Maggie and Levi - Globetrotting on their own....

Things have been moving quickly since we've been back to the US, especially since we've arrived in North Carolina after our road trip last Summer. Maggie and Levi were invited by some dear friends we met in Israel to be in the wedding of their oldest daughter. Of course, Maggie and Levi jumped at the opportunity to make another trip back to Israel and see all of their friends there again.

They also invited their cousin and his wife, Corey and Alida to make the trip with them. So they met in New York City 'on their way' and spent almost 3 weeks traveling around Israel and hanging out. 

It was a bit nerve-wracking for us, partly because our kids were traveling to the other side of the world, but also because we wanted to go with them!! Of course, no complaints at all from Maggie who was able to see her boyfriend who she has been maintaining a long distance relationship with (with a visit in the middle), so she was ecstatic to see him. He's the dashing British bloke in some of the photos. 

They had a great visit and the wedding went well. Corey and Alida also fell in love with Israel. Maggie and Levi were the 'tour guides' showing them some spots they really liked from our time there. Places like the dead sea, En Gedi (a nature walk with waterfalls) and of course, Sea of Galilee. They also spent a lot of time walking and walking and walking around Jerusalem. It is really an ideal city to walk because the weather is usually amazing, and you can hardly throw a falafel over your shoulder without hitting a archaeological site of something incredible. 

Here's a couple pictures from their trip: 

More pictures at: Picasa photo album

Off to sea!

I know......I know.......I can hear it already. "You get a real job and the blogs come to a screeching halt!"

On the boat!

It has been a busy few weeks, with Levi and I working 50+ hours a week, working to finish details on the fishing boat(s), but no excuses! I know some readers are wondering what we've been up to, here in Alaska.  There has been an endless list of things to prepare and fix. I mentioned the net mending in the previous post, and all is well, nets are mended and on the boats. 1/2 mile of net is a LOT of net (not to mention it weighs about 5,000 pounds dry.....more when it's wet!) There have been loads of other projects as well, but it seems we have gained on it, and the list is finally short.

One of the chores to get ready was an all day trip to Anchorage (Erik and Emma) and filing 6 carts with enough food for 2 1/2 months' long season. We're planning on being more than a little hungry after fishing all day, so we need our 'sustenance' :)   Most of the food stays in Homer, and when we need to re-stock while we're out there, Linda sends it with the fish tenders that come and go from us, bringing our catches to the fish processors. The tenders are huge ships that literally vacuum the fish from our boat (sometimes straight from the net) into their hold and make the 10 hour trek back to town. So we can just keep fishing!

So, we are planning now to leave the day after tomorrow, and are heading out to an area on the way to Kodiak Island, about 10 hours from Homer by boat. It should take us one overnight trip and then we'll be waiting for the schools of fish to start "running"....schooling back to the same creeks and rivers where they were spawned 3-4 years ago. 

Levi and I have been like sponges, learning everything we can about the whole process, and are excited to see the boats start filling with fish. We get paid a percentage of the season's catch.....so the joke is: NO fish will escape on our watch!!

Meanwhile......Miles and the girls are enjoying a bathtub at their disposal!

Corrida de Toros (The Bullfight!)

Last Sunday, Levi and I had a uniquely Spanish adventure:

We'd been trying to find a local bullfight event for Levi's birthday and we found one about an hour and half back up the coast from here. It was in a seaside town/city (300,000) called Fuengirola. So, we rented a car and headed up there, hoping to find tickets. They wouldn't let us order or purchase before hand, you had to be at the bullring, so we headed out in hopes for the best. 

It was a pretty incredible experience! We made it up to the town and hunted around for awhile to find the bullring. It is in an older section of downtown and not a lot of signs to get us there, so it was good practice using our Spanish and trying to narrow down where it was. 

Once we'd found it, thankfully, there was no trouble getting tickets. The ticket booth was open, although of course, the cheapest tickets (30Euro) were already 'sold out', so we only had to pay another 5 Euros each for ours. You can buy either 'Sol' (Sun) or 'Sombrero' (Shade) tickets and the price doubles to sit on the side not facing the sun, but we figured the sun would set halfway through the event and we'd have at least some shade. 

We had a great authentic meal at a bar/restaurant next to the bullring, completely lined with posters and framed photos of bullfighters over the years. It was really a cool spot, hanging out on the terrace with the locals and tourists eating and drinking, waiting for the event. A few locals were hanging out at the bar, sipping their beers and trading lies. 

It was a leisurely meal and we wandered to our 'seats' (our spot on the concrete steps) and waited for the start. 

The whole affair uses a lot of tradition and there is a full brass band playing along with the event and the different phases of the event. Without going through the gory details, and culminating with the killing of the bull, it as at the very least a pretty amazing peek into the Spanish culture and history. 

Of course, none of the bulls left the arena alive, and we were both a little shocked at the bluntness of it all. We were a little quieter on the ride home and glad we were NOT bulls in Spain. 

Certainly not a day either of us will ever forget!

~Hems

Dig in Israel!!

While we have been here in Israel, Maggie and I have gotten the chance to help out with an archeological dig!! A couple of months ago the Grafmans (an American family we met) were here on a visit to Israel and asked us to go with them and we did!!

We drove out to the valley of Elah  (where David killed Goliath,)  and started digging around 7 am.  While we were working we found tons of pottery, bones, and glass that was thousands of years old!! It was really exciting to be able to find all of this stuff that other people have left behind, it makes me wonder what people will find of mine someday.... :) We were given small shovels and brushes and were told to dig away at a wall that was found, possibly part of someone's home. The history was incredible! They had been digging at this site for about 2 months but we were told that it would take about a year to label and classify everything that was found...crazy!

 At around 9  we had breakfast with the rest of the volunteers , which was cereal, pudding , bread, hummus, veggies, coffee and juices!! All of the food was provided for the volunteers that were working there.  At around 11 we had some more snacks. All of the volunteers were from America.  

We finished work at around 1,  then started the drive back to Jerusalem!  We were COVERED from head to toe with dirt. It was an awesome day! 

Levi

Masada

Hi! This is Levi,
For the past week we have been traveling around with our good friends Larry and Toni Sullins. One of the places we went to was Masada, which is located near the Dead Sea.

Masada was first built by the Hasmonean king Alexander Janaeus (103-76 BCE.)which is approximately 650 meters long and 300 meters wide. In 37 BCE a man named Herod ruled over Israel and  knew that Masada had a geological advantage located in the mountains!! It could be used as a strong hold. so he took this place as a winter home and as a strong hold against his enemies,he had luxurious palaces built as well as store rooms , cisterns, and a casemate wall. Herod died in 4BCE. And in 66 CE a revolt began between the Jews and the Roman empire. Israeli rebels seized Masada and made it a fortress for all Jews who needed refuge. in 73 or 74 CE. The Roman tenth legion was ordered to take Masada from the rebels, but this was not an easy task. the romans began to build a huge ramp of dirt and reach the people that way. After a few months of surviving on top of the mountain, Eleazar Ben Yair ( a leader of the Jews) gave a speech in which he suggested it would be better to take their own lives rather than become prisoners of the  Romans, so by the time the romans got to the top of the mountain, everyone was dead except for a woman and five children that told the romans what had happened.. :(

since we started out on our sailing adventure we have seen tons of old cities, ruins, caves, grave sites and so much more. Even though Masada was another city in ruins, it was truly amazing!!! We took a cable car up to the mountain top, and hiked around for about 4 hours, it was a lot of walking... :) 

After we hiked around we took another cable car down the mountain. The weather was not to bad, around 80 to 85, hot but still bearable and quite enjoyable. :)

After we got down from Masada we went to the restaurant in the main area, and had a full Israeli meal, Falafel, Pita and Hummus bread, salads, and Juice smoothies!!! (accompanied with Classic Coke Cola. :))

Thanks for the amazing visit Larry and Toni we love you guys.. :)

Levi

skater up's and downs

I have learned that sometimes we take the simple things for granted, like grabbing your board, getting in your car, and driving to the skate park. At the start of this trip, I didn't really think about how big of a deal skating would actually be!!

When we first got to Greece, I tried to put my skate-board back together, since I had taken it apart for the trip over. I soon discovered that my little sister Zoe(4) was playing with and somehow lost ONE of my wheels.  Easy enough...right?  Wrong! After searching 3 different islands in Greece for a skate shop or even a parts store, I had given up hope of finding new skate wheels... :(  

When we got to Turkey, I began looking AGAIN....only finding 1 Sponge-Bob skate-board in a toy store. I almost bought it just for the wheel!  We then got to Marmaris and settled into a marina, I had my

workin' for a livin'

Here's Levi's winter project. He's been playing guitar and mandolin since we moved on the boat, and has been improving quite a bit over the past year. He's always been very musical, playing the fiddle, and has slowly expanded his skills. 

He's also met some friends since we've been in Jerusalem, Tom, Rachel and Becky from England, and Viivi from Finland. They had an idea one afternoon to 'busk' Play on the streets downtown and see what kind of money they could make. 


Well, things went well and they usually spend one or two nights a week wandering downtown playing for tourists or locals. It's a fun study of people to see who comes and watches and donates. They usually average about $40 an hour for the four of them, unfortunately, they usually play for an hour or two and then all go spend it for pizzas and Cokes. I guess there's worse things than eating for free!