering to pay for my personal trainer... He wanted me to do this with him, and then he kissed me. He had taken all of the fight out of me with that kiss. I'll do it, just have to call my trainer.