Whew! We were almost song stumped. A grandchild or two have said, “there is not a song for everything, Grandma Jelly “. (I think I’ve mentioned that before) For a couple of days I thought that might be so. Then, it all came to me.

The song is really called “April in Portugal”. The English title is “Whispering Seranade”. Bing Crosby was probably the most famous one to sing it. “I found my April dream in Portugal with you. When we discovered romance like we never knew….And madly I said, I love you”… Too soon I heard you say, “This dream is only for a day”, That’s Portugal and love…in April”. Does anyone remember the song?

One of the first things we did in Armacao de Pera, Portugal was to remember how to cook and do our own laundry, without a dryer. It’s been quite a while for us.

It’s like riding a bicycle.

There is one food item very popular in Portugal that won’t be cooked in the Harris household. They are too fun to watch when scuba diving.

The next item on the get-to-do list was to decorate for Christmas. We just happened to have a nativity from Bethlehem made from olive wood in our suitcase.

Our first week we did absolutely nothing but rest and watch a sailboat or two go by.

We had not unpacked our suitcases since July 25th and we were ready. Our view is absolutely amazing with these guests coming to see what we have to eat each day, so we weren’t in a hurry to go exploring.

The day we named our guest Jonathan, this quote came up on my phone.

This is where we have landed for the month of December, the Algarve of Portugal. It’s the southern most area of Portugal. The Arabs gave it’s name “Al-Gharb” meaning “the west” when it was the westernmost possession of its empire. They called themselves the Moors and ruled in this area for more than 500 years. Many of the Portuguese words have an Arabic origin. Portugal declared its independence as a kingdom in 1140 with its first king, Alfonso I.

During our travels Jay has become an olive oil connoisseur, so our first outing was to an olive farm. We learned so much about olives, pressing them into oil, what it takes for their ratings, and the correct way to taste. Now Jay is really a connoisseur. If you are ever wondering what to get Jay for a gift, olive oil. However, never flavored. We learned flavored oils could be rancid.

There are many artists in the Algarve of Portugal.

Just like many of the European towns we have experienced this year, celebrations are important and anyone can join in.

The town’s decorations are so beautiful in their simplicity.

Next on our get-to-do list was to remember the day of the week so we could pick up Niece Becky from the airport on time. She is with us through Christmas.

We began a 1,000 piece puzzle thinking it would take all the day’s we are here to finish. Why I thought that with three high achievers in a house, I don’t know – it took five days instead of the twenty-one for the three of us to complete the puzzle.

Back to Toys-r-us for another.

As the grandchildren would attest to, we always like a good puzzle and I like an art project during the Christmas season. Puzzle, check. As for the art project – we waited for Becky to get here to begin gathering 200 shells just in case we needed that many.

Our first official outing with Becky was a boat ride viewing the caves that are inside the gorgeous cliffs we see from our deck.

I did a little exercise on the beach waiting for our boat to be ready.

This past weekend was my birthday. The three of us began the celebration with a yummy breakfast by Jay.

….And a road trip, spending a night in Sintra, then Lisboa (Lisbon) the next day visiting castles, palaces, and seeing the beautiful sites of this area. Sintra is the home of one more Game of Thrones fortress. (It’s feeling like we might need to watch this series when we get home.)

We walked approximately 15,000 steps-76 floors, before dinner and enjoying the Christmas decorations in Sintra.

Lisboa reminded us quite a bit of San Francisco, only much cleaner. The city is built on seven hills using finiculars to go up and down the hills. The big bridge reminds us of the Golden Gate. It has an area like Union Square decorated for Christmas. The differences would be Lisbon has castles, forts, cathedrals, and a large statue of Jesus overlooking the city and bay.

Portugal is unique in our travels. We didn’t do much research prior to getting here nor while we’ve been here. The people are very kind, however not very talkative, so we don’t have people stories.

We hope you enjoy our pictures. Most of all we hope during this holiday season may you find your time of celebrations with others joyous. May you be able, as the writer of Jonathan Livingston Seagull says, to see beyond the limitations of your eyes. May you see and understand how to fly with love and kindness during this Christmas season.

Blessings, Jay and Kelly and Niece Becky

We are back in the blogging business. Our last post wasn’t quite complete when I had to publish. Come to find out we had a certain amount of gigabytes and we exceeded it with the last posting. Not being a great techie, it took a few days to figure out what was going on and how to add more gigabytes.

Before I begin sharing our next leg of our journey, there is so much more of Israel (the pictures that didn’t upload) we want to share. Especially during the Christmas season we can’t talk enough about this area of our world.

Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus. The population is approximately 20% Christians living in our little town of Bethlehem. We were told Israel is building apartment complexes and practically giving them away with subsidies if you are Christian in order to build the population back up. Although the Muslims, Jews, and Christians appear to be living quietly together, there are pockets that are not. Billboards with not very nice things being displayed by a certain sector of Muslims toward the Christians near the place where the church of the Nativity and a mosque sits. Even though the percentage is low, our Palestinian guide told us the mayor still has to be Christian and a certain number of seats on their city counsel has to be Christian.

King Herod the Great, the villain of our Christmas story, was considered a visionary of grand buildings. He used these massive building projects to strengthen his relationship with the Romans. He built Ceasarea into one of the most amazing seaports.

In the Masada, King Herod built a fortress on top of a platea. At the end of this plateau were luxurious bathhouses, swimming pools, storehouses, and cistern holding millions of gallons of water for this very dry desert area. It was too massive and overwhelming to get great pictures. Here is a model and the view on top and the plateau.

The Masada bathhouses, mosaics on the walls, and other areas.

Although we didn’t make it to Jericho, King Herod designed huge building projects there as well.

In Jerusalem, he rebuilt the temple on the temple mount on which the Dome of the Rock currently sits.

On display at the Israel Museum is a huge replica of old Jerusalem in King Herod’s day.

Herod might have been know as a visionary and builder in his day, however all his works are massive ruins and piles of rubble now. He lived to honor only himself. That never lasts. As I’m thinking through all that, I have to ask myself, what is lasting in my life? How about you, what is lasting in your life?

Jaffa, an ancient seaport south of Tel-aviv, is a very artsy town these days. That has not always been the case.

Jaffa was known as Joppa in the biblical days. It was first mentioned in Joshua 19 as a part of the tribe of Dan’s inheritance. Then, again in 2 Chronicles with the building of Solomon’s temple, “And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”

Peter did some of his works right here in Jaffa, such as restoring Dorcas (Tabitha’s) life. See Acts 9:36-43.

My favorite is Jonah’s story. This is where he left for Tarshish. After swimming with them, I think the fish that swallowed Jonah was a whale shark.

As I mentioned in the previous blog my favorite place was the garden tomb. Of all the places we visited that week, I could imagine all that is written in John 20, “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb…..”

“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?'”….

Oh, just sitting in this area, I can see Mary here with Jesus. Our guide shared with us that the protestants and catholics have a difference of opinion regarding where Christ was crucified. Golgotha for the catholics is at the church of the Holy Sepulcher. Although not outside the walls of old Jerusalem now, archeological reviews show it was at the time of the crucifixion.

Golgotha, in Aramaic means “place of the skull”. The Latin word of skull is calvaria and in English, Calvary. This is Skull Hill where the protestants believe the crucifixion took place.

Some of the hill has eroded away, although an older picture of this area shows the skull shape in the rocks.

What we have learned is this country is cities built upon cities, built upon cities, built upon cities. It’s difficult to determine exact locations of many historical sites. Our guide pointed out the two places are about 500 meters from each other. For us, the exact location is irrelevant.

Here is what we know, Christ was born in a little town called Bethlehem. He lived a sinless life, sharing the Good News that, He, the Messiah, has come just like the scriptures foretold and prophesy fulfilled. Christ was crucified and raised from the dead for us, one sacrifice, once and for all. That’s the best news.

There is so much history in this country the size of New Jersey. And history continuing to be made as we watch our world news. Just this year with the relocation of our embassy in March is a great example.

Israel’s army consists of young men and women right out of high school. Men serve for three years, then college. Women serve two years, then college. It would appear the big talk in high school would possibly be, “what division do I want to serve and what do I need to accomplish to be considered and accepted?” Even while serving, these young people continue their historical education of their country by touring with guides their museums and national sites.

The miracle of missiles being fired constantly at these people and intercepted as they continue to live their daily lives. Everyone in the country is given a gas mask. Each building has a bomb shelter. Children are taught about the sirens just as our children are taught about tornado warnings or earthquakes.

One miracle war story our guide told us, Syria was invading Israel with numerous tank on one major front. Israel had one piece of artillery back then, an antique cannon. Israel fired the cannon and hit one of Syria’s tanks. Syria thought they had underestimated Israel’s army when the tank was hit, so they retreated. The antique cannon is still siting in the same spot which is in the front yard of an Israeli home. (We drove by it, however I couldn’t get a picture of the cannon)

God’s chosen people – He still has His hand on them.

Shalom and Blessings, Jay and Kelly

Israel, the country where people such as our patriarchs, King David, Jesus, and his disciples walked according to much archeological research. You have to use your imagination when experiencing this area because this is land where a city is built upon a city, upon a city, approximately five times.

Our hotel in Jerusalem is just a block away from our new embassy. It’s the only picture you can take. Jay had to show the pictures to see which one had to be deleted. Great stonework.

Good to be close after staying in Tiberias and hearing the Israeli air force flying about 500 feet over our heads. (A few people in our group have video of them flying over.) The headlines read: “Israel Strikes Gaza Strip Targets in Response to Rocket Fire ” -“Israel struck a series of military targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Wednesday in response to rockets fired from the Palestinian enclave” the Israeli army said.

Jay and I have never been participants of a group tour. We’ve heard horror stories, however we felt this area of our world, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel were places to have a guide. We had the best group – thirty-nine of us from Canada and the US. After fifteen days with these wonderful people, it was difficult to say goodbye.

Israel, where does a person begin? This might be the toughest blog to write. I feel an enormous sense to make sure I get this all correct. So much information has been given to us over the course of this week. So, I’m asking for grace as you read.

Since the Christmas season is upon us, let’s start at the beginning – “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. – Luke 1:26-27

The Church of Anninciation is believed to be the place where Mary lived and the Angel Gabriel appeared to her.

Luke 1:39, “Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit…..Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.”

The church of St. John the Baptist where all the above scripture is said to have occurred.

In a little town of Bethlehem, Christ Jesus our Savior is born. Bethlehem is located over the border of Israel in Palestine.

Luke 2: 4-7, “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

I wish I could say this was one of those places you could have a moment to soak in the significance this place holds in our lives. But I can’t. We were pushed and shoved and yelled at to keep moving. Ugh! This is Bethlehem! No room at the Inn! And still, there was no room in the underground to honor baby Jesus.

However, this is a fun piece of information – the Pope has ordered that a peice of the whole manger located in Rome be relocated to this church on Saturday, the day after we were there. What a celebration that will be along with Bethlehem’s Christmas tree lighting.

“There were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. The angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’ They went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.” – Luke 2:8-16

We were told that at night the shepherds would find caves to keep their sheep and themselves warm. This is a cave in the shepherds field. It is also the area of Boaz’s (the book of Ruth) fields.

Since we mentioned Ruth, let’s go back to the Old Testament for a moment. One of my many favorite Old Testament stories is Elijah confronting Ahab on Mount Carmel in I Kings 18. You have to get your Bible out and read this great story all the way through, you will love it.

“When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” He answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals….So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel….” In verse 27, Elijah is just taunting Ahab’s prophets. However, God really shows off that day. This is the spot.

“When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, ‘Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.’ Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. He came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. And the men of David said to him, ‘Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’ Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men, ‘The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.’ So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.” – 1 Samuel 24:1-7

Cave #4 of 12 where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered. We have an amazing story our guide told us regarding the scrolls we will be happy to share when we get home. Just ask sometime.

Speaking of Dead Sea. If you get this close you have to go float. Happy Thanksgiving!

Capernaum – a place mentioned several times in the Bible. “And leaving Nazareth he (Jesus) went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.” Matthew 4:13

“When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. – Matthew 8:14-15. You can see in this picture a city on top of a city, etc. A modern church has been built on top of what is believed to be Peter’s house.

The Sea of Galilee, which is really a lake. So many stories of Jesus all over. This side is where Jesus gave his Sermon of the Mount. Looking up from the water near Tabgha, this is one of the few places I could imagine how it could have been.

The church of multiplication -where Jesus fed the 5,000. And Jesus appeared to Peter after the resurrection.

“I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” – Matthew 16:18

Fishing was the industry back then. We took a boat out on the Sea of Galilee. When you are out on the waters you can see how quickly weather changes here. Although we had a gorgeous morning, we had to go to the other side to have calm waters. I can see how the seas became rough. “‘Let us go across to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat,…just as he was. A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. – Mark 4:35-37

A little Kate and Leo moment.

Eleven miles from the Sea of Galilee on the eastern end of the Jezreel valley sits Mount Tabor – the Mount of transfiguration. “After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. Behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.'”- Matthew 17:1-5

Jerusalem, the last city on this tour has holy sites everywhere. Kidron Valley, Via Dolorosa, judgement hall of Pilate, Stations of the Cross, Upper Room, King David’s Tomb, Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Here is the Western Wall.

Mount Moriah which is where the Dome of the Rock sits. It’s the holy site where Abraham offered his son, Issac, as a sacrifice.

At the foot of the Mount of Olives is Gethsemane.

The garden tomb was just as we had imagined. I wish I could add those pictures, however I have just run out of spaces on my blog site.

There are so many things we could share about this area of our world, I can’t help think of when John says in 21:25, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” I believe it.

Shalom, Jay and Kelly

We began our ninth month away from home in Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.

Cairo, where life truly began according to some of the ancient Egyptians. Coincidentally, this is the week that life as we, Jay and myself, know it all began as well. Twenty-five years ago the life changing hockey game occurred and how our love story began.

The Egyptian people are so friendly and welcoming. As we were walking along the Nile river, I told Jay I might need to put my hair up in my hat. People are staring. The next thing I know we were stopped so they could take pictures with me. Jay asked if they wanted him in the picture too, they said no. So then Jay asked if he could take a picture. Then an older women just stop and began talking to me in Egyptian while holding my hand. I love these people.

The downside is their horrible air quality. With over 27 million people in one city and 20+ types of transportation, the air and traffic is bad.

Before we began walking Moses’ steps, Jay got to sail a felluca boat on the Nile while watching the sunset.

The Pyramids are truly one of the wonders of the world especially when you hear the history of how they were built 4,500 years ago. It is an engineer’s dream come true to calculate what all was done to build these wonders. As we approach the Christmas season, I realize how wise the wise men really were.

The Egyptians love their history. The Copic (Egyptian Orthodox) churches were amazing to see. One has a cave where they proclaim the Holy Family stayed for several months and showed the bed where Jesus slept as a baby.

Mount Sinai is one of the most important sacred places in the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religion because it is the place where a covenant was made with God and His people. This is the one place where these religions have a commonality.

Mount Sinai is between 7,400 and 7,500 feet high. We got up at 12:30 a.m. to hike up the mountain, first on camels, then on foot the remaining way. It is a six hour journey round trip and zero celcius at the top.

Attention neices, meet Aladin, our Egyptian representative. He’s single, born August 18, 1993, educated, and very polite with a great sense of humor. Uncle Jay has his WhatsApp number. Aladin met us at the Cairo airport and traveled with us the days we were in Egypt.

Here is the sunrise as we were coming down the mountain with a crecent moon peeking out in the second picture.

This is the suggested place where the golden calf was erected. Just turning from the hilltop a calf is etched in the rocks.

Exodus 32…..7 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'”…..Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets….And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain…”

The site of the twelve wells with our fun group : “there were twelve wells of water and seventy date palms,” and that the Israelites “camped there near the waters”...Exodus 15:27 and Numbers 33:9

A little sidetracking from Moses – the Red Sea. The mountains in the background is Saudi Arabia. Susan Boyd, we are so close, but still so far!

You might take the girl out of the oil business, however you can’t take the oil business out of the girl.

After many hours of border crossings, we made it to Jordan to see Petra. WOW!!!! The closest we can come to the beauty of the sandstone would be in Zion or Bryce National Parks. How in the world did the Nabataeans build this city?

Jay decided to go walking without our guide. So, I found another who wanted to hang with me and take selfies. I don’t know where his owner was, but he just came up from behind and snuggled up to me. Whenever Jay saw the picture, he asked, “Who’s the most stubborn”? Brave man!

This little local guy, Mohammed, was bargaining with me. He was trying to trade neck wear. We didn’t trade but we had some great conversation before he had or go have dinner. His sister lives in Chicago apparently.

This is Angie Link, a singer on YouTube. She was filming another worship song when we met her. Her voice is as pretty as she is.

Back to Moses – the waters of Meribah in Numbers 20. “Now there was no water for the congregation…and the people quarreled with Moses…then Moses and Aaron went to the entrance of the tent and fell on their faces. The glory of the Lord appeared to them….and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.’ And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him…Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, ‘Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?’ And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them. These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and through them he showed himself holy.”

Here we are looking over the promise land on top of Mount Nebo.

“Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, and He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day.”Deuteronomy 34:1-6

The highlight of these past days was at the river Jordan on the Jordan side where I was asked to perform a baptism. What an honor. We all wished we would have known we were going there and had clothes to change into for a dunking, and I wish I would have been better prepared with my words. However we know it’s not about our clothes, the dunking, or being better prepared with the words to say. It’s about our heart for Jesus.

The footsteps of Moses reminds us of what serving our God really means. Day in and day out Moses was serving God’s people. Day in and day out Moses served wholeheartedly. We probably won’t be responsible for a million plus people, however we know God equips us for the service He has for us.

May you serve well and wholeheartedly. Blessings, Jay and Kelly

…or Slovenia, Bosnia, or Montenegro? We borrowed the phrase from t-shirts in the souvenir shops.

Balkans – we were told it meant blood and honey, however the dictionary says it is a Turkish word meaning mountains. We can tell you there are many mountains, there has been much bloodshed through war, and they definitely produce quite a bit of honey, “met” in Croatian.

Our times between the larger phases of travel have been adventures of their own. Our drive through a few Balkan countries have been just that. It’s not difficult to see one country in a day or two due to their size.

Slovenia was at the height of their fall colors. If you didn’t known any better you would think you were in New England. Absolutely gorgeous! I think fall might be my favorite season.

Our first souvenir was a ticket for not stopping at the first market in Slovenia to get the toll pass to drive in their country. The people stamping our passports upon entry did not share that information. About 1/10th of a mile from the market were vans with police using binoculars to see who has the stickers, and they pull over the ones who don’t. You don’t get the opportunity to walk over to the store (that’s in the parking lot where you get to park to get your ticket) and get the sticker. Instead, you buy the sticker from the police inside the vans and pay your ticket. A great way to learn the language by reading a ticket.

Lake Bled in Slovenia is located in the Julian Alps. There are two castles, one in the middle of the lake, the other on top of a hillside which dates back to 1011, the German king, Henry II assigned it to the Bishop of Brixen. Of course perched high on this hill, it was used for defensive purposes.

Bled is also where the Slovenia Olympic rowing team trains. They have been very successful in many of the Olympics.

Slovenia is apparently famous for the cream cake called kremsnita rezina. Prior to getting there, all the locals we chatted with finished their sentence by saying….”and you have to have the cake”. We absolutely agree. We walked all the way around the lake to work off the cake.

Croatia is where we spent most of our time beginning with Zegreb, the capital. Every day at noon a cannon is fired from the window of the Lotrsca tower in the upper part of town. We captured this amazing picture.

Zagreb has many underground tunnels, however only a couple are open to the public. They were built during WWII and also used during the Croatian- Serbian war in the 1990’s.

The older buildings throughout Croatia are architectural beauties.

One of the museums we visited was the War Museum. Alex, the curator and a journalist, spent over an hour with us sharing so much of the Croatian war history.

As we were touring this museum we saw a photograph of a young Serb sitting on a corner. Behind him is a pile of rubble which had been his home prior to leaving for battle. The irony – this is what he came home to after helping destroy many Croatian homes. All that was going through my head looking at these pictures was the 1969 song, “War” by Edwin Starr. (Jay said, how do these songs come up in your head?) “War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing…..War is something that I despise. Because it means destruction of innocent lives. War means a thousand tears in a mother’s eyes. When their sons go out to fight and lose their lives…..It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker. A friend only to the undertaker. War is the enemy of all mankind….War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing….”

Bosnia still has areas where the damage from the war is obvious. As one woman said, “Bosnia is not as scary to visit as it used to be. They have cleaned up a places of the war torn areas.”

Mostar, Bosnia knew the importance of their 16th century bridge and its symbol of reconciliation and coexistence of the diverse cultures, ethnic, and religious communities. So after the war with the help of UNESCO they rebuilt it using as many of the original pieces as possible. And the town’s cobble streets are beautifully designed.

It was very complicated for us to understand until Alex and others during our visit shared their experiences as teenagers and even younger during those times. Several times we have heard how complicated the history of this part of our world is. Children are told their history by their parents and grandparents even before they begin school. Many know about their descendants back to the 1500’s. That’s impressive since I can’t tell you the names of my great-great grandparents.

Sidetrack, Alex speaks eight languages. Our most common question we ask while traveling, and continue to be so intrigued by the answer, is how many languages do you speak. That’s the most so far. A Croatian waiter told us, “learning languages opens opportunities”.

We’ve learned a few words such as Bok = Hi; Hvala= Thanks; Med = Honey. Croatian is a really difficult language.

Croatia is one hot piece of property desired by so many countries. As I mentioned before, its history is long and complicated. Parts of it belonged to Italy at one time. It’s also been a piece of the Roman Empire. And before Yugoslavia it was a part of Hungary.

The Balkan countries were under the Yugoslavic socialist-communist kingdom when a majority in Croatia wanted out from under Yugoslavian rule to be an independent country. So in 1991 Croatia declared it’s independency. Then Slovenia along with Bosnia did the same later during the war that ended in 1995.

War, what is it good for….well in this case the stop of the genocide that was going on, and the independence of Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia was found. God certainly considers human life precious. It is a reminder of I Timothy 2:2, “Pray especially for rulers and the governments to rule well so we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity”.

The Balkans are full of rich history. Zadar is a town in Croatia dating back 3,000 years ago.

Pula is a town on the Istria peninsula having a rich Roman history. It has the only Roman amphitheater with all four sides still upright. Underneath the amphitheater are the areas where the animals and gladiators stayed. They have uncovered huge vases used to store their wines and olive oil.

The Temple of Diana dedicated to Emperor Augustus was erected sometime between 2 BC and 14 AD.

While in Rovinj, we experienced what was described in the Croatia Times as, “Croatia’s strongest “Jugo” (southeast winds) combined with torrential rains, causing high tides, floods, and traffic difficulties. Record waves in the Adriatic near 10.87 meters high. This was the third highest winds recorded in the past sixty years and exceeded 140km/h. We spent an extra day so I could rest. Just walking to dinner in those winds were unbelievable. We had no idea what was going on until the next day.

At the shore of the Adriatic sea are light panels which performs a light display at night.

In Zadar and so many of the walled old towns, there are so many beautiful old churches. Some towns, such as Zadar, have as many as fourteen in their walled areas. The cobble streets are gorgeous. The wall of old town shows three types of architecture from the Medieval, Venetian, and Roman times.

Any Game of Thrones people reading? All along the coast are areas where the series has been filmed. This is the Klis Fortress in Split where several parts of the series was filmed.

One of our favorite drives and walks was in the Plitvice National Park situated in the mountainous area of Croatia. There are not enough words to describe this, so we’ll just show some pictures.

We are selling our condo in Oklahoma City and needed a document notarized so we took a side trip to Prodgorica, the capital of Montenegro, where our US Embassy is located. A new event for both of us to enter an embassy.

On our way back to Croatia, we drove through Cjenia. This was the first capital of Montenegro and where all the old embassies were located. The road between Cjenia and Kotor is one of windest and dangerous roads we’ve ever been on – 27 hairpin turns with the road barely wide enough for two small cars. Thank goodness for low season. I can’t imagine being on it during high tourist season.

This is what it looks like on Google maps.

We decided to spend a night in Kotor and walk the wall before heading back to Croatia. There are around 70 switchbacks throughout the walled area. Jay ran several of them, however I’m still not completely well, so I managed walking 107 floors and 6 miles, out of breath most of the way up. (If you think of it, please pray for my ear. My left ear won’t clear and I’ve lost some hearing in it. And as of this Sunday morning, Jay is beginning to sound like I did in Africa.)

Our last stop was one of the hardest hit in the Croatian war, Dubrovnik. They have cleaned up their city very well. If you haven’t seen the youtubes of the war, you wouldn’t know it was hit so hard. Our innkeeper was sixteen when the war broke out. She and her family left for many months. That’s all she would share. Now it is a beautiful city with cats everywhere.

Traveling through Africa and the Balkans, hearing the local’s stories reminds us how fortunate we are to live where fifty states are united. To live in a country where there are no border crossings, customs, and tickets because you haven’t bought a pass to drive in one of the states. It reminds us how fortunate we are to live where we have a democracy, not a socialistic society. Socialism seems easier, having the government take care of our education, healthcare, etc.; however we have heard the stories from those who have lived where it doesn’t and didn’t work and where hyperinflation occurred. We have heard the stories of other countries coming in to give economic support and when they couldn’t pay it back properly, they are taking over their airports, their roads, and their natural resources that are there to support that particular country. More than that it reminds us of Ecclesiastes 3, “There is an occasion for everything and time for every activity under heaven. A time to give birth and a time to die…a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;….a time to speak and a time to be silent; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace;….I know that all God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking away from it. God works so that we will be in awe of Him.”

That we are as we travel, in awe of our Lord. Blessings, Jay and Kelly

……Buses, boats, helicopters, and of course, our trusted friend, our feet. The diversity of transportation to get around in Africa is endless.

In one day, via airplane, we went from 107 degrees, no wind, and dry as a bone in Zimbabwe to 57 degrees, 25 mph winds with rain and hail in Franschhoek, South Africa. Welcome to the south side of the equator and summer just on the horizon.

Pronounced, Fran-shook. It is the Napa Valley of South Africa, however and fortunately, not on fire. The majestic mountains shooting straight up from the valleys create a beautiful setting to sit and relax a bit. And the syrahs are pretty good. If you are a white wine taster, they say you would really love what is available.

In South Africa driving is opposite side, so it’s Jay’s turn to drive. He hasn’t been behind the wheel since Grand Cayman, in August, which is opposite driving as well. So far, so good.

This is Lovemore, a gentlemen from Zimbabwe who works at the Inn in Franschhoek, South Africa. When he heard we just arrived from Zimbabwe, oh, he became our best friend, hugging both of us everytime he saw us for three days.

There were three gentlemen at Reubens’s, a restaurant in Franschhoek, who were from Zimbabwe as well. They told us we brought good to their restaurant and made them very happy. There are so many top restaurants in this area, it’s hard to choose. Rueben is a celebrity chef in South Africa. Jay said it was the best steak he has ever had.

Since Jay said we don’t have enough room for all the Zimbabwe people I want to bring home, we decided to spend the rest of our Africa time in Camps Bay, a suburb of Cape Town, nestled at the base of the twelve apostles mountain range. Pictures do not do this area justice. This mountain range looks enormous. When you are sailing in the bay you can see twelve peaks, that’s where it gets its name.

With the extreme change in weather, quite a bit of my time in Camps Bay has been sick in bed. My not-so-great immune system has never liked the extremes and when I get too cold, I get a sore throat, which is usually the beginning of bronchitis if I don’t begin a strong regime of fluids and bed rest.

We managed to get a few days of taking in the sights of Cape Town. A trip here is not complete without the cable car up Table Mountain. It was a gorgeous day with great views and a few hours of hiking on the top before I needed to go take a nap.

I became out of breath just doing this little uphill. What a difference from a month ago, right? Thank you, Lord for allowing my immune system to keep up during the Camino.

When the clouds come it looks as if they are pouring over the mountain top.

Another must-see place is Bo-Kamp houses beautifully painted.

Cape Town reminds us of a much cleaner San Francisco. The waterfront is like the wharf. Just like the ferry to Alcatraz, there is a ferry ride to Robben Island where Nelson Mandala was in prison most of the twenty-seven years. Our tour guide was a prisoner for seven years until the apartheid ended in 1993.

We are 16,670 kilometers away from San Francisco.

Like San Francisco’s hearts placed throughout the city, Cape Town has rhinoceros.

The flowers are gorgeous here. Protea grows wild. We spent several hours at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. Master gardeners, this would most definitely be your happy place.

Our animals of the week is the African Penguin just hanging out at the beach. They were so fun to watch. Great swimmers, however pretty ackward on land.

Africa was a range of so many different experiences. A way to describe in one word would be diversity. Diversity in transport, diversity in temperature, diversity in food, diversity in animals, diversity in plant life, diversity in terrain, but best of all there’s love in all this diversity. As we wind up our time in Africa I would describe it as “Love in Diversity”. The people we have met show just that. Even the gentleman helping us find a parking spot at the grocery store gave Jay the biggest hug in the middle of the street. (I wish we would have gotten a picture of that moment.) Then came over to our car and began to share his heart and love of his country with us.

It reminds me of the young pastor in the movie “Chocolat”. He had nothing prepared for his Easter sermon, however this is what he said, “….I want to talk about Christ’s humanity, I mean how he lived his life on earth: his kindness, his tolerance. We must measure our goodness, not by what we don’t do, what we deny ourselves, what we resist, or who we exclude. Instead, we should measure ourselves by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include.” And in the end times to come St John, the apostle, said, “…I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there – all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing in white robes, waving palm branches, standing before the throne and the Lamb heartily singing.” (Revelation 9:9-10, msg).

That’s love in diversity.

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

We are in the heart of Africa – Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Africa. The people are some of the kindest we’ve ever met. Along with our driver, this was how we were greeted at the Victoria Falls airport.

We began this past week in a city that is Oakland times two for crime, Johannesburg, an average of 52 murders per day. It’s more likely you will be murdered than killed in a car crash. Here are some other statistics.

Other than that, it’s a great city.

For three days we didn’t venture far out of our compound except for a full day in Pilansburg Reserve to see the other wild animals.

The nests hanging from the tree are from a yellow weaver bird. Ben, our guide, said the male builds the nest for the female as she watches the building. After it is complete, if she doesn’t like the nest, she will tear it up and make the male build a better one before she lays the eggs. Hmmm….So, men with building projects going on for your ladies and we change our minds while its in progress, remember, it could be worse, right?

The next few days were spent in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. To see the falls we decided a helicopter was the best way. This is a very low flow time and everyone is praying for the rains to begin in November. It reminded us of home, when we were having our years of drought except they have these amazing falls and we don’t. If you can, please pray for good rains to come soon for these people…and animals.

Another great way to see the falls is to swim at the edge.

The people in Zimbabwe seem to be happy people. They are excited and want to work to feed their families. The government is horrible. The corruption on a scale of 1 to 10 is a 13, as one person described. And many do not have time or want to take the time to get into the politics. Their currency is really monopoly money. It’s not worth anything. The entrepreneurs are selling it to the tourists as souvenirs. We like to think of it as helping a family to buy food. Jay’s extreme kindness really comes out when talking to the locals. Hey, George, what investments can we do with this?

Except a one inch stack of these bills won’t even buy a loaf of bread. Many of the locals barter with their goods instead of using currency, or they use US dollars.

When we are visiting, the men seem to chat more than the women. They love to tell us their names to see if, first, we can say it back, and two, if we can remember. I am trying really hard knowing how important it is for them to here you say their names. Some will tell us their tribal name, then how it is translated in English. Some of the names are: one of our drivers name was Quiet. He didn’t know why except he was very quiet as a child, however he loves to talk to everyone now. We have met two named Happy and Happiness. Another is named Newone (pronounced New One) He was the first son after five daughters. There was a young man selling art pieces named Tomatoes. Our servers at dinner one night were Darlington and Precious. Precious said he was named that because his parents thought that of him when he was born. And another named Innocent.

We took a walk across the Zimbabwe-Zambia bridge in 100 degrees (it’s a dry heat) one late morning. A couple of Zimbabwe young men began walking with us and having wonderful conversations. They stayed with us about twenty minutes sharing about their children, how the Chinese government is stripping the country of their natural resources, and how corrupt the Zimbabwe government is. A wonderful visit. We kept wondering why us? I thought maybe they liked talking to an old woman from America. And then it happened. They pulled out their jewelry they were wanting us to buy. One was trying to convince Jay, another trying to convince me. The guy talking to me finally left, then the one with Jay was hitting us hard with the stories. So, difficult, however when you buy from one, five more, at least, come follow you with their goods and stories. That part is hard. These guys could give lessons to those who sell timeshares. We fed five families that day because of their stories as they sold us stuff we don’t even need. Some are quite good artists in their medium of work as well. They all appear to just be trying to survive.

The Zimbabwe sunsets are gorgeous, especially cruising along the Zimbeze river seeing the hippos peek out a bit in the water and giraffes and elephants come for an evening drink.

These guys were our greeters when we were walking to the boat.

One day we had a safari on the Chobe River. This is a point like four corners in the US. Four countries meet, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia. We stayed on the Botswana side and saw more animals than you could imagine. Our guide, Leroy, said lucky days like that are rare. Lions mating fifteen yards from us (Not showing that picture) and elephants playing in the water were the highlights.

Our next few days were actually staying in the bush, Hwange Reserve. Hwange is the park where Cecil, the lion, was shot illegally using a bow by an American dentist, and received so much media attention in 2015. (We won’t share the full details of the story on this blog, however ask us one of these days when we get home, we’ll share a bit with you.)

For those three days and nights I would like to call it camping in the bush since we didn’t have air conditioning or internet, and there were big spiders however Jay just stares at me when I say that.

Our guide, Jullian Brookstein, is a guide’s guide. He is fourth generation Zimbabwe and loves the bush, I think, more than anyone could. His reputation in Victoria Falls is one who’s knowledge is enormous. He told us he knew from a small boy that this was what he wanted to do and kept that as his goal in life. Jullian shared what is required to have the guide license he has. His license number is 156. Very few finish, what I imagine as a Navy Seal regiment, to acquire this particular license.

Here’s our small world story – Jullian is the best friend, since childhood, of the brother-in-law of our friend, Susan, who I had the privilege of presiding over her marriage to Ed this past June.

Jullian’s wife, Ashley, put our wonderful itinerary together while in this area.

Every animal from birds in the air to crocodiles and anything else in the water, Jullian can give so many details of their way of living. Also, he could name every bush and tree as well. Just a small piece to that “Bootcamp/Navy Seal” Zimbabwe guide training. If any of you are entertaining an idea of safari, this is your guide, Jullian Brookstein Safaris. We have his contact information to share or you can find him on the internet as well.

Not only were we on drives, he let us go on foot during our safari. Believe me, I was right behind him with that great big gun he carried for a “just in case” situation. Jay had a good laugh watching me step in the exact same place he stepped. My goal was to not see a snake since he described cobra, boas, and yes, an occasional black mambo had been seen. We met that goal too….no snakes.

Here are a few things saw: An elephant around five years old had survived an attack from the hyenas. They had taken its trunk and tail. As Jullian described in detail, this is the hyenas normal way of trying to take a little one down.

Prior to our last hour out on safari, we saw more male lions than female which is very unusual. Nine different males, two of those, we saw twice, and six female. The three males in the next picture, Jullian described as a coalition. They are three and four years old and if everything goes well for them in life, they will stay together and manage a pride or two together. Handsome fellows for sure and very loving toward each other.

Here is another gorgeous guy we spotted on the side of the road.

This pond, fed by a solar pump, had animals coming and going all morning. This is also where we saw the elephant without its trunk.

Thank goodness we don’t get termites like this. These termite hills are everywhere. Quite amazing, I think. They all point to the west.

A couple pictures captured while on foot.

This week’s title is from the Lion King song and means “lions and tigers” in Zulu, a South African language. There aren’t tigers in our area, however we saw and learned so much more we can’t begin to put it all in the blog. Thankfully, we have stories to share for when we get home.

This past ten days have felt like a paraphrasing of the Genesis one story beginning with verse three, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light. God saw the light was good. God called the light, day, and the dark, night.”

….”Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce vegetation: seed bearing plants and fruit trees according to its kind’. And so it was and God saw it was good.”

….”Then God said, ‘Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth across the expanse sky’. And God saw it was good. So God blessed them and said be fruitful and multiply…It was the fifth day. Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce living creatures according to its kind: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kind’. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to its kind, the creatures that crawl on the ground, and saw that it was good…..God saw all that he had made and it was good.”

Amen!

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

Our first French word learned while we traveled around France, and continuing to use this week in our travels to an island called Nosy-Be off one of Africa’s bigger islands, Matagascar. The internet and wifi is sporadic to say the least so pictures are barely uploading. PaShauns. If you close your eyes and just listen to everyone talking, you would think you’re still in France.

It all began with our temperature being taken just as we were walking into the Nosy-Be airport. Please ignore the twenty-hour-traveling-hair.

We have never seen poverty like we saw on the ride from the airport to our hotel. It was an eye opener and a bit scary at first for me to be here.

My mind was racing thinking, “what in the world did I get us into? I can’t believe we have one full week here. I’ll never make it.” When we arrived at our hotel, it felt somewhat better when I saw a good restaurant inside, the dive shop next door, and the pool on the second floor looking over the ocean. Of course, Jay wanted to explore the whole island, however I turned into a scardycat, I think, and said not me!

It doesn’t look too bad out our hotel window.

Our sunsets each night from the second floor pool area were gorgeous.

And a full moon this week.

We didn’t do well with our conversations here. The locals in Matagasgar speak French and Malagasy. Everyone we have had an opportunity to have a decent conversation with says Matagasgar is a very difficult country to visit if you don’t speak French. We concur.

We didn’t do very well with the French language the week we were actually in France. We know bon jour, merci, au revoi, avocat (avacado), ananas (pineapple), and we learned patience. As you can see in the lunch picture we didn’t do well here, no avacado or pineapple. We thought we ordered for lunch just a plate of shrimp and a plate of fries. After ordering they brought Jay a fresh whole fish and wanted to cook the whole thing for him. (You could probably get 15 – 1″ steaks from the fish.) I wish we would have been able to take a picture of the fish. I suppose this meal was better than in Spain when we thought we ordered spaghetti and got consumme which was pretty much clear broth.

Here’s our lunch chef in her kitchen.

This little guy was our breakfast companion one morning.

Their currency, an Ariary, reminds us of Monopoly money. Its value is .00027 to a US dollar. Our diving and hotel was $3,400,000…..AR’s. We’ve never bought anything for three million before. So here’s the math problem for this country….How much in US dollars did it cost to stay and dive in Matagasgar? You can breathe, George Barron, we haven’t drained our savings along with someone else’s. So keep on doing what you’re doing with it, please.

The average income in Matagasgar is approximately $68/month. I’m sad to say that sex trade is here, legal, and obviously in the open. Jay and I have watched older men picking up young girls every day. It is that blatant.

We actually watched it from our room window on the side street. As Jay said, “He definitely is not her uncle”. Ugh!!! As we walked the beach at sunset, one of the bars is a place it is happening. The girls were in their bikinis dancing on stage. Ugh, again. Another reminder of Thailand. Jay wants to give each of these cute young girls $68 and tell them to go home to their family for a month. However, the one thing we learned in Thailand is you have to go to the demand, the men coming to these parts of our world for this purpose. There are probably five young girls coming on to the street for every one you take off. It makes me sick and those of you who went to Thailand with me know what I want to do to those men. One of the many sad stories here is the political officials and police officers are some of these young girl’s first customers.

Changing subjects…..

Here are a few other common things you see as you walk around town.

Cleaning the beach outside our hotel.

Traffic jam on main street of Ambatoloaka, Nosy-Be.

Dozens of wooden fishing boats on the waters.

Shopping from my new friend, Angela, on the side of the restaurant. The merchant women are not allowed to come up on the deck of the restaurants, however they can stand on the sides and stare you down until they get your attention.

Tuk-tuks are small taxis on three wheels. They do appear safer and not as fast than the one’s in Thailand.

We came to dive with the whale sharks, however due to low tide on our second day, our dive was at the Mitsio wreck. You can only dive this area during a morning low tide due to the heavy currents and low visibility on the other days. It’s about an 85 foot dive with so many lionfish to greet Jay, who did not get to bring his spear because the lionfish are indigenous. We didn’t get to take a picture either because water got into our gopro case. So, here is a similar picture of what it looked like for Jay. Imagine a 50 foot boat at the bottom of the ocean floor and this everywhere. Really big ones too! Jay wanted to hit each one with the soaked gopro since it was his only weapon.

Diving, at maximum depth, I had a couple of horrible, never-before panic attacks. Whew! They were tough. Then one other dive I was just about ready to abort it shortly after entering the water when the divemaster signaled us to go up. Yay! She did not like where we dropped in either. So, we climbed onto someone else’s boat because our boat was not watching for us. They carried us to the correct site. I told her, “I think I’m done”, but she convinced me I would be fine. Jay held my hand all the way down on quite a bit of that particular dive. I’m so glad she and Jay helped me through that one. We swam amongst a huge school of small barracuda. I thought they could be very large sardines. If you have seen the schools of sardines in the big aquariums, that’s what it looked like. There were other schools as well – yellow fish and blue fish. Very pretty. Glad I didn’t know they were barracuda.

Wish we could have gotten our own picture, however our gopro is still in a bag of rice. I think it’s a goner. Jay has hope it will work as soon as he listens to the YouTube on how to take it apart to clean it.

For two days of the trip we heard the Muslims call for prayer over a very loud speaker at all hours of the day and night. We don’t know why it stopped on Saturday night and haven’t heard it since.

Then Sunday while eating breakfast before our dives we could hear sweet singing voices coming from next door. It was a Catholic church we hadn’t noticed. It was packed and so many people sitting outside the door. Children everywhere. That evening the singing began again. So we walked over to see what it was all about and were greeted by these two. They latched on to Jay and the fun began the whole time we were in the church.

They loved touching my skin and hair and high fiving Jay. We might have been a bit disruptive, however no one seemed to mind. Pictures are blurry because they never stood still. At one moment they looked at Jay and said, “bonsoir, fotsy fotsy”. Translated: Good evening white man. I about fell over from laughing. Just before dinner I read an article that mentioned that phrase in Malagasy so I knew what she said. When we left they motioned to be picked up to give great big hugs. Oh my heart.

We named this blog “Patience” because that’s what these days have been about. After four days of language frustrations, a little fear from hearing some stories, anxiety attacks I’ve never experience before, so so and difficult diving, and the worst part, no whales sharks; Jay found Ivan, who spoke English, hallelujah!!!!

That’s me next to this beautiful animal and Jay photographing. She was so close we had to swim away in order for her to not touch us. At one moment we were eye to eye. Amazing! We saw six whale sharks that morning.

The day before was the most discouraged I’ve felt these past seven months. The whale shark was the sole purpose of this week. My hero, Jay, rented a gopro and found Ivan, who had a great boat captain, which made one of my dreams come true. By the way, the others in the picture with Ivan and me were on the boat with us. They are from Israel. So, when we go there we are hoping to catch up with them.

Not only did Ivan coordinate the whale shark excursion, we stopped at a little island off Nosy-Be for lunch and Ivan showed us around the village he grew up in. Ivan now has a bachelor’s degree in geography and hoping to get his masters one day. However he and his “Honey” (that’s what he called her) are expecting their first child in six months.

An older gentleman in the village splitting the bamboo and hand weaving fishing baskets with it.

We hiked to what they call “the Plantation” for Ivan to explain the growing of vanilla, coffee, black pepper, and elang elang flowering trees, used in perfumes.

As we were walking we met up with this little cutie playing with his water bottle built car on a string near the primary school house. He grabbed up Jay immediately, then the both of us.

Some kids playing a type of mancala in the sand with rocks, and shells. It’s pretty amazing how their little imaginations come up with ways to play.

To top off this amazing day, Ivan and his boat captain took us to snorkel with the biggest turtles we have ever seen. Gorgeous!

All we can say is God is so good to us and we are continually grateful for all He has for us. The verse that continually comes to my heart is Psalms 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” That’s what He did this day for sure.

If that wasn’t enough, our last day was spent diving, of course. The last two dives were comfortable and filled with schools of unicorn fish, a couple types of large clams, and several different types of star fish.

On our way back to shore, we came across the biggest whale shark of the trip. Many of us jumped off the side of the boat to swim with it. Jay stayed on and took some video and pictures above water. The crew was even in awe of the size.

I think God was just showing off on our last day with his wonderful creation underwater and in the sky, and his amazing way He loves us.

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

This past week we have been in France driving from the English Channel to the French Riviera and points in between. Our first few days were spent honoring those brave men who fought for freedom on June 4, 1944, also known as D-day.

Two hundred twenty-five men scaled these 90 foot walls after being dropped 4 kilometers away from the original planned drop zone due to bad weather. With grappling hooks, wet ropes and the enemy firing at them, they managed to get over these walls and find and destroy the 155mm guns that were aimed at the beach landing zones. All but ninety of the two hundred and twenty five men were either killed or injured.

They were met with these German bunkers built with six foot thick walls to house German soldiers, for ammo storage and to shield those huge 155mm guns.

This is what one looked like inside and outside.

The big 155 mm gun would have been pointing out of this hole toward the ships and beaches where the allied forces were landing, .

After the 155mm guns were destroyed, 156,000 men landed on the beaches of Omaha and Utah that day. In rough seas and carrying 85 pound packs, they climbed off the ships onto these smaller boats to get to shore. Crammed in like sardines, some didn’t even make it to the smaller boats. They drowned in the choppy waters due to missing their jump into the smaller boat and wearing the heavy packs on their backs.

One man tells the story of him missing the side of the boat due to the weight of his pack and how petite he was, when a larger and taller man pulled him out of the water and into the boat.

The bomb craters all over the beaches are huge. Jay is standing in one and there were many even larger than that one. That is what our men were facing when arriving at those beaches and climbing up those cliffs that day.

As paratroopers landed in the town of Ste. Mere Elise, the first French town liberated by the American forces, one paratrooper landed on the belltower of a German occupied church. The paratrooper was captured however escaped four days later he rejoined his division. The church keeps an effigy of the paratrooper with his parachute attached to the tower to remember how the town had been occupied by the Germans for four years and the allied forces rescued them from the tyranny they had been under.

This is a picture of what church service looked like after those days of taking Normandy back from the Germans.

I’m not a history expert at all. I might have slept through many of my history classes in school, however the stories we heard and read these few days are amazing and makes us even prouder of our country. This mission, Operation Overload (also known as Operation Neptune) might have been the greatest secret kept amongst allied powers ever.

In the two days we spent walking the beaches, viewing the sites, and reading the stories, we saw only one person taking selfies. Amazing in this day and time, right? This is an area of our world that is still respected and honored. I wish every American could and would visit. It will bring to life what our country, with our allies, did to help bring peace.

The memorial cemetery and all along the beaches are kept pristine, giving the deserved honor and dignity to our men, our women who served as medical aids and volunteers in the Red Cross, and their families.

President Reagan said it best at the fortieth Anniversary of D-day. “D-day saved a continent. We fought for freedom in Europe. We will always remember, we will always be prepared so we will always protect our freedom. If we forget, we won’t know who we are.”

Just as we stepped up to the memorial, our national athem began to play. All those you see in the picture turned to our flag and sang along. Then a twenty -one gun salute played through the speaker, and Taps from a single trumpet. Wow! Not a dry eye.

When we were at the pilgrim’s mass at the end of our walk in Santiago, the talk was on God’s providence. I’ve had some time to think about His providence while walking the Normandy beaches. Bible tools says this about God’s providence, “The word “providence” means essentially foresight or making provision beforehand. When applied to God the idea takes on a vastly larger dimension because God not only looks ahead and attempts to make provision for his goals, but infallibly accomplishes what he sets out to do. And because it is God’s governance that is in view, it encompasses everything in the universe, from the creation of the world to its consummation, inclusive of every aspect of human existence and destiny. Providence, then, is the sovereign, divine superintendence of all things, guiding them toward their divinely predetermined end in a way that is consistent with their created nature, all to the glory and praise of God. This divine, sovereign, and benevolent control of all things by God is the underlying premise of everything that is taught in the Scriptures.” I believe God’s hands were on this day and on this mission.

I’ll end this piece of France with an inscription written on one of the memorials that I feel says it all: “These endured all and gave all that justice among nations might prevail and that mankind might enjoy freedom and inherit peace.”

Whew! After those amazing few days in the Caen area, we began our driving across France. First stop – Claude Monet’s home of 43 years and his garden in Giverney.

After leaving Giverney, our navigation was set for Chamonix, France to hike a little bit of Mont Blanc when Jay looked at the weather forecast. Twenty minutes from Paris, Jay called an audible and we changed our destination to begin our chase for warmer weather. Of course we stopped in Paris for a couple of pictures.

Next stop Montpellier for the night and a few hours in the morning to look around.

Yes, that is sheep and their herder in the town square walking past us as we were eating breakfast.

We found ourselves a couple hours short of Cannes in Marseille. We dropped our car in a parking garage for a few days and began walking many miles each day, again. However, just around one large fun city this time. As camino pilgrims, it’s difficult to give up the walking. We used to think driving was a great way to see towns and sights, but now we know the best way is walking.

You see the little steeple way up on the hill, yes we walked there too. It’s the Notre Dame de la Garde.

We walked to see the Palais Longchamp. This was built in celebration of bringing water to Marseille via a canal. It took 30 years to complete the structure in 1869.

The views were amazing from so many sites around town.

If we were in a car we wouldn’t have seen all the fun things going on such as opera being pulled down the street or the marching band or all the street fairs including the Weber grill cooking contest.

As we were driving to our last stop we did a quick right onto an off ramp to see Saint Remy. This is where Van Gogh painted many of his greatest works while living in the institution.

Our last stop in France was visiting our friends Susan and Mustifa at their home in Divonne-les-Bains. Susan and I met our first day at cosmetology school in 1983. I have had the privilege of watching their children, Ebrihim and Alia, grow and now, Alia has a son. When we arrived we were surprised by facetime calls from both Ebrihim and Alia. Alia stood up to give us the announcement of number two is on the way by showing off her beautiful tummy. We couldn’t have been more excited for all of them. We are privileged to be called “Aunt Kelly” and “Uncle Jay” by these, now adults. They are such a neat family.

It has been so much fun staying up late chatting and getting caught up. God has truly gifted us with wonderful long time friends that you are able to pick up conversations where you left off no matter how long between visits. Mustifa and Susan have taken us to see some of the sights of Geneva and Divonne. It is a beautiful area.

As for Montblanc, well, this is the view from their balcony at sunset. So, even after the called audible near Paris, we were able to see it after all.

We’ve ended our time in France. It is a beautiful country with toll roads galore. (Just a warning if you should happen to rent a car and drive the country) And, look out all, Jay is loving the cheek kissing that goes on in France. It may become his new way to greet you when we get home.

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

That might be the highest I’ve ever jumped. And we still have our sticks.

Unlike the pilgrims in Medival times, we did not wear those shoes, therefore those are not our feet all wrapped up. Thank you for all your prayers. And thank you to Garry for all his planning on our Camino. If you are ever interested in walking, this is the person to call.

As we have walked this pilgrimage I have thought a great deal about St James, the apostle, a fisherman by trade, the brother of John, and son of Zebedee. He and his brother, John, were called “Sons of Thunder”, however both changed their hotheaded ways by following Christ. James, along with Peter and John, were Jesus’ inner circle. He saw and experienced things many of the other disciples did not.

It’s said James felt some discouragement with his ministry in the Galacia area, so therefore, went back to Jerusalem, and there he was beheaded. The first apostle to be martyred.

I find that very interesting about his ministry. How many times have I felt discouragement of a ministry I’ve been a part of. Have I ever quit? You bet, a few times for sure. How about you?

And yet, here are people, even today, walking the pilgrimage of St. James. His followers, way back then made this pilgrimage to honor this man who showed them “The Way”. What a legacy for a man who was discouraged with his ministry.

What is the legacy Jay and I are leaving for our descendents? What is your legacy going to be? Of course, to leave a legacy, it has to begin with what we exemplify to our families and others we are with on life’s journey.

St James made such a difference in enough people’s lives that they first brought his remains to an area that was important to him, then made a pilgrimage not to worship him, but to honor him. That’s a pretty amazing legacy.

Along with all the pondering we were able to do on this walk, we have had some interesting things to see and experience that haven’t fit in a particular blog. There have been many days we could have written a full blog, but we will save those stories to share when we get home. So, we are showing a plethora of fun pictures after a few statistics.

Top favorite towns: Zubiri, Burgos, Astorga, Portomarin, Foncebadon, Cee/Corcubion, and Muxia

My favorite phrase: “God created whole numbers, man created all others.”

According to Jay’s runners app, 38 days walking, 225 hours, 667.7 miles, 1,364,710 steps.

Other than the pig, we had some other animals posing.

Jay calls that one, “Sitting Bull”

The Sheepherder with his sheep by day. Matador Alfonso Eduardo Angel (Jay) when he’s not with his sheep. Ole!!

We’ve eaten some great foods. Some people say they have lost weight on their walk, we can’t say that. Breakfast is the important meal of the day. We read a list of common breakfasts at one of the bars one day: An American breakfast is eggs, bacon, toast. A Mediterranean breakfast is toast, tomato, and olive oil. A Spanish breakfast is chocolate and churro. Croissants are just a bonus for everyone.

Many salads to balance those breakfasts.

Lunch on our balcony after a great walk into one of our favorite towns, Portomarin.

Toured some old and interesting places in history. Such as “At the end of the earth, Mucia” The statue represents a wound honoring those who helped clean up an oil spill. The chapel in the back is the one in the movie, “The Way”. This is where Martin Sheen releases his son’s ashes into the ocean. The waymarker we are leaning on is the 0.00 representing we have completed our camino.

On the bridge at Orbigo de Hospital in 1434, a knight named Suero, held what may have been the last great medieval tournament. Suero challenged other knights to a joust because he had been scorned by his lady love. Suero won the tournament which released him from his prison of love and his gold bracelet is in the museum in Santiago. Today each year the tournament is reinacted the first weekend in May every year.

The Bishop’s Palace in Astorga.

We’ve seen some beautiful statues and fountains that continually flow which is hard to see for a California-Okie. Save the water!

A few pieces of scripture given to us along the way.

A few extra fun things along the way.

But it’s the people we have met along the way that will stay with us in our hearts. I think St James felt the same way about the people.

There are so many stories to share such as John from South Korea. We really became attached to him right off the bat at a pilgrim’s dinner. Jay asked to see his ID before he would pour him some wine. John then started kidding around with Jay. We miss seeing John.

The three Canadians and a Californian ladies. Our journey each day ended and began at the same hotel quite often. Janice (the one with white socks protecting her feet) was a casualty of the trail with horrible blisters. For several days she had to taxi to the next destination. There she would be to greet us.

David who built a rest station in the middle of nowhere for the pilgrims and had fresh fruits, cold drinks, and a comfy place to rest.

Frank and Emma from England. We saw them quite a bit on the trail. One evening after we had finished dinner and walking out of the restaurant, they called us over to their table to chat. We visited for another 1 1/2 hours. I was told by Frank if I put them in the blog, I had to say they are not Boris fans and they are against Brexit.

And Laila from Iran. She hasn’t been to Iran in quite awhile, however her parents still live there and she sends them money. Laila is a project management consultant and helps build process and procedures for large construction projects. Jay and Laila talked shop for two hours during our walk one morning.

Pamela, from Houston, who used to be in the energy pipeline industry. She will be meeting her fiancé in Paris and getting married as soon as she completes her Camino.

That’s what it’s all about, the people you come in contact with. Taking time and hearing each other’s stories. We’re all the same, just different countries with different languages. Just like whole numbers, we are all God’s creation. And, yes, I even sat with cyclists at breakfast at least one morning.

It has been forty-two days since we’ve been in an automobile. (So far, two months and one week since I’ve driven a car). So we think we can truly say it’s a feat complete with our feet and our hearts. Even though we have completed this camino, it is said whenever you complete one, it is the beginning of another. So, here we go, on to the next. Buen Viaje!

Blessings, and for the last time, Buen Camino. Jay and Kelly