Spring Break Trip: Chapter 3: From Egypt, through Israel, to Jordan

The 31st was a day to try men's souls.....well, it sure tried our souls anyway....and our patience! We left Nuweiba and headed North to Taba. The plan was to quickly leave Egypt in Taba and enter into Eliat, Israel, then pass directly into Aquaba, Jordan. I had spent a few months and hours of time preparing all the paperwork in order to make the border crossing experience go smoothly. I guess you can't plan for all things:)

Leaving Egypt was WAY harder than I thought it would be, especially since we are American diplomats living in Egypt. There was lots of red tape and waiting around, then immediately after we left Egypt, we entered Israel---literally 20 feet away! The travel guy at the US Embassy here in Cairo had faxed information to them, we had all our passports and things, but it still took FOREVER. Poor Elisabeth started throwing up in the middle of the night, and someone forgot to tell her stomach that you don't want to have the stomach flu while in the car for HOURS while waiting to cross borders. We finally entered Israel and hurried to drive 5 miles to leave. That really took a long time and then we had to cross into Jordan.

In the end it took us 5 1/2 hours to go essentially 5 miles:) It was quite the adventure and what we learned is that we can do hard things as a family and still have fun together.....well, mostly:)

Here are some pictures of the experience:

Leaving Egypt

Israel

Entering into Jordan and then a picture of all 3 countries (Egypt, Israel and Jordan).