Petra!

We went to Petra yesterday....OH MY WORD....never have I experienced something that cool that man has made. It was crazy!!!! It started off really cool because a couple ended up going with us that knew my parents from college. Talk about a small world!! Well, the husband new them from choir. The wife didn't but they also knew the Loftis' (the family from Australia) really well. So that was cool and I was able to have some fun conversations with Robin, the wife, on the ride to Petra. All of the women rode down in one car and all of the men rode down in another car with the boys. Thank goodness it was a tourist location so I was able to show more of my arm skin...otherwise I would have been burning up. I don't know how these women do it. Anyways, we had to pay to get in and then Salem and I got on a horse and Justice got on his own (everyone else just walked) and they took us to the entrance to the pathway through the mountains. From there you have to walk aways before you get to the Treasury but it's totally awesome because you pretty much feel as if you are in a movie. The rocks and colors are so cool. There were lots of people but I didn't care...it gives me opportunities to see more cultures and other people's reactions to it. Your first glimpse of the Treasury is just that...a glimpse through the end of pathway...then you exit the mountains and there it is!! It is so big and you just feel so tiny standing in front of it. Hehe...then I rode a camel with Salem and Meagan (the Bliss' daughter) rode with Justice. I was laughing/giggling pretty much the whole time. It's a lot different than getting on a horse because the end of the camel goes up first when they stand so you are like launched forward in the seat, hehe. From the Treasury we walked a bit and then got on a donkey! The donkey's take you all the way up to the Monastery. You can walk it if you want but it is a really really long hike and it is steep too so you're better off riding a donkey...even though that is a bit freaky sometimes too cuz you are on these narrow steps and pathways and that can be a bit scary when you are going up a mountain! The donkeys drop you off and then you have to walk up even more of the mountain! The Monastery is very cool too and while we were sitting down to eat lunch a couple of Bedouin guys came and started to climb up to the top of the it!!! It was CRAZY...they were barefooted too and it was so high! It was so cool to watch and one of the guys got to the very top and started playing an instrument, haha. It was awesome. From there you walked back down the mountain until you got to a safe enough place where you could get on the donkeys again and ride them the rest of the way back. That was pretty much the end of Petra...we all rode back and had dinner at Popeyes, haha. I never would have imagined that I would be able to see or experience anything like that and I am SO thankful to God that He has allowed all of this to happen!