My Blog Is MOVING...

I have used all the picture memory that this blog will allow so I have set up a new one so I can continue. Here's the address: jenniferbsblog2.blogspot.com It might take me awhile to get use to the updated blog area so hopefully it will look better and better. See you there!!

Kusadasi, Turkey

Day 6 This morning we loaded the bus at 8:00 a.m. and headed south towards the Mediteranean Sea! We made our first stop at Ephesus. What a FANTASTIC stop this was!! Two hours was good but we could have been there a few more hours; well, us adults that is! The kids were in awe also don't get me wrong, but they aren't as in to the history as we are. That's ok. It was the most interesting thing to walk around an actual city that was thousands of years old. The remains are being excavated even today. I can't wait to be able to post pictures so you can all see what I mean. Lunch was next and then a trip up the mountain again, this time to the House of the Virgin Mary. It was cool also. Not everyone agrees that this house really belonged to Mary the Mother of Jesus, but it I'm not going to judge. It is good with me. The next stop was a leather factory. They escorted us into a dark room with movie theatre seats and a small marble run-way in front of us. Next was a leather coat fashion show. It was sweet. I have never seen an actual run-way production before. Complete with music and dry ice. There were about 5 models, 2 guys and 3 girls strutting their stuff, showing off their beautiful leather jackets. Madison and Mr. Daggett got to model a leather jacket also. That was fun. The end of the day came with a drive to Kadusia, where tomorrow we will load the crusie ship and head out for Greece. It was a warm day today so everyone is excited for the cruise and the thought of getting a suntan. Teenagers! My ankles are swollen...on them too much I guess! Oh the bad associated with traveling....

Hello From Pergamon, Turkey

There was no internet in the last hotel so I couldn't post anything until now. We just got in for the day. It is 5:07 p.m. Thursday. It is 5:07 a.m. Thursday back home, and from my computer, it is 27 degrees! My lilacs will probably be frozen!! Ugh! The time has gone quickly here. Day 1 and Day 2: Sunday morning at 3:00 a.m. we got up from the hotel in Seattle and got ready and to the airport by 4:00 a.m. Plan B already got put into motion because very FEW of us had luggage that would fit in the container for an international flight carry on SO...most everyone had to check their luggage. It ended up ok, with no one's luggage getting lost along the way. The plane ride to New York was long and un-eventful. I stayed up so I could sleep on the next leg. And sleep I did! The trip from New York to Istanbul went quickly for me. We arrived in Istanbul at 10:00 a.m. Monday morning. We went to the hotel and then were on our own for a little bit. We all got on the tram and then had lunch, walking over to the Topkapi Sarayi Museum afterwards. We were without a tour guide for this museum but they did have some English printed on the signs. The museum held a lot of clothing and jewels and swords and such, that belonged to the 6th generation of the Ottoman Empire Sultan Mehmet. Shelley about got smashed by a police car as she tried to cross the street. They drive way too fast. She survived and was able to accompany us on the rest of the journey. It had been 32 hours since leaving Seattle and not much sleep to show for it, so she has a good excuse! We went back to the hotel after and ate dinner and went to bed to get much needed sleep. Day 3: The Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofia Museum were toured this morning. These are both muslim prayer mosques, with the Aya Sofia not being used as a mosque today, but a museum. Very interesting this muslim religion. The Hippodrome was next (a place where chariot races took place a LONG time ago) and then the Grand Bazaar, which had our kids fascinated....LOTS of things to spend their money on. The Spice Market was the next stop, which featured a pet market on the back side along with garden market, where you could buy any garden seed you wanted. The amount of people in this city is spectacular. The weather was on the chilly side and overcast so I imagine the amount of people out and about was not as many as if it were a nice day. The men were out at all times of the day while the women tended to be out only after the early afternoon hours. There was a Bosphorus Boat tour which went in the Darnel waterway. This is the waterway that links Istanbul, Turkey, Europe and Istanbul, Turkey, Asia. There were 2 big bridges that linked the continents with escavation going on now for an underwater tunnel for public transportation between Asia and Europe with another for private vehicles to be added soon after. The waterway was full of huge tanker ships, cargo ships, fishing boats, tour boats and little toy boats navigating amongst each other. It was cool seeing the city from the waters edge. Back to the hotel for dinner and then bed. Day 4 This day was devoted to a bus ride from Istanbul to Pergamon, with a couple of stops in between starting with Troy. This city really doesn't exist anymore except for left over bricks and walls that are left over from the abandoned city that was rebuilt 9 times before being abandoned. Fascinating. It also holds the trojan horse that was built to appease Poseiden to keep the city safe. The Greeks knew this and hid inside it and once it was delivered to Troy, came out and massacred the soldiers. The horse now has stairs built into the back legs and tourists can go up and poke their heads out of windows that are in the horses sides. After Troy the bus continued stopping in Pergamon at the hotel. We saw LOTS of olive trees along the way. Turkey is 3rd in the world for olive oil production. There were olive trees growing in every possible ground available, from backyards to clear up the mountaintops. We had dinner and then went to bed shortly after. Day 5 Can't believe how fast the time is going! This morning we got to sleep in until 7:30. We had breakfast and then headed to Acropolis (Greek for "Crown City") a town from a long time ago at the top of the mountain, where there was also Athena's Temple and Zeus's Temple, which has now been moved to Berlin, and an ampitheater (the steepest ampitheatre in the world). It was so incredible...beyond words!! Some of the walls are still there, lots of columns left over, a water reservoir and parts of Athena's Temple. Acropolis, being at the top of the mountain, had beautiful views of the valleys below so we got to see plenty of beautiful sights. A carpet factory was next on the tour. We got to see the actual ladies that make the rugs and all the work it takes to produce one. That was fun. Lunch next and then the tour guide, Mehmet, took us all on an extra excursion to a local public boarding high school. That was a fun time for the kids...to get to see other kids in a school setting. We got to go to a rehearsal for a Turkish Folkdance and the instructor let our kids participate and learn some of the dance also. I think they really enjoyed themselves. We then toured the Onyx Factory. We are now back at the hotel getting ready for dinner. We will leave at 7:30 tomorrow morning for Ephesas.

The Gum Wall....And Saturday Down......

We are in Seattle right now, at the motel, getting ready to relax before getting up at 3:00 a.m. to get ready to be at the airport at 4:00. Wow! We drove through snow on the Pass....April 2nd and snow. The snow turned into rain when we got to Seattle. The girls wanted to go to Pike Street Market to get rings. We went. We even got to check out the gum wall. Each of us added to it. This was a great sign that was outside the market.

This is on the street...an umbrella. How appropriate!!

Who can just walk by the flowers at Pike Street? I'm going to live in Seattle for a month when I retire, right down off of Alaskan Way, in a condo that has a balconey so I can sit outside my place with coffee and flowers. Nice huh!

This was everyone at the gum wall when we first got there.

This heart is Paxton's.

Pic of Pax and Kate in their matching 'rain' coats.

These guys were singing outside of the original Starbucks.

Couldn't help but take a picture of this sign!

Will be on the airplane all day tomorrow......

Friday Down.....

Here is the sunrise this morning. It was worth a picture! Also the field next to us just turned their water on. Nice to see all these signs of spring!!

No big April Fools jokes this year. Good thing.

Worked on schedules again at school. Kyle picked me up afterwards and we ran to Othello to give a potential customer a bid and then ran over to grandpa and grandma's house to visit. They were both looking super! Grandpa hasn't looked this good the last couple of times I have seen him so I was glad to see his old self. Went to my parents house and visited with them afterwards, before going home to get myself all ready for tomorrow! Enjoying the Mariner's Opening Baseball game tonight. They are down 1-2 against the Oakland A's. Hopefully that will change quickly!!

We are leaving tomorrow for Seattle.......can't believe the time is here!