Today was supposed to be a day on the town in Kathmandu, Nepal. I can just see myself, with faithful Jumba by my side, visiting with the locals and wearing some authentic local clothing. Seeing the sights of ancient Hindu architecture. Maybe buying some more earrings and a couple pairs of shoes. Of course, a dress - gotta have a new dress!

But, no, oh no. Jumba had other plans…

"Jumba and little one are going to the top of that mountain," Jumba said rather dreamily looking up at the summit. It must have been begging for his attention, unlike the bustling town we were wandering through.

"What?! Mount Everest? I thought that we agreed that we were going to go out on a date and then go shopping!"

"Never agreed! You just landed here and drug Jumba out of lab, doing important work, if you may ask."

"Yes, I know. It is important work…. But, besides, we didn't plan to go hiking for like a month! We haven't bought any huge parkas or a tent with a heater…" Pleakley's voice lightened up hoping this would bring the conversation back to shopping.

"Hiking?! No need for hiking when have state-of-the-art spaceship."

"We are not landing on top of Mount Everest! Do you know how that would disturb the wildlife and blow our cover!"

"Fine…" Jumba scowled.

The next thing Jumba knew was that they were at a store buying snazzy parkas, fuzzy gloves, some earrings, a dress not appropriate for a hike, and a tent with a heater. And, to top it off, at the foot of the tallest mountain on Earth.

"I don't like hiking…" Jumba sighed remembering the time they had hiked Diamond Head in Oahu.

"Remember, stop being Mr. Grumpy Pants."

"Funny, because you are not one carrying tent…"

"If it makes you happy, I will carry the tent!" Pleakley snipped as he took the tent from Jumba. At first, he walked rather proudly like he was to hike to the top in just one day with that brick on his back.

"What's wrong? Little one is losing pace, will not make it to Camp I by sunset?" Jumba smirked.

"You big… MEANIE!" panting hard and falling into the snow. He loved Jumba with all his heart and he knew Jumba loved him back the same. But, that kind of love led them to picking on each other, joking, and getting to each other's throats frequently.

"Better not raise voice too loud or will start an avalanche and destroy all of Kathmandu…"

That was the last straw!

"AHHH!" Pleakley screamed getting to his feet, dropping the tent into a deep crevice, and lurching himself onto Jumba, who fell to the ground. To a passerby, this could be described as a yeti fight with a hint of sliding down a mountain to base camp.

"Why is little one crying? No real avalanche. Tears will turn to ice…" Jumba brushed away Pleakley's tears.

"I just wanted to spend some quality time with you…"

"Not everything is perfect… but who says quality time is perfect."

"Yeah, I guess… I didn't really want to hike Mount Everest in the first place…" Pleakley admitted.

"Jumba could tell… Say, we could still fly to the top of slippery mountain…" Before Pleakley could protest, Jumba replied, "Name one wild creature you've seen so far?"

"Uhh, ummm…"

So we flew to the top of Mount Everest, though the hikers were a little baffled and out of air. Maybe they wouldn't remember us? Afterwards, Jumba took me to a traditional Nepalese restaurant and then we went perusing about the town some more. I guess, on that day, we both got the best of both worlds.