Let the tour begin!!!

Wow. Sorry folks that it has been such a long time since the last entry, Erin and I filled our last few weeks with goodbye activities as well as packing, so by the time we got to the end of the night we were exhausted.

First off, Thank you to all of you SLO friends for a great 10 years of good times and experiences. We capped off our last evening in SLO with a trip to the Cliffs where we had a great time with many friends who dropped in. And check out the sunset that happened that night, gorgeous; a great way to end our residency of SLO.

Sunset at the Cliffs

So now the A & E Tour of Cali has begun. It started with some true SF experiences including being stuck in traffic waiting for the toll plaza on the Bay Bridge. A tremendously cold and misty night at AT&T Park to watch the Giants beat the Red Sox and watching a rally for some pride weekend activities; all of which we deemed a San Francisco Treat (Ding Ding), especially the topless yoga happening at the rally.

We survived the "Candlestickiness" Erin's crew from elementary school

The view from Dolores Park, SF

We then went to Patterson to help celebrate the 90^th birthday of my Grandma, a great opportunity to see family and say some goodbyes. There was a great turn out of people to honor a woman who has lived a great life filled with great friends, a wonderful sense of humor and so much life experienced. My grandma and several of my other relatives expressed excitement for our new adventure and they all encouraged us to experience as much of life as we can. The more and more we talk to people about the next few years the more I become excited for the trip.

Since we are so very excited Erin and I have broken into our Turkey books to map out the places we want to visit as well as to learn about the History and culture of the country we will soon call our home. Now that we know more about our future home we will begin sharing more Turkey fun facts or events. Hopefully one of these events will inspire you to come visit us soon. So here it goes:

Fun Fact #1: Camel Wrestling: December marks the beginning of the Camel-wrestling season in Turkey. Unlike its cruel cousins the dogfight and cockfight, this is a sport based on cunning and dominance as opposed to viciousness and bloodshed. During the mating season male camels naturally will wrestle each other in order to establish dominance and win the hearts of the prize females. When camels are very young they will be purchased from Iran and begin their 4-year training to learn their own strategies and special moves. During the wrestling season the camels are brought to a stadium where their prize (a female camel) is paraded in front of them. Like the once wild animals they started out as the camels are then placed in head to head competitions that last 10 min. each and eventually lead to one camel being named the winner of the match. The winning camel is awarded the female camel and up to $25,000. Now, come December, you will all know where you can find Erin and I, we’ll be at the wrestling matches. For a preview of the excitement check out this you tube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvq5gDuclS8

Don’t forget to keep checking the picasa we album below. I continue to add pictures to it. See you all later.