Permethrin.

We will see if it lives up to its claim of spray once on clothing and you have insect repellant for 6-10 washes!  This will be tested in malaria-ridden Kenya. Tom sprayed A BUNCH of clothing items, let's hope it helps with the tsetse flies and mosquitos.

And in true Tom fashion, instead of using the spray bottle it came in, he hooked a spray gun up to the beefy air compressor. (This picture was taken without the written consent of my husband, through the crack in the door to the garage.)

Raw fish.

Sushi. Arguably, Tom's favorite food and it was his birthday yesterday so he got to pick!  Luckily we have a great restaurant about a mile from our house - Kobe An (www.kobean.com). Yum yum yum. And they had my Momokawa raspberry sake as well (3 more Yums).

T-12 days and counting...

And the countdown to vacation begins.  We leave in 12 days! 

We have a Travel Photography class this Thursday with our new camera, which should be fun - I've never actually been instructed in the ways of photography.  Maybe those Kenyan rhinos can look even bigger than they are in real life, as if they need that.  My friend Kristen has also volunteered to go hiking next week to do some sample photography!  Could this be the trip that we actually get over the hump of mostly mediocre photographs?  I mean, even our new camera is still "point and shoot", and neither of us have the patience for GOOD photographs, but we can certainly score a few with some instruction, right!?

As for the countries we will visit - ebola hasn't made it to Kenya and I sincerely hope it does not.  Jordan is staying calm despite the upheaval in bordering countries and I sincerely hope it continues to do so.  I haven't heard Cairo on the news either - bonus!

My more modest clothes are laid out, in preparation for the conservative culture of Jordan and Egypt.  Lots of cover-ups, scarfs, etc.  Despite it being over 100 in some areas, I will do my best to honor their culture and will not dine out in a tank top and shorts.  Speaking of dining out, I can't wait to sample Middle Eastern fare - I heart chickpeas. :)

Concerned excitement (what's that?)

With our upcoming vacation approaching, I find myself alternatively excited and apprehensive. We are headed to Jordan, Egypt and finally Kenya. All of these countries have unrest either now, or have had a short time in the past. Jordan, while the safest of the Middle East countries has travel advisories near its borders with Iraq and Syria, as well as some towns further from the border. Egypt may be the safest country we are visiting, with Cairo having been relatively quiet recently. In Kenya, travel is not advised in much of the eastern and southern regions, as well as the northern borders with Ethiopia and Somalia (not near our destinations). And with the recent WHO announcement about Kenya being at high risk for the spread of Ebola, Korean Airlines is already suspending flights, even though no cases have been reported there.  Seriously, Korean Airlines?!

So, why are we going, you ask?  Good question.  I want to see these places.  Who knows if the situation in any of these countries may deteriorate even further and take decades to recover. This may be the safest time to go in my lifetime. I guess it's worth the risk, even though I do have concerns.

We are monitoring the situation and we will just have to make that call as things unfold. We could always bag a portion of our trip, or maybe hop over to Turkey or another destination instead. 

For now, we are hoping Ebola containment can hold and the situation in Gaza & Iraq doesn't spur violence just across the border in Jordan (not likely). 

Time will tell. Hopefully a good story. 

You look so big.

Our new camera makes even the smallest hummingbird look HUGE!

We will have to practice with the it before stalking lions in Africa in a few weeks. We bought a Canon Powershot SX700...way better than either of our iPhones. 

Mikes Camera, where we purchased it, offers a free 30 min camera tutorial, free two hour travel photography classes, price matching with large online retailers, and fabulous customer service. It really makes a difference. 

Here's our camera:  

http://mikescamera.com/spec_sheet.html?catalog[name]=Canon-PowerShot-SX700-HS-Digital-Camera-Sx700&catalog[product_guids][0]=44e3d8e0-76ee-0131-87f3-20cf30bab63e

Killed it.

Team Scrambled Legs killed the Wild West Relay last weekend. We had an AWESOME team, it was so much fun. We will be back next year - Van #25 watch out.

From left to right below:  Steve, Bud, Sam, Cassie, Luke, Susanne, Geoff, Amy, Me, Steve L, Katie & Jon!  I couldn't have asked for a better team. Great running and great company.

Ran 5 on the trail last night but I think I need a few more days off. I was tired this AM.  Susanne and I will run on Saturday. Until then, maybe some weightlifting and yoga instead. 16 miles and barely any sleep takes it's toll, a bit more than it did when I was younger, haha. 

In other news, it looks like we will need quite a few vaccines for our trip to the Middle East and Africa. Time to start the needling - tetanus booster, polio booster, typhoid, yellow fever, meningitis and malaria meds. Ugh, this is going to hurt.