The Plenert Family: HOME!!

Gerhard got a phone call from his boss on Friday, January 11th, and said that he wanted to pull him off the project in Saudi and have him work on some things in the bay area, California. Gerhard was shocked and after he told me, we spent the rest of the day on the couch, just sitting there not sure how to feel. We had expected to be in Saudi at least another month or two! So on Saturday Gerhard got busy and made plane reservations. I told him we should see what we wanted to see in the Middle East because it was the last time I'd be traveling there!! So early Sunday morning, we drove to Bahrain and took a flight to Muscat, Oman. We were there for several days and then flew to Salalah. We rented a car there and spent the days driving all over. Had a great time. On Jannuary 17th we flew into Cairo, Egypt. We had two days of private tours there and got to see the pyramids, museaums, markets, etc. I was very disappointed. It was hard to enjoy the sites because there was so much litter everywhere. Our guide reassured us that we were safe there and the rioting was over, but they didn't drive us anywhere near where the rioting was the heaviest. Just on the other side of the National Museum, we saw the burned out government building from the 2011 rioting where President Mubarack was ousted. They had their first free elections in 2012 but many people are not happy with the newly elected President Morsi. So there are still protests and rioting. We felt safe enough though -- I kept my head covered and blended in. But we were glad to get on that plane and I don't know how many times I have said, "I am so thankful to have been born in the United States of America!!" Here's a few pictures from our trip to Oman. I will post pictures from Egypt soon. Muscat, Oman