100 Flights!

 

Recently Harold hit a milestone in his life. He flew on his 100th flight. We decided to start tracking his flights when it took five hops just to get him home from Guatemala. Since then he has traveled to San Francisco, Baltimore, Minnesota, Ethiopia, throughout Alaska and back to Guatemala.

Unfortunately we were not able to be with him on his 100th flight. He was returning from Elim on his way to Nome with my parents on this epic day. But they caught this great shot with the Bering Air pilot who was very impressed with Harold's extensive flying experience.

Can I just say this again? What a kid, what a kid.

~AnnMarie

Harold Had an Adventure

Harold returned yesterday from six fun filled days with his grandparents. They traveled to Elim (150 miles southeast of here) to visit my brother John. Harold's time in Elim was packed with some pretty awesome life experiences and many memories.



When we first saw Harold waiting for us at the airstrip, he was proudly holding this box. He wrote the content's description "Harold's Madolin" on the outside himself.



Inside the box was this amazing gift from his musician uncle.



Harold is very, very proud of his new instrument. He was running around the house getting ready for bed last night, as he ran past his mandolin he stopped mid-stride, pointed at it and laughed a wild, crazed laugh.



Elim is a great place to catch crab. My brother and his friend keep an active crab pot for a good part of the winter. It's because of them that we've feasted on a great many crab the past few years.

During one of our daily phone calls Harold told me excitedly that he had "axed" the ice to help get the crab pots free.



He also told me there were "18 crab inside!!!!"



Oh the crabby memories they made.



To add to all the excitement, the Iditarod mushers were coming through Elim during Harold's stay. Harold saw Dallas Seavey (this year's winner), Aliy Zirkle (second place finisher), John Baker (last year's champion) and a few other mushers pass through town.

Harold apparently became a Dallas Seavey fan and was hoping he would win. I asked if he was cheering for Aliy but he said, "Nah, I'm for the boy's team."


When John Baker was taking care of his dogs at the Elim check point, my dad asked him if Harold could have his dog's booties. Baker being the nice guy he is, said of course. We had to wash them to get rid of the sled dog poo (a souvenir I'm not as interested in having) then Harold's dog Bandit modeled how the booties are to be worn.



Now Harold and Bandit like to play dog mushers when ever they get the chance.

Harold returned from his trip a more worldly and knowledgeable person. I often look at him and marvel, "what a kid, what a kid."

~AnnMarie

Lalibela, Ethiopia

Lalibela was our most memorable destination and the highlight of our trip, other than meeting Tizita of course. Simply arriving in Lalibela was a treat.



The road coming into the town twists and curves up and down hills and valleys. Cliffs are scattered with homes and buildings and there are livestock and people walking everywhere.



Tourists travel to Lalibela primarily to see the rock-hewn churches. The 13 churches were made during the reign of King Lalibela in the 13th century. The churches were not built but rather carved out of stone. It took a true visionary to look at a huge section of bare bed rock and say, "let's turn this into a three story, elaborately decorated place of worship. Pick up your rock chippers guys and let's get carving."

The churches are, in my opinion, one of the great wonders of the world. They are every bit as impressive as the pyramids of Egypt. Not that I've ever seen the pyramids but I have a good imagination.



This is the view from the top of the Church of Saint George. It may be difficult to see the perspective here but these things are huge! You can see people in the shadows standing at the base of the church to get an idea of the size.



Here's the view from the base of Saint George looking up. This structure was the last one in the series to be carved and the most elaborate of all the churches.



Again check out the tiny people in the shadows to get a little perspective of size.



Inside there were columns, staircases, relief artwork, various rooms all carved out of solid bedrock. We were in awe.



The churches are connected by a series of tunnels and walk ways. This tunnel was long and completely dark for most of the way. We had to put one had on the person in front of us and the other on the wall to stay oriented.



Notice that Harold is barefoot. Any time we entered a church we took our shoes off as a sign of respect for the Holy place. Our tour lasted all day and we were able to visit all 13 churches.



For dinner we headed out to, Ben Abeba, a one of a kind restaurant still new to Lalibela. Frank Gehry eat your heart out man.



We arrived just before sunset to catch these spectacular sights.



We had a very nice dinner for about $15. The business is a collaboration between a Scottish woman and a man from Lalibela. The menu is small and a bit odd but surprisingly delicious. The very simple food was just right for those of us prone to "traveler's" stomach.

Our Ethiopian Tour: Days 1, 2 and 3

We arrived in Ethiopia well before our court date to adopt Tizita. We wanted a chance to see some of the amazing country we had heard so much about. Getting a taste of Ethiopia and it's culture will be very important in future conversations with Tizita about her birth country.

Day one of the tour began in Bahir Dar. We arrived by plane and were met by our local tour guide and driver. Throughout the journey we were impressed with the quality of our tour guides. They were knowledgeable, friendly, spoke excellent English and were truly enthusiastic about the information they shared with us.

Stop number one near Bahir Dar was the Blue Nile Falls.



After a short hike, we rounded the bend and came upon this view.



Once upon a time the Blue Nile Falls were even more impressive but due to a new hydro electric dam, the amount of water doing the actual falling has decreased. There's a lot of mixed emotions surrounding this but at any rate we found it a wonderful hike and a beautiful view.



I wonder if the cows appreciate the view?

Fisherman in a Papyrus Boat on Lake Tana

The following day we took a boat ride across Lake Tana to visit the monasteries that date back to the 14th century.



 

After our couple days in Bahir Dar, we drove 175 km (about 100 miles) to Gondar. The drives from place to place were just as interesting as the destinations themselves.



The list is endless of things one can carry on one's head. Our favorite was a stack of mattresses about 8 mattresses deep. Unfortunately I could not snap a photo fast enough of the mattress man.



Our driver bought Harold this goofy hat. All the guides and drivers seemed to enjoy Harold. With all the horseplay and goofing around it felt like we had two kids to keep track of!



The main attractions in Gondar are the medieval buildings. Medieval architecture isn't what you normally think of when you think of Ethiopia but as we discovered, this country is full of surprises.



The Rudstroms visiting the palace of King Fasilidas.

~AnnMarie

Seattle Too

On our way to Ethiopia we spent two days in Seattle to break up the crazy long journey a little.

Of course we had to go to the top of the Space Needle

to get this wonderful green screened family photo

and drink overpriced wine in plastic cups.



Being Christmastime and all, Santa was chillin' at the Needle as well.

And then we saw the Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile, that was fun.

Lost in Translation

We were surprised to find that many people in Ethiopia speak English quite well. English is taught as a class in the elementary grades then high school classes are taught completely in English. Despite this, English is still people's second language and a few translations are, shall we say, creatively interpreted.



Who can say, "run on sentence"? This was some very helpful information about why we absolutely cannot pay for our hotel with a check.



This system of lock and key was brand new to us. The doorman demonstrated and there were these very helpful instructions and yet for some reason we struggled every time we tried to get into our room.



Warning: This toy may lead to underage "inebriety".



The very pregnant mommy here is fortunately "happily" about her situation.



Ummm, is "Japy" in any way an acceptable adjective?

 

And our favorite story from the trip, "The Banana Fruit". We ate at a nice restaurant at our hotel in Gondar. They had a three course meal menu with a few options for each course. The dessert section listed, orange zest cake or banana fruit. C.O. assumed the banana fruit was another type of cake but was sorely mistaken. I laughed as I ate my delicious orange cake.

~AnnMarie

Picture of the Day

We have been thinking about summer time and traveling. Here is a photo of Trafalgar Square in London from a trip we took a few years ago.

C.O.

A Day On the Bridge

--AnnMarie