Getting to Jerusalem

Once we all cleared passport control, we boarded a bus for Jerusalem.  The trip from Ben Gurian Airport in Tel Aviv took about an 1 1/2 hours.  Not a lot to see on the way, but you really do realize that we were truly 'going up to Jerusalem' as we climbed from the flat lands of Tel Aviv into the hills.  Tel Aviv looked hazy due to a dust storm, but the air cleared as we ascended to Jerusalum and into the old city.

  

We were later than planned getting in due to Israeli Security at the airport, so had to postpone our planned walk along the wall to Thursday.

We checked into the Gloria Hotel near the Jaffa Gate, had a group orientation session, did administrative tasks of changing money and getting water, and then met with several activists in the peace movement.

    Hotel lobby

    View from our room

After dinner we walked though some of the more touristy parts of the city, and then attempted, unsuccessfully, to catch up on some sleep.

Jerusalem at night

Scenes from old town after dinner.  Sounds of the Old City kept Old Jerusalem hopping late into the night and kept me from sleeping.       

Flights to Instanbul and Tel Aviv

Our first flight was terrific.  Off on time smooth, in on time - that is if you can refer to a 9 hour flight as terrific. Wish I (Art) could sleep on planes, Mary slept a little.  We both binged on free movies.  My favorite was St Vincent, Mary's was Blind Side.  

Leaving JFK

Sunset 

On the plane

Instanbul 

The airport is a big mall.  Can't decide which duty free treat I should buy

Where am I?

Gotta love European cig advertising

Taking off from Instanbul 

Landing in Tel Aviv

With baggage

Leaving

At the First Congergationsl Church Old Lyme

Getting ready to board the bus on our way to JFK.

Preparations

We spent the day deciding what we needed to bring and packing. Our suitcases both weigh about 40 pounds - about 10 pounds less than we are allowed - that's progress for us.  We hope we didn't forget anything critical!  It is nice to leave snow behind for a few weeks.

The snow around the house the day before we left.

Zipline Adventure

We joined about 20 new friends from the Meetup groups Global Gourmet and Dynamic Professionals at Empower Leadership Sports in Middletown, CT for a challenging and fun 3 hours of ziplining with two obstacles, both 60 feet or so off the ground - a vertical cargo net (which you climbed across) and a high wire (which you walked across while clinging to ropes hanging at about 7 foot intervals from a wire above) - between lines 3 and 4.  Of course, we were buckled in the whole time.   It was our first zipline experience and truly exhilarating.  Many thanks to Carl Sanderson for the photos.

The platforms could get a bit crowded

The landing

Mary on the cargo net

Art on the cargo net

Mary getting ready for the high wire 

Art on the high wire

Art after final zip line

Selfie at the end

AMC Hikes from Cardigan Lodge

Saturday, September 6 and Sunday, September 7, 2014

The Appalachian Mountain Club's Cardigan Lodge is a lovely small lodge with friendly helpful staff in the AMC Cardigan Reservation adjacent to the Cartridge Mountain State Park near Canaan, New Hampshire.  A variety of hiking trails start near the front door.

Mary and I had the privilege of co-leading the weekend hikes with hike leader Barbara Beckerman.  Co-leading fulfilled the final requirement for us to be AMC day hike leaders.

Saturday, we hiked toward a peak named Firescrew (3064').  We were only about 15 minutes from the peak when we decided to turn back due to a threatening thunderstorm but it was a great hike.

When the threat of the storm passed in the afternoon, we hiked to pretty waterfall - Welton Falls.

                  

This was the biggest leech I've ever seen.  It was caught by a boy at the falls.  I posted a video to Instagram ArtCT.

We returned via the Back 80 trail a very easy but very pretty trail.

We returned to the lodge about 4:30 and it started to rain about 10 minutes later

On Sunday, a beautiful clear day, we hiked to Cardigan peak (3155') via the Manning, Holt and Clark trails and returned via the West Ridge, Ranger Cabin, South Ridge, Skyland, Vistamont, Holt and Manning trails which took us to South Peak (2864'), Rimrock (2860') and Orange Mtn (2684').  

 

We bid our farewell to Cardigan about 4:00 pm.