TANZANIA - "It looks much bigger up close," Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon texted Thursday as five state senators finished preparations for their ascent up Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa with the threat of bad weather ahead.

The trip to and then up the storied mountain, which is 19,340 feet high at its peak, was to begin in eight hours, Brewer texted at about 11 p.m. in Tanzania, nine hours ahead of Lincoln time

"In eight hours we start," he said. "Weather will move in on Sunday for 3 days snow and winds will come up," Brewer texted in answer to a question.

Sens. Anna Wishart of Lincoln, Justin Wayne of Omaha, Ben Hansen of Blair, and Dave Murman of Glenvil are joining Brewer on the climb accompanied by an embedded film crew that will document the adventure for Educational Media Enterprises. The plan is to provide the film to Nebraska Public Media's statewide network at no cost, with national distribution through Amazon Prime Video.

Brewer, a retired U.S. Army colonel who led troops in Afghanistan and was seriously wounded in combat, is leading the adventure that has begun to attract some national attention, partly because of its nonpartisan and multicultural nature.

The group is composed of three Republicans and two Democrats; a Native (Brewer) and an African American (Wayne); one woman; two urban senators and three rural senators.

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