Gypsy is running a temperature and feeling shitty — no energy. Doesn’t sound like she’s picked up my bug ... hope its not Coronavirus. Ricky has fully “recovered” from overnight puppy camp and is wanting more exercise than walking around the fenced portion of our property. Sadly for him, I've not the energy. Since it's not raining, we are outside more today.

A dear friend has made a Costco / TJ run for me and left it outside our security gate — no contact. Called the doctor again today to see about getting tested for Coronavirus as there are news stories of increasing cases. Still no tests available in our county.

March 13
Gypsy and I were suppose to be flying home today from Egypt … thankfully, we had presence of mind to come back earlier because Trump just blocked travel from Europe, which we would have been connecting through. Who knows how long it might have taken us to get home! Meanwhile, Gypsy continues to run a slight temperature and I’m still coughing incessantly. Sinus congestion has finally started to abate. 

March 17
Gypsy called tonight to say she was taking herself to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital to be tested for Coronavirus — testing became available here yesterday — as she is still running a slight temperature and feeling awful. Meanwhile, I'm still hacking away, except for those hours I am able to sleep! By the way, we've had 4" of rain since returning home from  Egypt!

March 18
Gypsy sent a text in the wee hours while I was asleep … she didn’t get home from the hospital until 3 AM and will not hear test results for at least 4-5 business days! I made the decision after our conversation last night to drive into Santa Barbara and be tested as some news stories are finally saying people can be asymptomatic and still carry / spread the virus to others. This is day nine of our self-quarantine.

On the drive into Santa Barbara, my travel medicine doctor called to tell me that Gypsy had called her last night and gone to the hospital for testing and she was recommending I do the same. I told her I was already on my way, asked if she would arrange for me to have a chest x-ray to be sure I didn’t have pneumonia, and that hospital ETA was about 40 minutes having to drop Ricky off at puppy day care. At least one of us will have fun!

Upon arriving at the hospital’s emergency room, I was whisked off to have my temperature and blood pressure taken, followed by the standard COVID-19 Testing Triage questions, and then a chest x-ray. Thankfully, the results from my chest x-ray came back negative, and since I was on the borderline of being tested for COVID-19, they went ahead and tested me.

When the doctor appeared an hour or so later, he told me that I tested positive for Rhinovirus so they didn’t test for COVID-19. WHAT? I was told to continue my self-imposed quarantine for the full 14-days or until my cough was completely gone, and to continue taking Mucinex and Flonase for cough and congestion. If I develop a temperature, notify my primary care doctor and possibly get retested. Also, if my friend’s test comes back positive, and my cough persists, come back to be retested. Well, that was unsatisfying and it took five hours! At least Ricky had a good time playing ... we were both exhausted.

March 24
It’s now been 14-days since our self-imposed quarantine and most of the US is sheltering-in-place. Gypsy’s test results came back negative for COVID-19 and she is feeling a bit better. Though still fatigued, she no longer runs a temperature. I’m still coughing, but less so. So, my quarantine continues. Not missing much as sheltering-in-place is virtually the same. In fact, self-quarantining has started to feel like my new norm. I am so thankful for living in a small rural valley with lots of places to safely walk without seeing or possibly infecting anyone. And, for now, friends are still picking things up for me when needed. Since returning home from Egypt, I’ve only left our property three times. It’s been a month since the housekeeper and gardener have been here. The gardener will start back next week, but I've no idea how much longer before I feel comfortable having our housekeeper back.

May 25
I have been healthy (no cough) since the end of March. Sadly, a dear friend who shared the same surname as me passed away last month due to complications during surgery. And a new friend, whom I met on the trip to Egypt, died this month.

This past weekend, I was suppose to be in Montana for the semi-annual Cinnabar Foundation board meeting. Due to everyone still sheltering-in-place our two-day meeting was held via Zoom. I really miss not being in Montana — hopefully travel will be a “thing” come September (fingers crossed) so I can get up for the fall meeting. Perhaps like me, Zoom has become a part of your life — I am so thankful for this technology!

Barely slept last night, but felt rested. Perhaps it was just adrenaline from the anticipation of travel kicking in. Oh, and yes, I was still coughing continuously even though I'd been taking Mucinex, collodial silver, Yin Chaio and oil of oregano steadily for the past 24 hours. Anyway, Gypsy and I were up, dressed, and out the door a few minutes before 4AM to meet our driver and leave for the Luxor airport.

​At that hour  virtually no one was on the roads and even the airport was almost completely empty. Going through security and immigration were a breeze — and thankfully, no one questioned my cough! With time to spare, we made our way to a snack bar to buy water. Thankfully, our plane was on time so we were able to board at 5:30AM The flight was short, so even with waiting for everyone (not that many people) to board, we were in Cairo less than two hours later.

​Disembarking the plane, we figured out in what direction was our next gate. Enroute, we met with the Kemet representative Tamer, who reimbursed us, in US money, for the GEM tour that was unable to be scheduled. Another "to do" checked off the list!

After breakfast, I slept through most of the flight — about 4 hours — so no one was overly disturbed by my coughing.

London's Heathrow Airport was eerily empty, not unlike LAX when we left for Egypt. Our connection was tight, but we did have time to upgrade again to Business Class at an incredible price. Not unlike the airport, the plane was so sparsely filled that even flying steerage, we could have spread out and had individual rows to ourselves. After everyone was on board, we moved our seat to one with no one on any side of us and began disinfecting. With drinks in hand, we "cheered" for a great adventure and an equally great departure!

I've a vague recollection of finishing the movie "The Goldfinch" that I started on our trip to Egypt and eating dinner, but for the most part I slept. Waking up once or twice briefly, I slept for at least 8 hours. The last time I woke was to the smell of food being served and soon afterwards landed in Los Angeles around 6PM.

LAX was even more  devoid of people than when we left from here just 12 days ago. A new World Order has definitely set in. Speeding through immigration and customs, with barely a nod as I held by breath for fear of coughing and being whisked into a backroom for possible quarantine. Once through, we waited for the next Santa Barbara Airbus shuttle to take us closer to home. Not surprisingly, I slept most of the way, as it proved to once again be a sure way not to continually cough. Meanwhile, Gypsy arranged for an Uber to meet us at the drop-off and take us back to her home. Totally rested be now and wide awake, I gathered up things I'd left at the start of our trip and drove home to the Santa Ynez Valley. When I arrived around 11PM it felt so good to be home!

Relieved, it was now already 2PM. Not realizing how hungry we were from stress and barely eating our omelet for breakfast, we headed to the hotel's poolside café for lunch. Feeling like we dodged a bullet and had secure plans to leave Egypt, I began to relax — though still coughing continuously.

Back in our room, I reorganized my suitcase, carry-on and bags of other things picked up along the way, and jettisoned others. I showered, and read for awhile before heading to the Royal Bar aka Agatha Christie Bar for a final Champagne Kir Royale and light bite of dinner.

An early bedtime and sweet dreams ... as our taxi to the airport picks us up at 4AM!

I could spend days here, maybe even weeks ... unfortunately, we had but a couple of hours ...

While ancient Egyptians built massive public monuments to their pharaohs, they also spent time and financial resources creating hidden underground tombs.

Watching the time ... damn, I hate having to do that ... Gypsy and I made our way back through Seti I's tomb to the sunlight and to meet up with our group.

After boarding our bus, we headed to the Nile River cruise boat — the M/S Blue Shadow 2 — that will be our "home" for the next four nights. The bizarre thing, to me, was to reach our boat, we needed to walk through the lobbies of at least four other similar boats. Each has its own distinctive "Las Vegas-style" lobby area with spiral staircases leading an upper deck. Not exactly what I'd pictured in my minds-eye. I'd hoped for something more like the boat in the movie adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile!"

Our stateroom was compact, yet roomy enough with dark wood paneling. After settling in ... I immediately unpacked. Gypsy immediately became sensitive to the smell of disinfectant and other toxic cleaners in a cart outside our room. As we headed off
to find the bar, we stopped at the concierge desk to ask for the cart to be moved. After repeated attempts and getting nowhere, we called our local guide to explain what we wanted moved and why. That problem "solved," we headed up the winding staircase to the bar where we met  a few others from our group already imbibing. Then, to dinner, which sadly was buffet-style. At the best of times I dislike buffets, and now in a time of more caution due to Coronavirus, I am even more wary since it is no longer our small group sharing meals.

Returning to our stateroom after dinner, we immediately were overwhelmed by the smell of diesel fumes. When Gypsy went to open the window to air our room, even more of the smell infiltrated due to a small boat spewing the stuff docked next to us. In short order, my throat began to close up. In response, I also began coughing uncontrollably. Back to the concierge desk we headed.

After 30 minutes or more of trying to explain the problem with the fumes in our cabin — coughing and croaking — we were told that the only other option was a one king-size bed stateroom that was available. Definitely not. After another 30 minutes or more of coughing and croaking, we were told that another stateroom with two beds was available and a steward would move our belongings for us. Wary, we asked to see the stateroom first. We were led up the spiral staircase to a room directly above the one we had just vacated. As soon as the steward opened the door the same intensity of diesel fumes hit us. Though not needing to say anything, I croaked out “definitely, not!” The steward understood as he, too, was overwhelmed by the smell. Back downstairs, we waited even more time before the concierge offered us another option on the other side of the upstairs hallway and closer towards the lobby. Still wary, we hiked back up the spiral staircase to the “new” stateroom, which was diesel smelling-free!

Too tired and feeling horribly from coughing and my throat still constricted from the smell of the fumes, I went to bed without unpacking. How could such an amazing day, turn so awful so quickly?!?

​Once back at the Pavillon Winter Hotel, I met up with Gypsy (and everyone else on our trip) who was already at breakfast.

On our way to the Valley of the Kings, we stopped briefly — way too briefly — at Medinet Habu, a small village that was called Djanet by the ancient Egyptians, and according to legend this was the place where Amun — king of the gods — first appeared.

Just inside the enclosure to the left are the chapels to the Divinities of Amun, who collectively served as the Divine Adoratrice of Amun and individually were God’s wife of Amun or high priestesses:

• Amenirdis I — a princess from the Kingdom of Lush, she was God’s Wife of Amun during the 25th dynasty and ruled as high priestess from 714-700BCE.
• Shepenupet II — an Egyptian princess during the 25th dynasty, who served as high priestess from 700-650BCE
• Nitocris I — was the daughter of the 26th dynasty pharaoh Psamtik I, who compelled Shepenupet II to adopt Nitocris as her heir to God’s Wife of Amun. She served as High Priestess for 70 years (655-585BCE)

A man, who shooed us away from staring through the small hole in the door, led us to the north saying he was going to show us where the sacred water comes from. He led Gypsy and me through a narrow passage and down shallow stone-hewn stairs. The farther we descended the dimmer the sunshine could seeped in. Worried about snakes, we let him continue down into the darkness. After a while, we heard the splashing of water as he tried to show us the source.

Meanwhile, during the reign of Ramessides, the Priests of Amon, lost all of their authority and power. They did, however, remain devoted to their deceased kings. In order to ensure them an undisturbed afterlife, they began surreptitiously moving the royal mummies from one burial site to another. Ramesses III was buried three times before the priests prepared a virtually inaccessible secret hiding place in the mountain of Deir el-Bahari. There, they had a shaft dug about 40-feet deep. A long corridor led from the bottom of the shaft into a spacious room.

The archaeological site known today as Karnak is the ancient site of the Temple of Amun at Thebes. The early Egyptians called the site Nesut-Towi (Throne of Two Lands), Ipet-Swt (Selected Spot) due to the belief that Thebes was the first city founded on the primordial mound that rose from the waters of chaos at the beginning of the world. At that time, Atum (the creator-god) stood on the mound to begin the work of creation. It is believed that Karnak was also an ancient observatory and place of worship where the god Amon interacted directly with the people of earth. The temple is uniquely aligned with the winter solstice sunrise, and its enclosure is situated at the only place where the solstitial line is perpendicular to the course of the Nile.

Karnak encompasses a vast area that was built gradually over many centuries, with each new ruler adding to it, starting from the beginning of the Middle Kingdom (2040-1782BCE) through the New Kingdom (1570-1069BCE) the throughout the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323-30BCE). Some archaeologists have even suggested that it dates back further to the Old Kingdom (2613-2181BCE) due to the style of some of the ruins and a list of kings from the Old Kingdom monarchs inscribed by Tuthmose III (1458-1425BCE).

The other two areas are the Temple of Montu (god of war), and the Temple of Mut (goddess of the sky), and consort of Amun-Ra. The latter area is still archaeologically largely unexplored and is connected to the Sanctuary of Amon by an avenue of sphinxes.

Unfortunately, there was only time to explore the largest of these areas — the Temple of Amon — and even then there not time to "see it all". This temple is, in fact, the world’s largest religious structure with columns and according to some historians could contain the whole of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

As we approach the 2nd Pylon, to the right is the remaining column of the once gigantic Pavillon of Ethiopian King Taharka. Standing almost 70 feet tall, it features an open papyrus top.

On the left stands the 34-foot tall statue of Ramesses II. This statue was later usurped by Ramesses VI (1143-1136BC) and still later by Pinedjem, who was the High Priest of Amon in Thebes (Luxor) and later the XXI dynasty pharaoh. The king wears the headdress with double crown symbolizing his reign over both Upper and Lower Egypt, and his crossed arms hold a crook and flail representing his kingship. At his feet is his daughter Princess Bent'anta.

Passing through the 2nd Pylon, which was begun by Horemheb (1323-1294BC) and completed by Ramesses I, we entered the Great Hypostyle Hall. The hall, which  is considered one of the greatest pieces of ancient Egyptian art, was built by Seti I.

There was so much to see, photograph (as the light was so beautiful) and feel energetically that after a few minutes listening to Freddy, I found myself wandering through the  334-1/2’ x 174’ hall. It’s truly amazing to imagine what this might have looked like at its zenith — these 134 massive 75-foot tall columns — once polychromed and holding up a roof decorated perhaps with bas-relief stars and celestial maps. Breathtaking as is … I took lots of photographs! 

The outer walls on the north-side depict Seti's battles. His son, Ramesses II completed the south-side of the hall and usurped the decorations of his father — noticing a theme. Later pharaohs including Ramesses' III, IV and VI added hieroglyphs and decoration to the walls and columns.

​[Historical Note: On October 3, 1899, a dozen columns toppled in the northern part of the hall. A massive reconstruction effort was instituted soon thereafter which is evidenced in some of the photographs.]

​For a while we just meandered the 6th Pylon and the Middle Empire Courtyard.

Immediately after, we walked into the holy of holies — the Sanctuary of Philip Arrhidaeus — who was Alexander the Great's successor. This is where I had my third powerful experience for the day.

The wall of the Sanctuary are inscribed with a storybook of images while the ceiling looks to have been painted blue with thousands of stars. At its center is a huge block of granite that emits very powerful energy. Placing both hands and my third eye upon it, a rush of energy coursed through my body — a great energetic cleansing of energy centers! 

Lunch today was at Sofra Restaurant and Café. It's probably not true, but it seems that lunches are the same everywhere we go ... not complaining, as they have been all good. It's just that Egyptian cuisine must be more varied than what we've experienced thus far.

 As such, it was was built to honor Amon-Ra, the king of gods during the reigns of two pharaohs — Amenhotep III and Ramesses II — and honors the Theban triad of Amun, Mut (his consort) and Khonsu, their son the moon god. Its primary purpose was the celebration of the Opet Festival, when once a year, for several weeks, the people of ancient Thebes went on extended holiday to rejoice in the presence of the gods and ask them for favors. Only at this time did the gods come out of their hidden temple rooms to be among the people. Small statues of the gods were carried along the processional avenue between Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple or carried on the sacred barques along the Nile.

Luxor Temple was largely completed during the 18th dynasty rule of Amenhotep III with subsequent additions made to it by Ramesses II in the 19th dynasty. Still later it was modified by subsequent rulers, including Alexander the Great. Its design remained coherent in contrast to the sprawling Karnak complex.

The processional avenue we saw earlier today that extended beyond Karnak’s 10th Pylon connects here, 1.2 miles later, to the Pylon of Ramses II. In fact, this portion of the avenue is much further along in its restoration. The original ram-headed sphinxes were replaced in the 30th dynasty with the ones I now saw with human heads.

The Pylon of Ramesses II in very imposing. Standing over 200-feet tall, its front is decorated with now barely discernible bas reliefs depicting Ramesses II's military victory over the Hittites at Qadash. Two 82-foot obelisks originally fronted the pylon. Today, stands only one. The other was moved to Paris, in 1833, and placed in Place de la Concorde as a gift from the Egyptian ruler Mohammed Ali to the people of France.