Qasr al-Asraq was out first stop, about 60 miles from Amman. To give you and idea of it's location, these were the choices at the main crossroads. On the way we passed a UN refugee camp that housed 40,000 Syrians in a model consisting of four villages of prefabricated buildings, not the tents you see…

Nope, not a brand of alcoholic beverage, especially in a strict Muslim country. Wadi Rum is a place in the desert, that in Arabic, translates to a vlley iof high places or a valley of sand. It's also known as the valley of the moon. You might recognize it a a location for movies: Lawrence…

It was over a year ago that we booked our trip to Jordan and Egypt with Mack and Rika. Between then and now the Middle East changed dramatically. Between assurances from the travel company that our itinerary was safe and the fact that cancellation would involve a 70% penalty off we went. It did feel…

Note: I am going to publish this post despite the fact that only two photos would upload. I tried on three devices to no avail. I'll try again another day, but for now this is all I have. Our monthlong camping and visiting trip was delayed by a day due to refrigerator failure. A six…

It seems I’m always in a state of catching up. Why did I think retirement would be different? It’s been nine years and I’m nowhere near caught up! Covid behind me, off we went to Minnesota and Wisconsin to visit Chuck's midwest family. We headed up to Petenwell Lake to the new lake house. Where…

I finally tested negative for Covid, just in the nick of time. Once a year our art society sponsors a three night non-instructional retreat and I was afraid I’d be missing it. The other good news was that Bryant, Sammy and Chuck, as well as visitors Blogless Marsha and David all escaped contagion. I was…

Note: once again, depending on my phone for posting, the typeface and photos are glitchy.  While in Iceland, it was a disappointment to miss the Northern Lights by 15 minutes. I had seen green aurora previously in Edmonton from a distance and was hoping for something more impressive. Who knew it would be so spectacular,…

The dreaded C-word caught up with me despite seven jabs of the vaccine. Of course I was in a high risk area, a cruise ship. Thank goodness it didn't hit until several days afterwards or I could be writing about cruise quarantine, but no there's doubt as to its origin. We made the decision to…

The trip to California covered the family portion in the last post, this one’s dedicated to the friends who visited this year. First up were our camping pals, Mack and Rika. My favourite part of their visit was our hike on the ladder trail of Painted Canyon, with Mari and KC,  as well as all…

The magic of blogland – the ability to shift back and forth in time. I have yet to figure out my photo issues, so we're off to the more recent past when the entire family was together in California. We always have good intentions to get a family photo and this year is particularly important…