O, Canada

For our last trip of 2008, Grant and I are headed to the Great White North. We are flying into Vancouver and taking a train all the way to Montreal, stopping along the way to see the sites. It is going to be cold for this Southern girl but I'm looking forward to this trip.

I LOVE BROADWAY!!

Grant and I just returned from weekend in New York City, where we saw 5 different plays. In order of favorite we saw Rock of Ages, All My Sons, Wicked, The Little Mermaid and Equus. We had an incredible time!! I can't say enough about this trip. Below are my thoughts on each play

*ROCK OF AGES - Great set list! The whole audience sang along and clapped the whole show. The songs were all from the 80's hair band era. I would love to see this show again!





*ALL MY SONS - Very little set/scenery but who needs it will acting like this. The story was interesting. Dianne Wiest was absolutly incredible. I have always enjoyed Patrick Wilson's work and he didn't disappoint. I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed the play without these highly talented actors. And yes Katie Holmes, while not the best actor on stage, did a good job





*WICKED - Awesome music. This soundtrack is now on my Ipod. The set and stage were neat to watch. I would definitely see this musical again. BTW, this story is very different than the book.







*THE LITTLE MERMAID - The same great music from the movie with a couple of new songs. Kid friendly show. The alternating underwater and land transitions in the musical were smoothly done. All of the sea creatures wore 'heelys' to simulate the glide of swimming.






*EQUUS - Bizarre story. I did enjoy seeing Daniel Radcliffe. That's the only redeemable part of play.

San Francisco pictures!!

Yosimite National Park - a BEAUTIFUL place and a beautiful day!

The seals at Pier 39 (they just showed up and claimed this spot)

Napa Valley

The Golden Gate Bridge

Me in Alcatraz :(

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Grant is taking me to New York in December to see as many plays as possible. So far I have tickets to Equus (starting Daniel Radcliffe), Wicked and The Little Mermaid. Is it silly that I am already thinking about what I am going to wear? I can't wait!!!

What a beautiful day

It was an unusually hot day today in San Francisco - 80+ degrees. We walked around the Fisherman's Wharf area and had lunch in Boudin's (sourdough bread factory and cafe). We also took a city tour and got a great overview of everything that is the city.

After my first old fashioned Trolley car ride, we spent the afternoon in Chinatown, exploring the shops and markets. We even found the 'Fortune Cookie Lady' down an alleyway.

Unfortunally, my camera and computer are not presently speaking so I can't post any pictures. I will undate as soon as I can.

Tomorrow we head to Napa and the JELLY BELLY FACTORY!!

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco

Grant and I are in the airport waiting for our plane to San Francisco, the first of 3 trips we are taking in the last half of 2008.

I will post pictures of our time in California. As well as San Francisco, we are planning to tour Napa Valley and Yosemite National Park.

What to say about Petra?

What to say about Petra? First of all it was HOT but definitely worth the walk. It was about a 2.5 mile walk to the end of the city, passing building after building carved into the sandstone rock face of the cliffs (most were tombs). Grant and I climbed all around and up the rocky cliffs exploring. The view of the surrounding mountains was incredible.

The last site visited on our tour was Mount Nebo. This is the mountain that Moses climbed to view the promise land. At the top we (like Moses) were able to see the entire Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and all the way to Jerusalem. The perfect ending to our trip.

Jerusalem and Jerash

Yesterday, our last day in Jerusalem we again visited the Wailing Wall and the possible sites of Calvary and the Garden Tomb. We had the Lord’s Supper in the garden.

Today in the Jordanian city of Jerash we saw the most fabulous Roman and Greek ruins. We explored them for several hours. Grant, ever the climber, can you find him in these pictures?

Tomorrow we will visit Petra! I can’t wait!!!!

Jerusalem

Today we spent time in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Temple Mount area contains the most religious site for both Islam and Judaism. Our guide got us entrance onto the actual Temple Mount to the area around the Dome of the Rock. Only Muslims can actually enter the site. We also visited the Wailing Wall (western wall), the closest modern day Jews can get to the site of the Holy of Holies. It was a lot of history to take in.

The southern wall of the Temple Mount has been excavated to uncover the original steps that led into the Jewish Temple. These are the steps Jesus took into the Temple when He broke up the money changers in the Temple Court

We also visited the Mount of Olives and the area identified as the Garden of Gethsemane. The trees there were ancient but not quite to the time of Jesus.

Floating in the Dead Sea

WOW. We sure have seen a lot.

Swimming in the Dead Sea was nothing like I expected. The guide said we would be able to float easily. It was more that we were unable to do anything else. You are forced to the surface like a fishing cork.



Masada was the last stronghold of Jews during the Roman campaign. 1000 people (including women and children) held off a legion of Roman Soliders for 2 years. There were incredible views of the Dead Sea from the height of the plateau. There was an hour long hike (up steep terrian) to the top but we took the cable car. If my Dad were here, we would have hiked up the path (the same one used thousands of years ago).



We stopped at the site recognized as the location of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. Several in our group chose to be baptized here. Grant and I were able to stick our feet in the water.





At a small oasis in the desert, the throne of Israel was passed from King Saul to David. We visited that very spot. It's hard to take in the history we are experiencing.

Today we arrived in Jerusalem. We participated in a welcome ceremony overlooking the Old City. Dinner tonight was in Abraham’s Tent. He graciously invited us into his house and served quite a feast. We sat on pillows on the floor around low tables. The view from the tent was unbelievable!! I could almost believe I had traveled back thousands of years.

Cruisin' on the Sea of Galilee

Grant and I have covered a lot of ground in the last couple of days: the location of the Sermon on the Mount, an evening cruise on the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias, Capernium, Nazareth, Caesarea, Mount Carmel, Meggido (site of the future battle of Armaggedon) and much more. These are a selection of pictures.

We have arrived!

We have arrived safely (and with all of our luggage)!!! The first night we stayed in Netanya (a town 50 miles north of Tel Aviv), on the Mediterranean Coast. Today we are going to Nazareth.

15 more days

15 more days until our trip to Israel. I can't wait. We are traveling with a group that will not only give us the historical details of sites but also the Biblical perspective. We leave on May 20th. As I have Internet access, I will update this blog with pictures and notes about our trip.