Oxleys' Adventures

Look who decided to join us on our drive…..baboons-:)!!

Reaching the actual Cape of Good Hope…tip of Africa ( almost-:)!!) ….more shipwrecks than any other Cape in the world.

Gorgeous flowers along the way…Capetown’s spring is in full bloom with exotic flowers!!

Amazing drives and scenery along the way…

Sister Gail truly enjoying her ‘Bucket List Dream’-:)!!

The infamous African penguins…

Interesting lunch of Cape Malia stew with our new traveling companions joining in on the fun❤️!!

Tomorrow to Table Mountain and Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was in-prisoned.

You have to LOVE those mussels👍❤️!!! The sight seeing begins tomorrow….

We have been up and traveling for over 24 hours and JUST arrived in Capetown…fresh as a daisy…lol!!

The flight from JFK to Johannesburg was 16 hours. We landed, went through customs, retrieved our luggage and then we “raced” through J-Burg airport to catch another two hour internal flight to Capetown. We have arrived at our hotel and are about to start exploring the Victoria and Alfred Harborside👍!!!

September 13, 2018

As unbelievable as it may seem…the entire ‘Bucket list -Dream Trip”to Africa has come together!! Molly, Robin, my sister Gail and myself have all successfully met in NYC where we will leave in a few minutes for Capetown.

We had lots of fun at the JFK airport in our FUN attire…greeting Gail as she arrived from San Francisco.

Off to Africa-:)!!!

Everyone put a huge smile on their face😄…for this update…

Upon our return we went ASAP to an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in knees. Looks like this pilgrim managed to complete the entire pilgrimage with a broken patella (knee cap) 😁!! I can only thank my beloved husband and all my fellow pilgrims who literally carried and prayed me through to the completion of this amazing journey!! Their acts of mercy were beyond measure!!

The broken patella knee outcome –I now have a three month  ‘opportunity’ to live in and adjust to my new full leg, 24 hour a day,  immovable brace with the additional perspective of managing it all from a walker-:)!!  No weight on that left leg for three months (pretty lousy excuse for me to get out of all that holiday cooking🍗🍰! 

Hoping to soon secure a new ‘chariot’ to assist this three month transition to a more sedentary way of life😄!! 

Please do not fret or worry …this is such a small blip on the radar screen of life. It is not life threatening and is NOTHING compared to what your fellow blog readers are facing on a daily basis with critical health, emotional and family challenges! Please keep each other in prayer.

Know my prayers and offerings for each of you and may this Thanksgiving be more meaningful than ever imaginable!! 

Thank you for following our journey!!!

  Yes…there is Bud….floating on the Dead Sea  on the last day of our pilgrimage-:)!! Looks about as perfect as possible until you spot fellow pilgrim Dan…He is REALLY getting the full experience. The mud cake is suppose to make you younger and healthier-:)!!  We didn’t even recognize him when he came out😄!!! 

 And here are the ‘rules’… 

 Seriously, the ride through the Judean desert was beautiful. Take a look at our last journey of the Pilgrimage.

   
    
    
  The Dead Sea… Where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found by a shepherd boy. We also rode a cable car high above the Dead Sea to Masada, the site of the battle between the Jewish a People and the Romans  

At the airport and off to the USA!!!! How can I ever begin to thank my self sacrificing husband, my college roommate (Molly and her husband Dick Daly) , all the giving ‘charioteers’, Chris for actually physically carrying me down the longest boat ramp that I have ever seen in my entire life–to make sure I was able to experience the ride on the Sea of Galilee, Greg for offering his aisle seat-not once but twice  😄😄😄😄, the prayer warriors, bag carriers and on and on when one has to humbly depend on others–what Lessons Learned!!! Here is Greg raising his hand to help (smile)and with Chris right beside him… 

Thank you ‘charioteers’ for all your kindness—they will never be forgotten!!  

   
 Thank YOU for following our journey!!!

   
   
 Today, I failed to mention, that we also took petitions and prayer requests to the area designated as the Western Wall or Wailing Wall. This is considered the holiest site in Judaism and is the place to which Jews turn during prayer. Jews wept at this site over the destruction of their temples. It has continued as a place of great prayer. It is always interesting to see men praying on one end of the wall and women praying in their own area on the opposite end of the wall.  This tradition dates back to the 16th century. Since we visited on the Sabbath, sadly no pictures were allowed to be taken. We all honored this sacred request by the tradition of the Jewish faith. A huge thank you to my female ‘charioteer’, Kris, for quickly taking control of the ‘chariot’ and rolling me into the female section of the Wailing Wall. I am sure Bud was eager for a needed break😄👏❤️🎈!!!

We traveled today to the Mount of Olives. It is a hilltop overlooking Old Jerusalem and believed to be the spot where Jesus ascended into heaven. We celebrated the Mass at the Grotto of Gethsemani. Take a peak at this beautiful grotto where Jesus’s disciples waited while He anguished in the Garden of Gethsemani.

   
   
Here are some shots of the thousand year old olive trees still remaining in the Garden of Gethsrmani.  

 Then on to the path which Jesus took on Palm Sunday. We could hear the people praying and vividly imagine the waving of the palms as people lined His path. We visited the Chapel of the Ascension. 

  The Our Father in three languages along the way. This is Monsignor’s amazing Aunt  Pauline ( who should get the true grit award for the trip-:)!!) saying the Our Father in French!!  
    
    
 A next emotional stop for us was the Church of the Visitation. The ride up was unbelievable as a very kind man actually drove ‘up and over the 100 steps’ to give a few of us and the ‘chariot’ wheelchair  a lift!!! Here Mary traveled many miles on a donkey to be with Elizabeth as she gave birth to John the Baptist.  

  A more modern depiction of Mary greeting Elizabeth. 
The rock which protected John the Baptist from being executed as a child by Herod’s men.

    
The Church of the Visitation…

Off to dinner …tomorrow is our last day and the Dead Sea-:)!!  

We started the morning with the wonderful celebration of Mass at St. Anne’s Church. There was not a dry grandparent eye in the place as we viewed the statue of Jesus’s grandmother, St. Anne, depicted with her daughter Mary…

    
 Then the blessed ‘Charioteers’ kicked in as we headed back through the cobblestone stepped paths of Old Jerusalem. Again, I can not thank my fellow pilgrims enough for stepping up to ‘carry the chariot’. It was another day of unbelievable amounts of steps through winding beautiful century old cobblestone paths-but certainly not ADA approved-:)!! They managed the bags (Thank you Kris, Molly and Ruth!) and offered prayerful ‘charioteer’ support from every corner. Their prayers were overwhelming to this humbled soul. Please meet the ‘Charioteers’…our fellow Pilgrims on a mission to make sure that yours truly could experience everything possible!! They even propped me up and held on to me for the picture on the steps to the Agony in the Garden at the Holy Sepulcher Church. I pray you can hear me applauding their unbelievable efforts!! Here are the selfless ‘Charioteers’!!

Then we were on our way to walk the Via Dolorosa, or “Way of the Cross”. It winds along the cobblestone streets of Old Jerusalem from Ecce Homo Convent to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. This is the traditional route Jesus followed bearing His cross from Pilate’s Judgement Hall to Calvary Hill, the site of the crucifixion. We even carried our own cross to re-live Jesus’s path. Here are Sharon and Jack now leading the first steps of the journey to Calvary. 

 
I have chosen a few pictures, so that you might be a part of the journey. Via Dolorosa winds through the cobblestone streets with vendors doing their daily business along the way as pilgrims fervently and prayerfully walk the Way of the Cross (or Sorrows).

 
 This is the window if the room where Jesus was stripped of His clothes.  

   
    Our lunch in Old Jerusalem had some great views from the variety of vendors to the men tucked in a side alley quietly puffing on their hookahs (pipes).

    
   We then headed to Mount Zion to view the Upper Room, where it is believed the Last Supper occurred and to the tomb of David. Some of today’s favorite pics…-:)!!  

  Looking up to Calvary just as you enter the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.  
Within the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre there are many religions with their own personal prayer space area. This is the open area, adjacent to Jesus’s tomb, which hosts the Roman Catholic services. The picture is of St. Mary Magdeline approaching Christ during the Way of the Cross.