Dang Snow!

The only ones that like it are the dogs and now that it's soggy and wet and mushy, they want it gone too. We had so much (20" at least) that even though it's been in the 40s for a couple of days now, the side streets are still impassable. We in Lake Oswego have been thinking of taking up a collection and buying a bleeping SNOW PLOW for our street. Dang! You'd think that they could get these streets at least passable by now - TWO weeks later!

Sheesh!

Merry Christmas!

Amanda & Friends

I had the opportunity to shoot a high school senior recently - a real animal lover. She has a horse, two dogs and a cat.....all very photogenic. I have posted her photos as I edit a few - on jamzphoto.com

60 Years

Yesterday was my folks 60th wedding anniversary. We celebrated in September however the real day (December 10th) was yesterday. When I was younger, I could never imagine being married 10 years, let alone 60 years....and now I've been married almost thirty. Getting to 30 was hard - I wonder if the next 30 would be as hard?

The album was finished in time for the celebration. It was a huge project - the largest I've ever undertaken. There are about (some used more than once) __ photos in this album. You can view the album at: jamzphoto.com under the "Album gallery".

60 years

I'm working on the largest photo project that I've ever worked on. I can't say too much about it because it's a surprise for two folks who have been married for SIXTY years. But it's hours and hours of hunting down photos and memories, scanning photos and slides and then assembling a (digital) album. But it's fun and I have a whole new perspective on their lives....and mine.

And appreciation for what my parents have given my siblings (3) and myself. More on that later.

I'm counting on them not reading this blog....

Did the Easter bunny come?

Saturday, March 1

We loved Egypt, the people, the pyramids and the experience. They can keep the camels though.

One last comment - we had wonderful tour guides in Egypt - Tarek, Michael and of course Philip, who kept everything running smoothly and on time. Tarek happened to be our group's guide and made the ancient history of Egypt meaningful, answered our endless questions about Egypt today, put up with our (OK, my) King Tut jokes, saved us from certain disaster, and entertained us. Thanks Tarek - we are all better travelers for knowing you.

Friday, February 29

As we started out our last day in Egypt, we visited the granite quarry where the Egyptians carved out many blocks and other structures (obelisks) for the pyramids, tombs and temples. A giant obelisk can still be seen which was never completed as it has a huge crack in it. Many of the marks can be seen where the stones were hammered. These large stones were pulled over to the Nile river where they were 'floated' to their final destinations. It's very difficult to imagine how this could be accomplished as these rocks weighed tons - and the tools (hammers) were very primitive.





After visiting the quarry we boarded a small ferry boat and motored to the island temple complex of Philae, dedicated to the Goddess Isis in Upper Egypt.
This structure was dismantled and re-assembled on higher ground about 500 meters from the original site through a worldwide preservation effort. It was threatened by the rising waters of the High Aswan Dam.

After lunch we said goodbye to the Sonesta St George (our ship) and on the way to the airport back to Cairo, we had a look at the impressive High Dam. This engineering marvel was built by the Russians in the 1960s, creating the world's largest artificial lake which provides irrigation and electricity for all of Egypt.

Does this look like the cat that ate the mouse?




I'm still amazed at all the donkeys and carts. In Cairo.



Before heading back to Cairo, we stopped at a shop where alabaster is carved from stone. The vases and statues were beautiful and very transparent. I still had to provide some 'baksheesh' in order to take this photo. Story of our trip.

Thursday, February 28

Having arrived in Aswan, a prosperous looking town, we have another early start flying to Abu Simbel to visit the colossal Great Temple of Ramese II. Although a very short flight - it was a very early flight and many had dozed off as we arrived at the airport in Abu Simbal. I guess the pilot may have too as we came as close to a crash landing as I ever had - but it woke everyone up. On the return flight, we happened to be on the same plane with the same crew - the pilot received a round of applause when we landed a little more smoothly at Aswan. We had a beautiful day - with the most vivid blue sky - perfect for photos.

The Great Temple of Ramses II is a massive monument commemorating triumphs over the Nubians, Hittites and Syrians.
The gargantuan size of this structure and the mammoth feat of engineering that reconstructed this temple on high ground is very impressive; it now looks out of the Nile waters amassed by the Aswan Dam. When the dam was built the entire structure was dismantled and moved upwards 60' and then put together again. On the back side, the reconstruction is visible. However - there is no clues when viewing the monument or when touring the tomb, that it is in a different location from where it was originally carved.




It is the furthest south that we go on this trip. The neighboring Temple of Hathor, which honors Queen Nefertari, a beautiful Nubian queen who wed Ramese II as a political peach keeping tactic; she becamse the favorite of his 37 wives (!!) and the mother of his successor.

After battling the 'sale people' to return to our bus and the airport,
we flew back to Aswan and returned to our ship. From the air, we could see the vast waters created by the dam. According to our guide, at some point when out in the water, neither shore can be seen.


The weather has heated up - probably into the 80s and a group of us decided that a sail on a felucca might be peaceful and cool. It was both - although once they sailors had us all captive....they brought out their wares. Still - it was very enjoyable.

Wednesday, February 27

Uneventfully, we sail down the Nile through an area that is considered a bit risky security wise. The Brothers of Mohammed are still considered active in this area. At Edfu we went ashore to visit the Temple of Horus, built around 237 BC., and finally finished 200 years later. Recognized by archeologists for its unique roof, the mysterious Temple of Horus had been completely buried by desert sand until its excavation in the mid-19th century.

At night, a group of us visited the lighted Temple of Kom Ombo with our flashlights. This temple has an unusual group plan unifying two adjacent temples, one dedicated to the crocodile-headed Sobek, god of fertility, and the other dedicated to the falcon-headed Horus, the god of the sky.

The other group of us succumbed to the Pharoh's revenge. (unfortunately, no photos)

Tuesday, February 26

We arose early (again) to try and beat the hordes of tourists headed to the Valley of the Kings and Queens, where Pharoahs and their families awaited immortality. We drove deep into the desert where there was nothing green or that looked remotely alive. Instead of fine sand, there were rocks but the rocks and cliffs were beautiful in the early sunlight.
These tombs, once cleverly hidden, were designed to resemble the passage to the underworld. the hieroglyphics that adorn the walls still spring to life with vibrant color. We visited King Tutankamun's (King Tut's) tomb, an ornate burial chaber with many treasures for the afterlife, which was left undisturbed for 3,000 years. We also saw a mother and son's tomb in the Valley of the Queens, less impressive (of course?) than the king's tomb.
One amusing service provided in Lexor (and in Cairo, we found out later) is the delivery of fast food - McDonald's, Pizza Hut, etc. The delivery vehicle is a small motorcycle with a little red box on the back of the motorbike. We considered it.....briefly.....
nah!
Driving outside the city of Luxor, our bus met up with many donkey carts carrying harvested sugar cane, one of the main crops of Egypt. Once in a while we saw tractors however sugar cane, for the most part, was hauled using donkeys. In addition, I was surprised to see thatched roofs - not so much on houses, but on shelters used for the animals.

While we are visited the valleys, our ship left Luxor and met us at Eslan, where we had to wait to go through the locks.

Monday, February 25, 2008 Luxor

The Long Goodbye to Cairo and Hellow to Luxor in 'the Valleys of the Tourists' (Valley of the Queens and Valley of the Kings)

(this is a jointly written blog between JoAnn and I as it's getting harder to remember what happened day to day and also she writes much more eloquently than I do - Jamie)
3:30AM came awfully early (our breakfast call)-just as the street merry-makers across from our hotel finally settled down. As the sun was coming up, we flew up-river on Egyptian Air to Luxor, about 500 miles to the south of Cairo. Luxor in the early morning was beautiful and cool with dessert and tropical flora. We could sense the difference in pace (from Cairo)as we left the plane and even before we left the airport.

Spread across 100 acres, the Temple of Karnak is the very old palace of the Royal Egyptian family. Composed of 20 smaller temples and shrines, it has a great hall of pillars designed with floral motifs and an entrance processional lined with statues of lions. The front was flanked by an obelisk (which used to be one of a pair - the other now resides in the Place de la Concorde in Paris) and a statue of Ramese and his daughter.

Luxor grew out of the ruins of Thebes, which was once the capital of Etypt's New Kingdow (1550-1069BC). We were dwarfed but impressed by the gigantic columns - kind of like being in the Sequoias. Built by many pharaohs, succeeding pharaohs changed the anems on the statues to their own, once they took over the throne. Karnak (kind of makes you think of Johnny Carson, doesn't it?) was built as a temple and chapels to Amen (the God in Southern Egypt) rather than the sun god, Ra.

After th eTemples of Karnak and Luxor, we visited the Lusor museum, which includes the treasures of the temples and tombs, including a couple of mummies. One looks lke the next as far as JoAnn and I are concerned. One of the mummies somehow (stolen) took a detour to Niagara Falls, Canada but has since been returned to Egypt.


Now we have embarked on the Sonestra St George, which is a fairly luxurious ship and our home for the next few days. The showers are even more impressive - more about that later after we figure out how to turn on the water.
After lunch on the ship, we visited Luxor Temple. I was surprised to see that excavation is still going on at so many sites that we have visited, including Luxor. I guess that was my ignorance. Construction started on the temple in 1414BC by Amenhotel III with additions made by succeeding rulers (including Alexander the Great) until 323 BC.

Because of our early rising, we were exhausted and after dinner, decided to call it a night as we still had to figure out the showers. I was sidetracked by the belly dancing in the bar (photo op!) but only managed to take a few hundred photos before succumbing to exhaustion.

When I got back to the room, Bill said that he had figured out the shower controls however managed to get soaked while explaining them to me...of course it was my fault. Ha! Wish I'd had a photo of that Kodak moment.