Made it to Miami International Airport with time to spare

Well the scariest part of the trip is over. We made it by Uber from Ft Lauderdale to Miami. Took about 2 hours to go 45 miles. There were no accidents, no construction, and the driver didn't get lost or have any idea what the English Language was for. I've mastered Spanglish in the past 17 years so we got to Terminal H, not 8 as he decided we should have been dropped off there. We are in the Delta Sky Lounge and the cacaphony of languages makes me smile. America is an amazing melting pot, and for the most part we do get along. On our way to Paris then Cairo. I was a bit nervous all morning fidgeting and making piles of stuff I needed to pack. I was so hair-brained that Raphie had to repack my suitcase to get it to close and all the while patting my leg telling me everything would be all right. 300 Muslims were slaughtered last week in Egypt because a group of OTHER Muslims thought they were not observant enough. For years, Egrp ypt has been somewhat a light among nations, but this week it seems like the heavy hand of religious extremism is rearing its ugly head. Considering our last trip to Las Vegas to get away from the hurricanes only put us near the massacre at the Mandalay Bay, I hope this trip is a bit calmer I'm including a pic from a few weeks ago up in Minneapolis making pizza with the grandkids. Last night we had a concert with Al playing Twinkle Twinkly little star on his violin. I played violin for 18 years and if my mother was alive she would have screamed with joy.

Until we get to Cairo I remain open to new and exciting times Nate and Raphie

Did you hear the one about 2 gay Jews on the Nile?

Tomorrow afternoon we leave on a 12 day trip to Egypt, visiting some of the oldest excavations in the world. On most of our trips, we go to pretty safe places. All over the Caribbean, Europe, Israel, Peru, etc. on tours with at least some people we know and make friends with. Over the past few years my husband, Raphie has been transfixed on the Discovery or History Channel (I get them mixed up) with the show "Ancient Aliens. We did see images of spacemen, rockets and flying saucers carved into the planes of Peru, saw impossible engineering two stories below the Kotel (what is left of the 2nd Temple in Israel). So on our bucket list, before either one of us become feeble or political forces giin the Mideast blow up the relics we are going to Egypt to see the pyramids, the Sphinx, and cruise up the Nile (it runs north/south since it is below the Equator) on two separate cruises and three Egyptian domestic flights over a period of 12 days. Our first hurdle was applying for travel visas. I asked our tour operator if we should just not say we are married and travel as two 'friends' or 'cousins' since we both now have the same last name. We were told under no circumstances to lie on our visa applications so we put down married, spouses, both male. To our surprise the Egyptian Embassy in DC send our completed visas back glued forever in our passports. I don't know if that was a win or a set up. We'll know on Friday afternoon when we go through immigration in Cairo. I'll post pictures as I get them but for now this is all the prep we've done so far. Mostly we are both running around making lists, etc. Doing some laundry and buying more underwear and socks. This activity seems to be the most calming now.

(misa' il khayr) مساء الخ Good Night Nate and Raphie Klarfeld