Stairclimbin'

First of all, let's just get this out of the way. This is our awesome friend Heather. She loves firemen. I do too. We spent all day cooped up with 1500 of them. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. And we did. We rose to the occasion and did what was necessary. We took one for the team.

We can't wait to do it again. A few weeks ago we went to Seattle for the Scott Firefighter Stair Climb. We stopped in Prosser on the way and picked up Ryan and Heather. We had a blast roaming around Seattle, eating at three different restaurants in a matter of about 6 hours and trying to figure out how to use the trolley system. We are such country bumpkins, at one point the driver came out of his little booth and asked us, "You guys just along for the ride?" Apparently, we were riding in circles.

"No, sir. Just from a small town, that's all." He seemed to understand. Public transportation in Hermiston consists of hitching a ride on the bumper of a watermelon truck.The next day was

THE. BIG. DAY.

Firefighters from all over the country, plus a few from New Zealand, Australia and Germany travel to Seattle to compete in this stairclimb. The proceeds benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and last I heard they were able to raise about $650,000. Thank you to all of our friends and family who opened your wallets for this great cause. Chris and Hermiston Fire as a whole was able to far surpass their fundraising goals. It's great to see that even in this tough economy people are willing to help others in need.

The day started out with a cancer patient sharing her story of survival and how she was helped and inspired by this event. Then the first group of firefighters was escorted to the starting line by the "Pipes and Drums". I'm not sure what the history is between firefighters and bagpipes, but there is a definite connection there and they love it. There is something eerie to me about the sound of bagpipes, especially when they were taking them to begin one of the toughest physical challenges of their lives. Here is Chris getting psyched up to go. I have participated in several running races, including two half marathons, and I understand the feeling of dread, excitement, apprehension, nervousness, adrenaline and let's-just-get-this-overwith-ness. He had several hours to wait until his turn, which made it hard. Too much time to fret over it isn't good.
They have to be all suited up in their turnout gear as if they were actually going into a fire. Boots, turnouts, helmet, gloves--the works. Oh yeah, and one minor thing...an airpack. Oh no, they don't get to suck regular air at will while they're climbing 69 flights of stairs and carrying 50 pounds of gear. They have to suck it through an SCBA. At the 40th floor they can change bottles for a fresh supply of air, but after that they're on their own. One guy in our group ran out of air about 5 flights before he got to the top. The funeral is next week.

Just kidding!

But you believed me for a second, didn't you?

This is Chris going through the doorway of dread that will lead him to the stairs.

69 flights of them! All of the guys from Hermiston Fire were doing this for the first time and when they were finished they all said, "That was the hardest !#$%& thing I've ever done!" Well, except for Chris. He said, "That was the hardest gosh darn diggety dad gum thing I've ever done!" Well, at least that's our story and we're sticking to it. Here's all of the guys from Hermiston Fire, with the tower in the background. Yeah, it's tall. Chris finished in 23 minutes, 52 seconds. He can't wait to do it again next year. It was an awesome experience.

Oh, one more thing...
There. That's better.