Words Without Pictures .... Beginning of 2nd Leg

Hello again,

We are ready to begin the second leg of World-Hike-About. Our editor has filled her pen with red ink and we have settled all differences arising from words used poorly or to be rather harsh, sarcastic behavior. We will expound on the forgiveness process later—when the healing is complete.

We said goodbye to our little family of Natalie, Anthony and Ellie. It was sad but people have to part in order to chase their dreams. Our Natalie is sweet, lovely and sensitive and so she takes it a little hard. However, we are comforted because Anthony is strong and loving, the best type of husband to have. Nevertheless, it was not easy for any us. Maybe Ellie showed the most fortitude. We think she was focused on her next meal but who can be sure.

This leg is a little different from the previous adventures. We will combine local hikes and climbs with those in the Swiss Alps and then continue exploring in the North and the Negev of the Promised Land. The period in Israel includes the Yom Tavim in Netanya and Jerusalem so we are extra excited about that. We read a tip about hiking in the Negev that wasn’t too exciting, though. The writer of the article suggested that when we park our car in desert areas we should not lock the doors. Our editor jumped to the conclusion of the honesty of people in Israel. We know of this so it seemed to reinforce our thinking. Unfortunately, she read further. Sometimes a person must know when to stop. Apparently, the nomads in the desert are not quite as honest as the rest. This means that a person has the dilemma of locking the doors and perhaps having the car windows smashed and the contents stolen or, not locking and making it easy to steal the contents. Decisions, decisions—always decisions. We are now studying the insurance business or more specifically, passing the risk onto somebody else.

The trip begins in San Diego, the city where we find ourselves. We spent three weeks here, a place in which we have resided as permanent residents for the last twenty years. We mention the three weeks, not because we are worried about INS agents reading our words, but because we lived here as sojourners over this period. It changes one’s perspective. At the hotel, people asked us where we were from and why we chose the particular location as a base for our visit. ‘We are from University City’ we said. ‘But that is just a few miles away,’ they would reply with a funny look on their faces. Apparently, we have an accent that does not make us sound like native San Diegans either. Go figure. It can all be very confusing and takes a long time to explain our situation. We now say we are fugitives from ‘hostile landlords’. This seems to cause more frowning but a lot less questioning.

We also found we have to carry a large pile of cash notes wherever we go. When we lived in a house or even an apartment, the credit was unlimited. Some days we would arrive home and see piles of credit just waiting for us. Now in the spirit of change, things are different. No matter how responsible a person is, and our editor is very responsible, the credit companies want to know where we live and how long we have lived there. After telling them we live in the Motel 6 with a history of at least three days, we are finding it does not impress them. There is no doubt they have raised their standards. But we are not likely to give up easily. We are thinking of moving to the Red Roof Inn. It has a nice ring to it. We are hoping our credit manager has a little imagination. Besides, we could run out of credit without his help.

We think we got a little side tracked. We may have mentioned this before but our editor pays us by the word so we tend to add in a few extra, even when she is looking. We intend to leave from San Diego and head north towards Bellevue in Washington. In case you missed it, notice that we avoided mentioning the big neighboring city of Seattle. It is our way of saying, in a very casual way, how experienced we are in matters of geography and travel. We like the subtle way we do it—shows a nice touch and our oft- mentioned humility. Our destination in Bellevue is our son, Gavin—we look forward to seeing him, of course.

The real destination is the journey. This includes travel in and through Idaho followed by the equally great states of Wyoming and maybe Montana if there is sufficient time. We are excited to experience the lakes, mountains, glaciers and geysers of that interesting territory. We believe they throw in bears, both black and grizzlies, wolves, mountain lions, bison , moose and elk. Our editor wants to know if the list of animals is multiple-choice. One selects those that we want to see and the rest are locked in cages until we leave the area. We don’t know how to explain to our editor that the animals are in their natural habitat. It’s we who may be a little out of place. Sometimes, after a few weeks on the road, our editor does hint that my scent is similar to that of the four-legged beasts.

Regards,

The Lazarow’s