Yippee - Myles is here!!!

Hey guys,

Well, it is official. I'm a grandma, or g'ma as I prefer to be called. That's Geee---ma! to those uninformed in Southern. Myles Griffin was born Monday night at 8:50, and weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 15 oz, after he'd already peed and pooped! I'm not sure where his little mother put him, but his last ultra sound don just before he was born showed a cramped up mess! Below is a picture of the new grandboy with his Mom and Dad, Nicole and Ryan.

This is dad getting ready to head into the delivery area. She ended up having a c-section, mainly because he was so huge and she was so tiny!
Grandpa Joe, Ryans dad, and his sister-in-law, the new Aunt Hannah. It was really cool. Right after he was born, the nurse wheeled him by where we were all waiting and we got to ohh and ahhh. He's about 5 minutes old in this picture!
We were quite a crowd outside the nursury window. There were about 15 of us!
He seemed to like Ryan's voice. And Ryan was, well, you see, in total love.

Hey, they put GUNK in my eye!!!! GUNK!!!!Gotta pose for the cameras little man.Can't a kid get some attention in this joint!!!
Oh, yeah, that's better. Hey guys!Got to get my close ups done.This bath stuff stinks! He seems a good natured kid, likes to eat like his cousin Jeremy, and has (to his G'ma) his dads features with his mom's expressions. I'm the only one who thinks that though. Everyone else says he's Nicole. But actually...he looks like a pretty cute baby to me. Yep, I'm pleased!

More later, and of course more pictures!

Earline

Grenada

Well, sort of...

The first picture I have is of the monkeys who live in Gibralter. I wasn´t brave enough to drive to the "Ape House" where they live on the Rock, so I figured I wouldn´t see them. Evidently they are the only primates in Europe. Little did I know that they like chocolate like the rest of us, so they come down and scavage, and showed up at my hotel as I was walking out the door. Here is a picture of one of the little guys, chocolate wrapper in hand!

I got to Granada yesterday and just kind of cratered. It took forever to find the hotel. I really have NO sense of direction, and I´m getting tired of being lost ALL the time! I drove to the street, then started looking for the hotel, and of course the map I had showed it on the opposite side of the road AND at the wrong end of the street! When I tell you the streets here all star into a plaza (think the intersection of Main, 20th, and Studemont) and you have some idea of how confused I was. I finally parked, but realized I was too far away, lost the parking card, had to ay for a full day, figured out the map sucked, and finally found the hotel...after driving around for nearly an hour. Did I mention the streets here are about 1 car wide! I was a wreck, and had the migraine from hell. So yesterday I didn´t leave my room. Once I got there, I was done. I took a nap, read, sewed on my fish, and just rested. It was actually hard for me to get out this morning (OK, actually after noon). I´m better now, don´t feel as lost, and actually rode the bus and got to where I wanted to go!

Where I wanted to go was Alhambra, the huge citadel palace here in Granada. Believe it or not, this is something I have wanted to do since I was in university the first time! The history here, and the beauty are incredible. The area started as a fortress, and us surrounded by walls like these...

It was also the main gate into the city, the adminstrative center for the rulars, and the palace. The beautiful plasterwork almost has to be seen to be believed.

At one time it was painted. Here you can still see some of the blue background.

Below is part of a courtyard called "Courtyard of the Lions". In the center it has a fountain surrounded by 12 Lions (these are being restored, so no pictures). The fountain pours into 4 channels, one on each side, representing the 4 heavenly areas of islam, and terminates in a fountain. So, if it were working, the whole area would be alive with the sound of water.

Around the courtyard are 124 marble colums, so delicate, and the plasterwork is incredible. The entire complex is built around courtyards, some paved with patterns of stones, some gardens, and most with some sort of fountain in the middle.

Here are some more views of the beautiful lacework plaster that is over the entire palace...

This special dome has plaster stars, and almost seams to swirl!

After the conquest by the Christian rulars, Carlos V ordered this room ceiling redone to suit his tastes...

Everywhere there is water. Below is a courtyard in an area called the Architects´s garden..

This last picture of the gardens is called the garden of water. It is incredible.

This is a shot of the main palace from the Summer Palace, on a different hill!

I have to say of all the places I´ve been, this is the first place where I wish I had come at a different time. The roses are just starting to shoot out, the gardens are just starting to come alive. This is a place to visit one late afternoon in the summer, when the air is full of the smell of roses and myrtle and the gardens are lit for nighttime, mysterious and beautiful. It was beautiful now, but imagining it like that...wow!

OK guys, enough for now... I´m here one more day, then I head up the coast. I may take off tomorow and go halfway, don´t really know yet, but it´s a long way up to Barcelona, so I may get started. Take care,

Earline

Finally caught up - Jordan at last!

I've got a couple of hours left on this internet card, so I figured I'd use them...and this computer loads pictures really quickly! So I'm going to catch you up, and show you the last of the pictures from the middle east. You guys have to know that these are only a tenth of the pictures I took, but at least you get the idea!

You know...I don't have to go back to Egypt. There are a couple of places I could go, and would enjoy them (Alexandria) but Egypt itself was not some place I really felt at home. Jordan was different. Part of it was the fact that, for the first time, I sort of knew the history. It's all biblical! It is amazing to travel through the place names you have known since a child!

For starters, I had a great guide. She, yes she, was too funny! She and I drove all over. She definately had a list of things for me to do, and was not about for me to miss one sight that could be found in Jordan! Since I only knew of Petra, this was cool with me! Below is a picture of the first thing she wanted me to see. Unfortuanately, I don't remember the name of the church, but this is a mosaic on the floor of the whole church center, showing all the important places in the area, meaning all the important places in the Bible! This, I think, was my most intriguing thing in Jordan. Petra was incredible, but this, so unexpected, was amazing!

Next we went to an ancient fortress. When you think of the crusades, and you see the movies, you wonder how 2000 people could live in a fortress. Not anymore! It was HUGE! and hallways, rooms, kitchens, chapels everywhere! Below is only a small bit of the fortress. You could see the defensive way it was built, with slits to ffire arrows and tunnels to pour hot stuff on your enemies! It was really cool, especially imagining it teaming with people!

After this, we drove to Petra. We drove in a fog, so that was a little hair-raising, but I think I've already told you about that! So here are some pictures of Petra. The first is the entrance...it's no wonder the place was lost for so many years!

Then of course...the treasury...

What I didn't realize, but should have, is that the city is enormous! The treasury is only the begining. There are tombs carved all over. The reality is that if it was dedicated to a god, or meant for a tomb, it was carved into the stone. The people lived in brick houses, which have not survived. So all we are looking at is tomb and temples.

After this, we went to Wadi Rumm, or the desert. I want to go back and spend the night! There is nothing for miles, and all I can think of is how huge the sky must be. We took tea at a Bedouin camp, and drove a pickup through the desert, stopping for photo opps! So here are some of the photos...

Our driver...

Random bedouins and their transport...

The beautiful desert!

After we went to the desert, I begged. We were so close to the Red Sea and Aqaba, that I wanted to see it...so my wonderful guide took me.

First my great guide...

Then the Red Sea. I know Israel is there, but I had no idea how close. Anyway, in this shot you an just see the sea!

And finally, on of the places which has enabled me to stay in touch with you. Thanks to all of them!!!!!

Hope you have a great week, I'm headed to Granada and a Turkish Bath!

Earline

Egypt...some more

It's been a while now since I could work on posting what I saw in Egypt, but they only had a 4 hour internet card, so I've got the time! After we were in Luxor a few days, we boarded a cruise boat to Aswan. It was kind of a different boat. It is VERY flat. The draft on the Nile is only 3 meters, or about 15 feet, so these boats only have a draft of 2.5 meters. They are really flat. The Nile is low now, so the ship we were supposed to take had grounded, and we were put on another one. We boarded a day before we actually left, and spent the first night tied up to the dock. The difficulty is scheduling the locks on the Nile, and ships wait for hours (as ours did) to be able to pass through the locks. We don't have a lot of room side to side. The ship has about 6 inches clearance either way! Here is our ship.

The Nile is really beautiful to sail down...

You get the sense not much has changed here in hundreds of years.

Once we got to Aswan, we got to sail on a Felucca, which was pretty neat. Again, really old design, but pretty efficient. You know, so often, sail boats have a motor, but not these. No wind...no sail!

I had some fun with T and his new friend the Drom...but then the Drom moved to Sweden, so T is friendless again.

Here is a picture of Ayman sailing the felucca. We took them everywhere. Here's T checking out the Nile...

And also looking at Aswan. There is an upper and lower dam. We could only go to the lower.

This is a view of the first cataracts. We stayed on the island, at the Movenpick, so we had to ferry back and forth to the city.

In Aswan, the last temple we visited was the last temple used...the Temple of Philae. A temple dedicated to the worship of Isis, this temple would have been underwater, and was moved from an island which is now part of the lake to a higher island. Literally, stone by stone. It was cut up, numbered and put together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

Here are some pictures.....

This would have been where anyone arriving would have landed. Here's the view from the river of the landing site....

Now for the pictures you have been waiting for! Yes, Virginia, Earline did ride a camel, AND have a live alligator dropped on her head! It (excepting the alligator) was on of the best times I had in Egypt! We took a ferry up the Nile a ways one late afternoon. When we had gone a ways, there were camels...and I rode one to a Nubian village. I can't remember if I told you alread that I'm pretty sure Nubia is where Dr. Seuss got his inspiration. The houses are all arches and wild colors. It was really neat. We had tea there, then of course I had to wear the alligator! Coming back down the Nile after dark was so peaceful. I laid on the roof of the ferry and just watched the stars come out. Now for the pictures...

Me on the camel...it standing was the hardest part!

Me riding the camel...

Me with the *&$#@ alligator on my head... Just a couple more, then I'll post this...of the sunset as we came back down the Nile. It was a great experience.

And I've got to say...it's amazing what you find just sitting around in the desert!
And just so you know it's really me taking those pictures...here's Earline....the fearless explorer!

Bye for now....