I feasted my eyes on the beautiful white snow-clad mountain as my co-traveller, Sara, plopped three small dried raisins in my mouth. I thought I choked for a second, but I swallowed the raisins and immediately felt better. Sara saw me frown, and she laughed and explained, “Carmen, your mouth was wide open! Be thankful that a snowflake didn’t go in instead.” I sighed loudly and then turned to gaze at the magnificent Mt. Fuji. That’s right, Sara and I had climbed all the way up the mountain.

“We made it!” I exclaimed, only to hear my own echo. “I know right! Jus’ look at all tha’ white snow!” Sara said excitedly, with her mouth full of chewy, dried raisins. We then exchanged victory high-fives and set up a camp in a nearby cave, hoping to still climb some more after resting for a while. After all, our adventurous, magical journey had just begun. We were living the dream.