Into Egypt

After our time at Masada, we got on the bus and headed south towards the Egyptian border.  Some of the things we saw from the bus window was this: Salt harvested from the Dead Sea.

Unique animals surviving on what? I see nothing, but obviously that is not true. I don't know what these guys are, but I find them interesting. Check out that mountain in the background, I say it is alot of rocks and nothing, barren don't ya think?

The closest I am able to get to the Red Sea. We are very close to the Egyptian border now, and as you look down the coast line you are looking into Egypt. Crossing the border into Egypt was quite the ordeal, I don't think I'll ever be able to use my passport that many times in 3 yrs of travelling as I did just to get into Egypt this day.

1. Show passport to Exit Israel

2. Show passport to Enter Egypt (scan bags)

3. Enter Egypt again before boarding bus

4. Once on bus, show for security

5. Drive 1000 yrds show at check point

6. Show at airport to get luggage scanned

7. Show to get boarding pass and check luggage

8. Show to enter waiting room to board charter flight & of course scan carry on luggage again!

Once we got rolling in Egypt these are the sights we saw:

Land squatters in their make shift housing. See the mountain, lots of nothing. These mountains are as big(tall) as our mountains but there is nothing living that I can see. Rocks and sand, rocks and sand!!!

Bedouin Sheraton.

Oh too bad this isn't a clear picture, but truly what you see is ALL there is! The road goes by this but there is nothing, nothing and more of nothing! You see lots of things started and not finished in Egypt. All that got done here was the sign.

More of the landscape. This is Egypts Sinai that we are travelling through to get to the airport at Taba.

More of the same. That dot on the right hand side is the other bus of our tour and then again, lots of nothing. No wonder Moses needed Manna from heaven, there is nothing here.

Airport security

This is where we get our charter flight to Aswan to start our cruise on the Nile River of Egypt. A long day full of interesting adventures in travelling. Interesting to observe how the rest of the world lives and more often than not, so, so grateful for how I am able to live. I live in abundance and relative ease.

Thus ends Monday 15 November 2010, day 10 of my 15 day tour!

(The goal is to finish blogging this trip before a year is up, do you think I can do it??) 



Love It! Love It!

Got the chance to waterski at Swan Lake, Mt.  There is no better way to spend a HOT day in August!

Look at that! Can you see the smooth lake? Oh that is heaven!!

Yes, that is the wet suit I bought when I was 20 something, hence the "trendy" colors that I get teased about!! (I like my wet suit, and it keeps me warm, trendy or not!)

Oh, I guess I'm not as strong as I think I am!! Biffed it!! Yet all I can say is: Love it! Love it! Love it!

Thanks to Karen and Mark for the ski, and the great company! Felt like a teenager again, just like the good ole days when Karen and I would ski at Echo Lake!

I know, I know, I need to finish my trip to Israel, but the hot summer days are a bit distracting at the moment. I thought I would enjoy the heat and the water while they were available, it won't always be this nice, sad to say!

Pole Haven Paradise

Southern Alberta is Paradise when the wind doesn't blow and when the sun shines. So a few of us "horsey" gals took a ride into the community pasture and we had a perfect day!! We were missing some of the gals from last year,(sad to say). There were some new riders and a good time was had by all.

This year it was time to find the "Ski Cabin". I remember going there as a kid, but ask me how to find it and my only answer was "It's in the community pasture somewhere." Now I know where it is and how to get there!! Ya-Hoo!!

See, I,we, found the "Ski Cabin" and everyone is there! You go west from the corrals, through the middle gate keeping a westward direction and before you know it, Voila, the ski cabin!

One of my favorite pictures of the day, due in part to the fun of watching Marilee set the camera and running to mount before the 3 shots are done.(I tried to set the camera and run, but couldn't get back to the horse & on top in time)

Notice those fine steeds! Kaylynn on a nice buckskin, Dixie riding a fine black gelding, Marilee mounting a very nice palamino mare, Shawna on a big gentle roan, Jill riding a sorrel gelding, Hali on a classy red dun, Joy on a sorrel mare and Pam riding a grey mare. ( I thought it was cool that we had only 2 horses of the same color)

Here we are again, this time we are at Pole Haven, from this vantage you can see into Mt.View, Leavitt, Hillspring and maybe farther on a clear day. It is beautiful! It was fun to pick out the various land marks, Mt View cemetary, Payne Lake, Beaver Dam Lake, Shawna's land, etc....

Hey, you know what else is cool, the ages of the group goes from 13 to 67 yrs old. What a fun group, I'm so lucky to be a part of it all! Thanks guys!! or should I say gals? Thanks gals!!

Pam and Joy on top of Pole Haven.

Marilee and Jill building their marker,(that eskimo thing that you saw all the time during the olympics).  Yup, you're right Jill, you are on a blog looking mighty fine!

Jill and Marilee carving, need to bring better carving tools next time. One just never knows what might be needed on a horse back ride into the bush.

See, those two carving again! Need to make your mark at the ski cabin. It was fun to go around and see who has been up there, lots and lots of  people. I think that is one of the reasons the ski cabin is there. (Marilee found a nail and went right to work, and of course we all used it afterwards!)

Hali and Shawna on the deck of the ski cabin.

Kaylynn and Jill

Lunch at the ski cabin, and I got a little trouble for not bringing the chocolate like I should have. Pam on the other hand had an Oh Henry and she is sharing. We all had some, but Marilee got caught on camera enjoying her chocolate! :)

Just because I like my horses!

I love this picture!

 Super ladies each and everyone of them!

See, we really did ride! Notice Kaylynn and Marilee taking  a picture of each other taking a picture.

The ride this year was fun, we had a mix of everything, a few steep climbs, (the view was worth it), a few bogs to jump over,(everyone stayed on top, whew), easy grassy meadows to ride through,(ahhh..) and creeks to clip clop through and to let our horses drink. ( I wanted to splash everyone, but didn't get the chance.), and finally breath taking views of mountains, valleys, rivers, and of course the smell of the pine etc.. I just love it, love it, love it!!!

The company was fun, the activity was superb, and the location was paradise!! Can't wait to go again!

Masada

This is Masada, an isolated rock plateau, located on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert over looking the Dead Sea. Herod the Great built himself a palace up there in case of a revolt. He did his building between 37 - 31 yrs before Christ. (I don't think he spent very much time up there if any, but he was prepared!)

This is the cable car used to go up the 400m (1300ft) above sea level. (the same distance that the Dead Sea is below sea level).

Can you believe some people hiked up rather than use the cable car, not me, way too hot and waaay too long!

The view from up top. That is the Dead Sea out there.

Masada was where the Sicarii rebels, (an extremist Jewish group that  opposed Roman rule), held out. The Romans camped at the base of Masada while they worked out a way to quell the rebellion by this group. You can see remnants of the encampment from the top. Finally, the Roman siege of the fortress led to the mass suicide of the Sicarii rebels.  They chose death over Roman rule.

There is a TV mini series made in 1981 with Peter O'Toole that tells this story. (I just might have to watch that)

Our Fun for Less tour leaders. Fun couple.

Our Israeli guide Joseph.

This is actually very funny, but it is a location joke for sure. Joseph is letting John know that he knows quite a bit about this site, and perhaps John should let him (Joseph) talk a bit more.

Just thought I would have a picture of me at the top of Masada with the Dead Sea in the background. Yup, I was there! No T'shirt though.

Thus ends the Israel portion of the tour. It's Monday 15 Nov 2010 and now we "get" to ride the bus south to cross the border into Egypt. Now that is a process, leaving Israel and entering Egypt, more of that later.

I just have to say that as we were driving south I saw lots of rocks, dust, rocks, desert, rocks, dust.... so, so barren, how anyone lives there is a mystery to me.

This is Summer!

My niece Tiffany wanted to spend some time in the pasture on the horses, so she came for the weekend and we went riding!!    I love having the kids around and wish they were closer so we could do this sort of thing more often. Too bad I didn't get pictures of Kassie on her 5 hour ride in the pasture looking for yearlings. Shucks! (Need to keep the camera on my person at all time I guess)

We had a campfire after our ride and Tiffy decided she wanted to ride Downey bareback. So she grabbed the halter shank and hopped on.

This is really what summer is all about. Enjoying the outdoors and all that lush green, riding bareback in shorts and smelling of campfire and marshmallows!

Just love these pictures.



Fun, Fun!

Ahhhhhh....

Tiffy's cousin Katelyn loves horses so she came to ride too.

Isn't Downey the greatest?



"Let's see what I can get away with!"

Summer is great, no wind, no mosquitoes, lots of green, horses and great company! (yep, Downey just stood there and let Tiffy do her thing!!)

The Dead Sea

Leaving Jerusalem and going south to the Dead Sea. The farther south we go the more barren and forsaken the land becomes. The Dead Sea is 1300 ft below sea level. It is 6 times as salty as the ocean. The Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on earth.

The shoreline of the Dead Sea. Our guide mentioned that since the Jordan River has been diverted for agricultural purposes the Dead Sea has become 2 lakes and is receding more and more each year. The water used to be up to where you can see the dark gray soil.

A view of the pool at our hotel on the Dead Sea and the Sea is just beyond the palm trees.

OK, off the bus and rush to the Dead Sea, (got to get into the water before the sun sets). This was one of my favorite activities of the tour. I was wishing we could have more than one night here.

Some of the people did the mud pack thing before going into the Sea. I heard some of the women comment on the fact that they shouldn't have shaved their legs before swimming (floating) in the Dead Sea. (a little ouchy with the cuts/nicks)

Here we are floating, it was amazing how buoyant you are in the Dead Sea. I had to work hard to keep my legs down in the water, so obviously I quit resisting and just let myself float and "pop" up come the legs just like a submerged air mattress. My skin felt very oily smooth after being in the water. I liked how it made my skin feel.

Mike demonstrating how much work it truly takes to float and relax in the Dead Sea. Such a cool feeling to bob like a cork in the water like that.

These next three pictures are for my sisters sake.

I am thinking "Where did Mike and Kelly go?"

"Really, where are they? I don't want to go back to the hotel without them."

"Man, where are they?"

Of course Kelly was right in front of me taking pictures and loving every confused moment I had there!

Thus ends Sunday 14 November 2010 in Israel. Next is Masada and then off to the Egyptian border. We did so much in such a short time, but it is taking me a long time to record the story. Oh, so lucky, lucky to be able to experience such neat things and places.