A Trip Down Memory Lane

Good afternoon, everyone! It's a beautiful bluebird day in Crested Butte. The sun is shining, the tourists are clogging up the ski area (it is spring break, after all), and the snow is on it's last legs before succumbing into mud. Mud that I will thankfully, be gone for.

It also happens to be my aunt's birthday today. Last year during spring break, my mother, sister, stepfather, brother in law, one year old nephew and I took a trip to Jordan to surprise my aunt on her birthday. Which is a huge shock, since who travels around the world for a surprise party? Only my awesome family.

After she got over the initial shock (the look will be burned into my memory as a defining moment of my trip), we set out to see as much of the country as we could in the short amount of time we had there, about  ten days in total. Luckily, my Jordanian family there was able to put together an amazing trip that gave us, while not the full experience, at least a really good introduction. We visited Jerash, which was incredible. It had recently rained and the contrast between the vibrant green of the fresh grass and the amazingly well preserved ruins was breathtaking.

The Roman ruins of Jerash

We went on to visit Petra, which was awe inspiring. It is an experience to be stretched over at least a few days, because it's IMPOSSIBLE to see it all in one day. The Nabatean ruins there are difficult to absorb, because they are in such amazing condition. It looks like something you would see out of a movie (hello, Indiana Jones). We only had two days to visit, and I'm dying to go back and explore some of the areas that we had pointed out to us briefly but didn't get a chance to revisit.

The Monastery in Petra
(not to be confused with the Treasury of Indiana Jones fame)

We went on to Wadi Rum and stayed in "tents" that were nicer than the apartment I was living in at the time (though the cot I slept on partially collapsed during the night and it was so cold I almost couldn't get up the nerve to fix it).

My nephew shaded by a Jordanian keffiyeh

After spending a few days in the sun of Aqaba (where you can stand in one spot and look at four countries simultaneously), we took a quick detour to the Dead Sea with enough time to sit in the water (seriously, you sit in it. It's completely inexplicable) and cover ourselves with Dead Sea salt before we returned to Amman where my aunt and uncle live.

As we took off from Amman, I realized that though I could check Jordan off my bucket list of places to travel, that I hadn't had nearly enough time there. I left wanting to travel to Jordan even more than I had when I arrived. I didn't get a chance to explore the streets of Amman, to visit Little Petra, to check out the climbing in Wadi Rum... not to mention the other minor stuff like, you know, where JESUS WAS BAPTISED. Not that I'm affiliated with any religion, but I'm not going to lie, I want to go.

Looking back on that trip I can't wait to go spend my month in Jordan. I am desperate to get the feel for Amman, to bask in a little desert sun, and to see my beautiful welcoming accommodating family again.

But before all that can happen, I still have to pack for Houston. Not to mention that it's karaoke night in Crested Butte, so I'm off to go warm up my vocal cords.

I'll leave you with a little something uplifting. Hey, maybe I'll sing it at karaoke. Seriously. Watch this. (I know it's a Google thing, but the awesomeness of the video makes up for the blatant advertising).