Away, again.......and: EGYPT is a GO!!!!

TUESDAY………..

We had a very relaxing morning at Dr. Jeni’s home………I took my coffee (not Fr. Roast) out to the pool where it was shady and enjoyed the oh-soooo peacefulness of the morning while it was relatively cool. Their home is in such a lovely place……surrounding by very tall trees, but yet they have cleared enough of the tall oaks away to allow for great sunlight also.

We left around 11am……and drove to Monroe City to visit the 1st Lady’s mother. We had a nice afternoon…….INSIDE….with the 103 degree temps and high humidity. Late afternoon, the 1st Lady’s brother and wife, David and Ruth, dropped by to visit for several hours.

Oh…….yesterday morning: We “signed on the dotted line” for our trip to Egypt and Jordan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just knowing that we ARE going to make the trip gives me goose bumps……I have wanted to go to Egypt since I was in the 6th grade…..a LONG time!!! I will probably come all unglued when I see the Pyramids for the first time……..I did when I first climbed up the Acropolis in Athens and actually stood in front of the Parthenon for the first time……..tears were all over my face! The 1st Lady is just as excited…and in fact, as said that if we feel that we want to see more over there, we might return in a couple of years and go it alone….since we will know more about how to get around by ourselves there in Egypt.

I mentioned the 6th grade………I have ALWAYS, ALWAYS had a tremendous love for traveling…..even before I started traveling. I fell in love with “places”, maps, and the lure of the seeing the world. I have always felt an affinity for what used to be known as the “Orient”…..and so often, I feel like I have been there before. I felt “right at home” whenever I was in Asia, no matter which country I was visiting. I have been in and out of Japan 26 times over the years, mostly while in the USAF and stationed in Asia during ‘69-70.…..the Viet Nam Era. I was in the Philippines a few years ago……..but, it has always felt like home to me over there. I often think I must have been an Asian, of some nationality, in a previous lifetime. And……I have visited many of the Asian countries and loved each one.

I have been in each of the 50 states……and have visited 41 countries over the years. I do want to make 50 before I get toooo old to travel….and I do want to have visited 6 of the seven continents. With the trip to Egypt, I will have planted my feet in Africa and have only South America to reach in the next few years……and I will. Our goals and plans are to take one BIG trip each year……and if we can…..we WILL!!! Remember: “If you don’t think BIG….nothing BIG will happen.”

Soooooo, we are going in November….the 14th, if the flight plans work as I have requested. We will be flying out of NYC on Egyptian Air and they only have three flights to Cairo from NYC each week, so that also has to be coordinated with the cruise ship that we will take up the Nile from Luxor to Aswan, which has to be coordinated with the flt to Luxor from Cairo, the flt from Aswan to Abu Simbel which is almost on the Sudan border on the south end of Egypt, coordinated with the flt back to Aswan, the flt then to Cairo, the flt to Amman, Jordan, the flt back from there to Cairo, and then the flight back to NYC from Cairo. Obviously, this is why we are using a travel agency that is based in Cairo, but has an office just outside of NYC. We will be taking 10 flights plus the cruise ship, plus the overland trip from Amman, Jordan down to Petra to visit the ruins of that ancient city that has only this summer become one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. An extensive travel plan!!!!

And so……as you can see……I’m sooooooo damn EXCITED!!!! (Guess what you will be reading about often?)

I will end this world-wide mental traveling for the evening…….that may be the most active part of my mind at my age…….hahahaa!!! Life is TOOO short to stay in one place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!!!!……and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!