Blog Post 500

 

 

This is my official blog post number 500, a milestone, and here's how it started.  The adventure began with Julie's job change to Barclays, and because of her energy and dedication we are still here today.  Top photo was taken when Julie and I moved to England in October 2007, bottom photo is our current British pub shot, oops, I mean mug shot. A great American friend, Ruth Lowe got this crazy idea to build a travel blog for us.  At that time, I didn't even know how to spell the word blog so I needed a lot of help.  Ruth and Randy from Washington State, have been my tech support since then and without their help I wouldn't be writing this now.  The Lowe family is shown here with me, on the London Eye, during  a 2008 visit.  You guys are the best!
Keeping this story rolling along has completely changed my life.  I try not to go a week without a story so this forces me to get off my arse and find something new. We've visited over 20 countries in 5 years, some multiple times, meeting the most interesting people, many of which will remain great friends.  We respect other cultures and beliefs even though ours are different.  I do my best to try all of the food and booze where ever we are.  It's the honorable thing to do. 
 The Blog has been like a diary and allows our family and friends a way to keep up with us.  Facebook has been a wonderful way for us to follow everyone else.  Reading and writing are not my specialties therefore I keep my stories short trying not to be a bore.  I always include pictures, facts, opinions and if you're lucky a few censored jokes. 
We do miss our family and friends in America so much, and that's an empty hole in our lives.  We always make the very most of every minute we spend with all of you. Our passports recently expired after 10 years and it's a good thing because they were chucked full with extra pages.  We now have our new passports with extra pages so we have 10 years to fill those pages. Our work is cut out...I say...GET ER DONE!   

On the streets of Egypt

 

We've been on the streets of Egypt before so we know the routine.  Be prepared to get hassled because it will happen and I love it.  Again this is a tourist driven culture and the locals don't eat unless you spend money.  If you look into a shop without even going in you're a target and you get followed until you go into another shop.  We took a lunch break at the Hard Rock Cafe before going out for more abuse.  Sharm el Sheikh is a spendy city for the local shop owners, hotels and resorts.  The slow economy and political unrest in the country has made it really tough on the tourist trade.  Mostly people in the western world would feel uneasy coming here.  This is the only country I've ever been to that I don't have to use my charm to get someone to talk. You can get everything from a camel ride to a genuine cheap 'rolax' watch.  Everyone wants to be your friend if they think you got some dollars.

 

Egypt Resort

Our travel package to Sharm el Sheikh included accommodations at the 5 star Ritz Carlton Resort on the beach of the Red Sea. Tourism is the lifeline of Egypt's economy and this resort was only 20 % full so it was like a ghost town for us city dwellers.  In 2005 terrorists attacked this small city killing 88 and wounding over 200 people.  Along with this attack the revolution in Cairo 2 years ago has really hurt the tourism trade here.  Security was very high at the international airport and at our resort so we felt safe enough.  Our travel package included half board which means morning and evening meals with drinks.  The Ritz had a great mess hall but also included 3 restaurants, Italian, Asian, and  Lebanese  which we took advantage of at our cost.  We had weather in the mid 80's and loved swimming in the sea.  We did take a one day snorkeling trip that was fun as well.  It's never fun without people around and we did meet some British folks that were fun, after some of my expert training.   I sure wished there were more inmates at the resort to talk to, that's where I get my best stories.  So another destination checked off our wish list.  Very relaxing...

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt

 

 

 

 

In 2008 Julie and I spent a week in Egypt visiting Cairo, Luxor and Aswan.  Last week we escaped the dreadful cold British winter and took a week holiday in Sharm el Sheikh.  Our 5 1/2 hour flight was out of London Gatwick airport and we were so lucky to have no delays with all the the fog and snow. This small city of under 40,000 called the party capitol of the Red Sea, is on the same parallel as Miami Florida.  Sharm el Sheikh depends totally on desalinated water which is used for everything but drinking.  This is no problem for us as we didn't go to a week in the sun to drink water anyway.  All electricity here comes from the Aswan High Dam 700 miles away.  The currency here is the Egyptian pound, shown here, and ten of these equals 1 English pound so get plenty.  I took the last shot 5 minutes before we landed in Sharm. Most of the big resorts over here partner with airlines to offer some great holiday package deals.  Wish we had more travel time as our bucket list keeps getting longer.

Texas Work

Last week I traveled to Weslaco Texas to do some cosmetic work on our commercial building.  With a change of tenants this required painting, roofing, electrical, and some HVAC work on the exterior of the building.  I had as many as 10 workers hired to get this work done in the 5 days that I was there.  Every worker I had on this job was Hispanic and I have to say these guys are the best.  My limited Spanish is terrible in a normal conversation but on a job site I can communicate what I need just fine.  These workers put in a full day, then out comes the BBQ and the feast is on.