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Our
Journey Together Continues
The Black-Eyed Pea Party on Monday,
January 1, 2007
This is your invitation to our annual Black-eyed Pea Party on Monday, January 1, 2007. We are doing two seatings again at 1:00pm and 3:00pm. Friends, fun, Black-eyed Peas, and Cornbread, please join us for our annual tradition.
If you can’t join us, please write or call. Besides our tradition of sharing way too much information about us, we want to hear from you. Brag to us. We want to hear of all the joys and events that made your year. Our email and phone numbers are at the end of this newsletter.
Health, Home, Family
John and I continued our journey to better health. Although we didn’t make much headway weight loss wise, we didn’t gain it back and that is a plus. I kept up my daily yoga routine and my twice a week classes, with swimming and hiking mixed in, I’m in better shape than last year.
We’re now four years in our home on Tanglewood. It’s wonderful to come home in the summer, do a quick dip in the pool before heading out to other things. We are so comfortable here. Unfortunately, this summer we experienced a small set back, a fire in the guest bathroom. The short version ends, with Leticia foregoing candles during parties. If you want the full story, you’ll need to attend the New Years Day party to admire the new wallpaper.
***Addition, due to a few requests, if you really want to know about
the fire click here.***
Cats
After over 20+ years with us, we lost Whitefang, our black and white tuxedo cat. Yes, that is an amazing age for a cat. In September, she lost the use of one of her back legs, but continued to eat and function, just getting around more slowly. In October, she lost the use of her other back leg, would not eat and could not walk. John and I together, sent her on to her next life on October 24th.
We catch ourselves at odd moments missing her, like when we made cornbread for Thanksgiving. She LOVED cornbread. She messily enjoyed it (crumbs everywhere) every time she got a chance.
We do plan to get another kitten or stray in the family eventually. But for now, Scruffy enjoys being a single cat, with all the attention we can lavish upon him.
Finances & Work
John continued to rebuild his business this year. He’s taken on a new line that looks very promising for 2007. He continues to sell concrete supplies, everything but concrete.
I still Project Manage large web-based projects for Verizon. I admit I love the technology, the people and the scope of the work.
Vacation
The Solar Eclipse this year cut a path from Brazil across the Atlantic, across North Africa, the Mediterranean, Turkey, through Kazakhstan and on into Siberia. On March 29th, John and I caught the event in the Libyan Desert about 100 kilometers from Tobruk, just the other side of the Egyptian border.
Egypt
For Leticia, the first stop was Egypt. Since we were close to Egypt, I decided to make the additional effort to see what I’d only seen on the Discovery Channel. My friend Laura, from Verizon, decided to join me. Laura, ever the prepared planner, made this a great trip. Laura and I started out in Cairo, Egypt; we met up at the Mena House Hotel over looking the Giza Pyramids.
When I got back, many friends asked if I felt safe.
Yes, I did, Egyptians value their tourists and even keep separate
tourist police. The tourist police
were everywhere, as seen in this photo on the right.
We started out with a tour of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo. The museum’s collection now exceeds 120,000 objects. It’s like walking around a warehouse. The museum does not have enough room to properly display all the objects. Objects are explained with small index cards that were typed in the 30’s. No cameras allowed in the museum, so I don’t have any lot of pictures.
We took the tour up the Giza Pyramids during a sandstorm. Yes, March is one of
the best months for touring Egypt, except for the sandstorms. This storm only hindered us at that site. Other sites were closed. The overcast in this picture is not clouds, it’s sand.
At the back of the Khufu Pyramid is a surprising treasure.
A rebuilt Solar barge The "Khufu ship", a 43.6 m long vessel
sealed into a pit in the
Giza
pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2,500 BC.
This barge found disassembled in a pit, was reassembled and is now a
full-size surviving example of a solar barque.
The most exciting, frightening, adventurous aspect of
Cairo
is the traffic. I’d
experienced
similar traffic in
Lima
,
Peru
last year. A four lane road in
madness is converted to eight lanes of jostling cars, taxis, horses, buses and
pedestrians. Like
Lima
,
Cairo
does not have public bus systems, so private entrepreneurs step in with Vans.
These private buses, stop everywhere, to take people on, let them off,
many in the middle of freeways. I’m
amazed I didn’t see a lot of accidents, just a few scrapes.
We did a side trip to
Alexandria
, Laura found a Miss Debbie, an American ex-pat living in
Cairo
for the last few years. Miss
Debbie took us to the best shopping in
Cairo
, then up to
Alexandria
for a day tour. We toured the
Qaitbay’s Citadel, the new Alexandria Library and the
Montazah
Palace
.
We then boarded the Oberoi Sherazad for a 4 day
Nile
Cruise. On the
Nile
, you'll find the ancient temples in situ. Our
first stop; the
Temple
of
Luxor
on which Ramses II depicted his greatest military achievement against the
Hittites.
We
then traveled to the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the
Queens
and the valley of the Nobles. The
Valley of the Kings hold the burial sites of several ancient Pharaohs, where
some 64 rock-hewn tombs have been discovered, including those of Tut Ankh
Arnun, Seti I, Ramses III, Amenhotep II and Ramses Vl.
This area is DESERT!!! The
painting in the inside of the tombs for all Kings,
Queens
and Nobles were intricate and well preserved in the dry climate.
Temple
of
Karnak
is a massive site, while part of the
Temple
is restored; many disassembled pieces cover acres
of the grounds, like a giant 3-D puzzle waiting to be tackled.
The highlights are the 134 giant columns richly inscribed.
I’ve seen an animation of these pillars on the Discovery channel.
On site, you can easily image the grandeur of the 134 columns, painted
white with plaster and richly painted inscriptions.
We proceeded down the
Nile
and visited several other temples. One
of the best preserved was the
Temple
at Phildae. When the Aswan Dam was
built, the high water threatened the site, This temple was moved to a new
island. Where it was re-sited and
restored.
Italy
After
my tour with Laura, I met John in
Milan
,
Italy
to proceed on the next part of our adventure, our cruise with MSC Sinfonia.
We arrived a few days early to take in the Italian Cinque Terra region.
We stayed in LaSpezia, a charming city about 100km south of
Genoa
. 
While John toured the local
Farmers Market, I took walks through the famous Cinque Terre villages along
the coast. The weather was misty
and cool, but you could still enjoy the beauty of these paths and villages
built into the cliffs along the coast. John
and I plan to go back.
We
boarded the Sinfonia in
Genoa
, our cruise took us to
Naples
,
Alexandria
,
Tripoli
,
Tobruk
,
Malta
, and
Salerno
, near the Almafi coast. At
our first stop,
Naples
, Leticia spent the day in
Pompeii
touring the ruins of the city destroyed in a catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius
in AD 79 on August 24th. What you find touching in this tour is the richness
and detail of life you gather from all the structures and remains.
Things like the street of vendors, where even in AD 79, store owners
had bars over the entrances like today. Homeowners
had the classic “Beware of Dog” sign, in this case done in Tile in the
entrance of an elegant dwelling.
March 29, 2006, Libya
Eclipse Day, the reason for our journey.
Our planned site for the eclipse,
was 100 km southwest of Toburk, not
far from the Egyptian border. We
arrived in Toburk the evening before. Upon
entering Libyan waters, all liquor, wine and beer were locked up.
Libya
is a DRY country. The desert site
looked like the bottom of an ocean, you could tell that it had once existed as
seabed. Fossilized shells
littered the desert. Near the
coast the day started very foggy, but as we drove inland the fog disappeared
leaving beautiful blue cloudless skies, a day perfect for eclipse viewing. John
and I prepared for a sunny day in the desert with temperatures in the
high 70’s.
As we waited, John socialized with the locals, you may
have caught his debut on Al Jazeera. The
skies darken, But of course everyone was there for one reason, the Eclipse.
A beautiful two minutes of moon shadow, a 360 degree sunrise effect.
A sight to wow even the most experienced chaser.
Leptus
Magna
After
the eclipse we proceeded to
Tripoli
, the largest city in
Libya
. Near
Tripoli
lies, Leptus Magna, a very large abandoned
Roman
City
. The ruins here are extensive,
and in my opinion better than those found in
Pompeii
. Proper review of the ruins would
take a couple of days. The most
famous landmark is the Arch of Severius, named after an Emperor of Rome from
the 
region.
Of course, the one sight you cannot miss as you travel through
Libya
. The one many of my friends asked
me about, so, I included a picture of the man himself, President Khadafi, as
displayed at the
Leptus
Magna
Museum.
Other News
John and I are still together, working to create a better
marriage by working to become better people for ourselves and each other.
Thank you to all your kind words and support.
On to 2007
Hopefully 2006 brought you much joy and happiness. John
and I wish you well for the next year and beyond.
If you can, join us for Our
Annual Black-Eyed Pea Party (click here). If
we don’t see you on the 1st, please email, snail mail or call us.
We want to hear from you.
Email: Leticia:
Leticia@Ferrer.com
Email
John: John@Echols.com
Or
call us at 972-484-1856
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