I asked some Middle East experts to grade President Bush's trip, and then I've got some pictures to close out this memorable trip.

Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy was kind enough to provide actual grades for the president's trip.

He gave Mr. Bush a B+ for the Israeli/Palestinian issue, and a B+ for his Gulf State diplomacy.

Mr. Bush showed "lots of empathy for the Palestinians, which matters for Arab and European audiences," Mr. Clawson said, despite the lack of policy change.

"He actually raised oil with the Saudis, which was good to see, though he would have done better to emphasize that Saudi interests are not well-served when oil prices are so high that America decides to spend billions on alternative energy sources and on conservation," Mr. Clawson said.

"[He] has found a way to express support for reform which does not frighten regimes or evoke cynicism from reformers. But he mostly stopped the erosion regarding Iran by showing that he still will press Iran on many fronts," Mr. Clawson said.

Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the "most interesting part of the trip was the down time he scheduled with regional leaders."

"Relaxing at home, he's in constant motion as he clears brush and rides mountain bikes, but in the Gulf he settled into leisurely meals and falcon hunting as he sought to build relationships with rulers. His past inclination was to refer to them as 'tyrants,' but now he referred to them as 'leaders,'" Mr. Alterman said.

Mr. Alterman's CSIS colleague, Anthony Cordesman, said that "while few believe that an Israeli-Palestinian peace is possible in 2008, the president took on the issue that does most to build Arab anger at the US, showed the US would reach out to the Palestinians, and established a legacy for continuing negotiations by the next Administration."

"He also showed how important the US feels the region is in an area where personal contact at the highest levels is absolutely critical to good relations. He did not abandon 'democratization,' but he did focus focusing on good security and economic relations and made it clear that 'democratization' did not mean 'regime change,'" Mr. Cordesman said.

Despite all the pessimism surrounding the president's trip, those are actually fairly positive assessments.

Now for some final pics.

When we arrived in Egypt this morning, there were guys standing guard out in the desert, and they stood there for several hours. All I can say to these guys is many thanks.

Here's a picture of the president and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak striding to the mics.

And they're literally rushing us to the buses as I post this: the coast at sunset. We didn't get to spend much time down on the Red Sea, but every moment was sweet. See you at home.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times