Home

Well, we made it safely home. We went to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv around 8PM last night. We boarded our flight around 11PM, but didn't leave the ground until nearly midnight. Due to recent activity regarding the Icelandic volcano, our flight needed to be diverted. We were very tired when the flight took off, so we quickly drifted off to sleep. Barry and I woke up an hour or so later to realize that we were over Belarus. That country is northeast of Israel and not in the direction that we thought we would be going.

Over the evening, we continued flying northeast over Norway and then north over Greenland. From there, we turned southeast over the US, landing safely in Atlanta. When we got home and looked at a globe, we realized that flew past the Arctic Circle. In all, the flight was around 14 hours long. What an amazing day.

We drove home and made it here safely. We are very tired. Outside of the cat naps on the plane, we have been awake for over 40 hours. Soon, we'll be off to bed...dreaming of all of the things that we learned on this wonderful trip.

Last Day in Israel

Well, we are stuck in Tel Aviv traffic, so I thought that I would take advantage of this time to pop in the air card and type up the blog for today. Not really because I want to (I'm pretty tired), but mostly because Barry's Mom is across the aisle doing the same and I don't want her to catch up with me.

We haven't uploaded any pictures yet, so no pictures for today. We toured the Shephelah today. Among the sites that we saw was the valley where David slew Goliath and the Lachish tel.

The trip has to be coming to a close because I am down to two packages of Oreos left. If we can get through the traffic, we are planning on eating one last dinner on the Mediterranean Sea before heading to the airport. We can't wait to see the kids sometime tomorrow.

Mother's Day in Jerusalem

Before I talk about today, let me give one more follow-up from yesterday. We took a group picture from the top of The Mount of Olives. You can see it from Ferrell Jenkins' blog, or you can go directly to it here.

Today is Mother's Day! I was pleased when I got up this morning and Barry presented me with a homemade Mother's Day card given to him by our kids. Samuel had even clipped a dollar into it and told me to spend it on something that I wanted. (More on that later.)

This morning started with a worship service in the hotel. It was very nice. Mr. Jenkins spoke about Jesus being "The Magnificent Builder". It was touching to think that we were thinking about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and all of those events happened about 2000 years ago in a spot less than a mile from where we were. Incidentally, the room that we had the service in is a bomb shelter within the hotel. The Israelis have taken the philosophy of "Fool me one, shame on you…fool me twice, shame on me" with regards to their enemies. Our hotel in Jerusalem is filled with bomb shelter rooms.

After service, we drove back to the old city. At this point, we had to say goodbye to our driver, Fawzie, who had to leave to drive another group later in the day. We hated to see him go. He dropped us off at the old city and we were able to enter the Temple Mount area. You have to go through special security to enter that area. The Temple Mount area is run by the Muslims and infidels (non-muslims) can only enter through a certain gate and only during certain times. We were able to walk completely around the Dome of the Rock (the large gold-topped dome that the Muslims have built). Herod's temple must have been beautiful sitting in that area. We thoroughly enjoyed the time up there.

From there, we walked around the Jewish Quarter of the city. The Jewish Quarter was much more cleaner and nicer than the Christian or (especially) the Muslim Quarters. We had lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall pizza place. We had a cheese pizza and it was fantastic! We ended the meal with a chocolate on the inside/chocolate on the outside Magnum Bar. What a meal! Pure calories, but we needed it with all of the walking that we are doing. (By the way, this is what I spent my dollar on! I really wanted the pizza!)

We toured some more around the Old City including the infamous Western Wall and then headed outside the city walls to see some of the excavation works that is going on out there. They have uncovered the steps which approach the south side of the Temple Mount. These are the same steps that Jesus and the Apostles would have used while visiting the city.

We got back on to the bus (with our new bus driver) and visited a local museum called The Shrine of the Book. This museum houses some of the actual Dead Sea Scrolls. It was very exciting to see. They are much larger than I thought that they would be. However, the most interesting thing about this museum is what is on the outside. There is a huge model (about 50ft by 100ft) of the city of Jerusalem during the first century. The detail is amazing. I can't wait to use some of the pictures that I took in my Bible Classes.

Tomorrow morning we board the bus for another day of sightseeing. These stops will take us in the area of the plains between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean Sea. We will end up with dinner in Jaffa and then to Tel Aviv to catch our 11:30PM flight to Atlanta. We will arrive in Atlanta on Tuesday morning around 6:00AM (Eastern Time). From there, we have a four hour drive to Athens, Alabama. It is be a very long day…or couple of days…or whatever. I'll try to post something before we board the plane, but if I don't, I'll do so as soon as I get back home. It's been a great trip, but Barry and I are both ready to see the kids.

(Bonus Picture! One more picture of my shoes walking up the same steps that Jesus walked up when he would come to Jerusalem!)

Bethlehem

Today we spent most of the time between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. We started off the day by driving to the top of The Mount of Olives for a group picture with the city of Jerusalem in the background. The view from there was amazing. I can't imagine how beautiful it must have been for the people in Jesus' time to look across there at the temple.

From there, we went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed in the hours before his death. Regardless of the pretty rose picture we have attached, it wasn't a garden at all during Jesus' time. It was the area where the press was that produced the olive oil from the olive trees on the hill.

Our next stop was to Bethlehem which is in Palestinian territory. We had to drop Elie off because he is not allowed to go into the city. We picked up an Palestinian guide who was very nice. We had to take a short walk to get to our destination and of course being in a different country, you always look for something familiar. Everyday we may see maybe a couple of familiar (recognizable) places. Well today it was a Star & Bucks. We have attached a picture that we just couldn't resist taking.

Once here, we reviewed the familiar stories of Rachel giving birth to Benjamin and was buried on the way to Bethlehem and how Naomi returned to Bethlehem with Ruth and then of course the story of Ruth and Boaz. The big story is the place of the birth of Jesus. We walked into the Church of the Nativity. This is the traditional spot of where Jesus might have been born. We viewed several aspects of the church and its history before leaving and heading to the Shepherd's Field. This is the traditional place where the shepherd's might have been with their flocks when they were told of the Lord's birth.

We next made a shopping stop at a place called Candoo. The men that run this establishment are the grandsons of the man that acquired the Dead Sea Scrolls after they were found by a Bedouin boy. In the shop they actually have a complete pot with lid that a scroll was located within. These guys only sell authenticated antiques like oil pots, pitchers, etc that are from the Biblical time period. Very interesting.

We drove back across into Israel to the Garden Tomb. This is the traditional site of where Jesus might have buried. We had a British guide, and the British for the most part, believe that this is the site. Regardless, it is a fine example of what a tomb back in Jesus's time might have looked like.

Our very last stop was, of course, our hotel. After being out and about all day, we are quite thankful for our hot meal and nice clean room. By the way, we can't leave Israel yet; we haven't eaten all of our ores.

From The Dead Sea To Jerusalem

So, we got in so late last night that we just couldn't function enough to type. We had a hard time trying to decide what day it was. Yesterday we left the Dead Sea. We started our day at 5 am. We Skyped with the kids and got to see their cute little faces and to hear some long tales about what was going on. It was Wednesday night after church for them and not quite sunrise for us. Last Thursday, for us, Samuel gave us the entire Wednesday night talk. I don't believe that he left out one word, so thanks to whoever gave the talk that night. We seem to think that our little ones aren't paying attention when they are really soaking up everything they see and hear. We didn't get a Wednesday night recap, but we heard lots of other stories.

Anyway, we head down to the Dead Sea to see if we could float. The sunrise was absolutely breathtaking and the water was so beautiful and clear. I wasn't expecting the water to be this way. It is greasy feeling and it is true, without even trying, the water just forces you to the top and you begin floating. Breakfast was delicious. We have stayed a nice hotels on this trip, but the Dead Sea Spa Hotel was fantastic. Great views, great rooms and great food. You can't beat that combination.

From there we drove north to the Allenby Bridge where we crossed the border into Israel. We met our faithful tour guide, Elie and our driver Fawzy. We missed them while we were in Jordan and we were glad to see them again.

We headed south along the western edge of the Dead Sea to Masada. This fortress was built by Herod the Great. In 70AD, 958 Jewish Zealots retreated to Masada and held out against the powerful Roman army until 73AD. It was a beautiful place. We rode a lift up to the top. The view of the Dead Sea was fabulous from such a high place. It was sunny and pretty hot, but we were glad that we went. Afterwards, we had lunch in front of the cliffs and caves of En Gedi. This is the location where Saul chased David in an attempt to kill him.

Qumran was our next stop. This is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. These scrolls have been dated to the second century BC and helped the world to verify the authenticity of the Biblical translations that we use today.

From there, we drove north to the tel of ancient Jericho. Wow. I understand that story so much more now. From the top of the tel, you could see the possible locations of Gilgal, where the Israelites camped while they marched around the city of Jericho. The excavations that have been going on have detailed many walls and foundations of times prior to the Israelites as well as from that time. It was so easy to see where the Israelite army "marched around the city". I can't wait to tell that story to my Bible class the next time.

We arrived late in Jerusalem (around 8PM). After dinner, we were all exhausted from a long and tiring, but wonderful day.

This morning, we got up and ate breakfast. Shortly before going down to breakfast, we realized that our alarm clock was off by 30 minutes and we were late to breakfast. We ran down, swallowed our breakfast, and just barely made it out to the bus in time.

Today was spent entirely in Jerusalem. Barry's Mom and Dad have been here twice before and they were so excited at the end of the day. Apparently, we did a bunch of things that they had never done before. We started this morning by going to the ancient City of David which lies on the piece of land to the south of the Old City. It was interesting to see the foundation of the palace of David as well as the ancient water system for the city. We were able to see Hezekiah's tunnel, which King Hezekiah built to bring water into the city. We were also able to visit the Pool of Siloam and then climb some steps that citizens of Jerusalem would have climbed when they were returning to the city from the Pool. These steps were only opened a month ago. Elie even said that he had not been able to see these yet.

Next, we entered Jerusalem through the Jaffa Gate. The walk through the shops of Jerusalem was really interesting. Lots of things to buy and lots of shopkeepers that were anxious to sell you something. After lunch, we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This church sits on top of the traditional spot of Golgotha and the Burial Cave of Jesus. Although this is probably the right area, it seems to me like the church curators (which is a separate story) have taken it a little too far.

From the church, we walked the Via Dolorosa (in reverse order) to the Pool of Bethesda near the Lion's Gate. The Pool of Bethesda is mentioned in John 5 and was located outside the city walls at the time of Jesus. After driving around and seeing more views of the city, we headed back to the hotel where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

We can't believe that this trip is slowing coming to a close. We have learned so much. We can't wait to get home and tell our kids about all we learned.

We Set Our Face To Jerusalem

Sorry for no post last night. Yesterday was a very long day. We left the Dead Sea area (after taking a swim), went through the border back into Israel, visited Masada, Qumran and the ancient site of Jericho. We made it to Jerusalem after 8:00pm. After dinner, we all went straight to bed.

We'll be taking in the sites of Jerusalem over the next few days. I'll post more tonight.

A Rocky Day

So we started our day with a beautiful sunrise in Petra, Jordan. After our breakfast, we headed for the tourist center. At this point, you could walk 800 meters to the Siq. We all had tickets to ride a horse if we wished to the Siq and to save us some walking time. We chose to ride. I had a frisky horse named Mountain. A horse boy helped you with your horse all the way to the Siq and of course they ask all kinds of questions about where you are from and about America. It is always fun to talk about home, especially if you have been away for a while. When we dismounted we paid our helpers a tip and started our long journey for the day. Now we started with the horses about 9 am and had to be back to the bus by 1 pm. Walking through the Siq was amazing. We all could hardly walk for taking so many pictures and there is no way pictures could do this landmark any justice.

The word Petra is the Greek word for rock. This is most likely the biblical Sela which also means rock. The rock walls were beautiful. We could see a water system that had been carved in and places for idols to be viewed. Most of this area was used as a Edomite stronghold, but it was the Nabateans that did all of the carving of the buildings into the rocky mountains. The artistry and imagination is more than one could take in. The most recognizable building is the Treasury building. Most people would recognize it from the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie. The front of the building was closed off, so we couldn't go in, but they were excavating right in front of the building and we could see down. There is at least another whole floor with rooms and stairs under the ground. All of the ground that we had been walking on, actually has more of the ancient city under it. I really thought that this was all there was; boy was I wrong.

We then decided to walk up to the high place. We had no idea what we were getting ourself into. We poked fun at each other (mainly at Jane) and laughed, then it got serious. Half the trip up was in the shade and the other half (the steepest) was in the sun. We finally made it to the top and met a Bedouin woman who lives in the village below. It takes her 2 hours to walk to work at the high place. She showed us things that we would not have learned just standing on the ground.

We thanked the lady and started to make our way back. We took a different route downward as to see different sights. It was a much longer route, but the buildings were just beautiful. We also saw several shepherds with their goats or sheep standing on the sides of the mountains. We could hear the shepherds calling to their flocks and the flocks responding to them.

We did finally make it back to the Siq which was just as wonderful the second time through as the first. By this time, we were really hot and tired. We hadn't had any lunch, and we had been moving at a pretty fast pace. We took the horses again for the last 800 meters. Needless to say, we were the last ones on the bus; we were about 20 minutes late, but we didn't get scolded. As soon as we were on the bus, we started devouring our snacks and a couple of expensive cokes we had bought. Life was good again.

About 3 hours later, we arrived at our hotel on the Dead Sea. It is absolutely gorgeous here. Tomorrow we plan to arise early and wade into the sea. Our stops tomorrow include crossing the border back into Israel, visiting Jericho, Masada, and finishing in Jerusalem. We will spend the rest of our trip exploring Jerusalem.

We hope you all are following several of our blogs. 5 of the 46 of us are writing. We wish everyone could see what we see, learn what we are learning, and share with others what we are sharing.

Until next time...

A Day In Jordan

This morning, we started the day in beautiful Amman, Jordan. It is a very modern town with everything that you would expect in a world capital. It is a very large city that sprawls in every direction for miles (or kilometers). It took us a long time just to get out of the city.

From there, we travelled about an hour to a location known in the Bible as "Bethany Beyond the Jordan". It is an area on the east side of the Jordan River. This would have been near to the location where John the Baptist baptized Jesus (as well as many others). Although it was very interesting and we learned a lot, there are some ways in which this stop was very disappointing. The Jordan River is currently flowing at a rate much lower than it was 100 years ago and MUCH lower than it was during Jesus' time. This is due to the irrigation that the countries of Israel and Jordan are doing upstream. For instance, the size of the river here is much smaller than the size of the river that we saw upstream a few days ago at the Sea of Galilee. (The opposite should be true.) Another factor for the shortage of water is the reservoir that the country of Syria has built. We saw this reservoir a few days ago from afar. According to our guide, the Syrians built the water for the sole purpose of keeping the water for themselves. They don't use it for anything. They just keep it from going into Israel. With all of that being said, it was an interesting stop.

Our next stop was at the top of Mount Nebo. This mountain, of course, is the mountain where God showed Moses the Promised Land before Moses died. The view from Mount Nebo was BREATHTAKING. Our Jordanian tour leader stated that he has been showing people that view for 27 years and he had never seen the view as clear as it was today. You could see the Dead Sea, the Jordan River valley, the city of Jericho and the mountains of Israel. I am sure that our pictures do not do the view justice. I can't wait to get back home and use these pictures as I talk to my Bible class about the Israelites and how they took the land.

From there, we had a rather long ride (about 3 1/2 hours) to our current location, Petra. Along the way, we drove the Desert Highway through the desert of Jordan. I am sure that this ride would be very hot in the middle of the summer, but it wasn't bad today. But, we would travel for a long time without seeing anything beside small bushes and dried up wadis. Then, out of nowhere, a small city of a few buildings. We stopped at one of these cities for a bathroom and ice cream break (we look for ice cream everywhere we stop). We were told to "use the restroom here because it is the last one for two hours". So, we did.

One funny thing happened while we were driving. Out in the middle of nowhere (seriously), a Jordanian police officer pulled us over. Apparently, our driver was caught going ONE kilometer per hour over the speed limit. (They are serious about speeding over here.) The Jordanian armed guard that travels with us in the bus while we are in Jordan knew the police officer's uncle. They struck up a conversation and the charges against our driver were eventually dropped. Glad to see that things work in a similar way as the US!

Well, Barry and are in our double-size hotel room tonight. For some reason, we were given a large hotel room. However, the TV is probably 25 feet from the bed. I'll need binoculars to watch TV from bed tonight. But, this large room makes us miss the kids. We would like to have a big room like this when they are with us.

That's it for today. There is another long day scheduled for tomorrow, where we will end up on the banks of the Dead Sea.

Did you say we were going to Amman, Jordan?

We started our 5th day with one last breakfast at the Leonardo Club Hotel. The hotel was very accommodating and centrally located. We were a little sad to leave the Sea of Galilee. We were amazed at its beauty and its significance to Bible events. Ferrell and Eli, we are sure, could fill 10 more days of information about the Galilean area. That could actually be one trip in itself.

Today we headed to the Jordan border, and at that point we had to leave our favorite guide Eli, behind. We will miss him for the next couple of days, but he will join us again on Thursday when we reach the Israeli border to head into Jerusalem. He will be with us for the rest of the trip.

We went through two check points to get into Jordan. Everyone was very friendly helping us get into the country, and we had no problems. We met our Jordanian guide, Tekeq. We have found him to be very knowledgeable and very friendly. He will be with us until we reach the Israeli border on Thursday.

We left the border and drove to Jerash. It is the second largest city of the Decapolis. It is possible that Jesus visited here. We learned about Greek and Roman architecture. Absolutely amazing engineering feats. They had technology in their own right. Of course, all of what we saw had been excavated. The area was so large that we didn't have ample time to visit all of the sight. The buildings, columns, and roads were massive. They unearthed a theatre, small shops, and a large forum where caravans road through and traded goods. After walking a bit of the grounds, we watched a Roman soldier demonstration, a gladiator demonstration, and a mock chariot race. The exhibition was well worth the time.

We finally reached the city of Amman. We will be viewing more of the city as we are heading out toward Mt. Nebo and beyond tomorrow.

To everyone following all of the blogs, we hope you are enjoying them. We are all having a great time with lots of snickering and laughing. The bus ride alone is all the entertainment we can stand. At different times you can hear different travelers talking about what they are going to do with all that they have learned, and that is so invigorating. Hope you all are learning much from our journey.

And yes, we are really in Amman, Jordan!

Upper Galilee

Well, you have a guest blogger tonight. My wife is taking the night off and has asked me to fill in. I'm sure that I'll be as funny as she is, but I'll try.

We began our last full day around the Sea of Galilee with breakfast at the hotel. They actually had a tray of pancakes in the buffet which was a treat. The one main thing that is a big change on this trip is the drinks. They don't use a lot (or any) ice in Israel, so all of your drinks (water, cokes, etc.) contain no ice. The orange juice that I drink in the morning tastes good, but it looks weak. It is a lighter and thinner orange than what we are used to at home. But, even with no pork and the strange seasonings and no ice, the food so far has not been that bad. Yesterday morning, our bus driver, Fawzy, treated all of us with a bottle of water and an fresh apple. It was fantastic! We have also been able to try new things. Yesterday, we actually tried Ratatouille! (It's a peasant dish.) It was very good.

We headed north of the Sea of Galilee this morning. Our first stop was at the ruins of Hazor. Hazor is mentioned a number of times in the Bible. In I Kings 9, it mentions that the walls of Hazor were built by Solomon. It was so interesting to see the foundations of these walls still standing. Did I mention that they were built by Solomon??? There is also a water system similar to the one that we saw at Megiddo that was built by King Ahab (also like the one at Megiddo). The views from Hazor were amazing and helped Tabatha and I to understand the importance of the strategic position of the city. The picture is of Tabatha and I from the Hazor lookout tower.

After Hazor, we drove to Caesarea Philippi. This city was built by Herod Phillip. It is near this city that Peter confessed to Jesus (in Matthew 16) that Jesus was the Christ. While we were there, we read the scripture of this account. Those verses (as well as hundreds of others) will mean something totally different to me after this trip is over. After leaving Caesarea Philippi, we ate at a little restaurant were we were able to drink our first Coke since we arrived! As an added bonus, they had a small box set up where you could get some ice for your glass!!!

Next we headed to the ruins of Dan. Again, we were amazed. There is so much archaeological excavation work that could be done. Only a small part of Dan has been excavated. By "small part", I mean probably around 1%. But, what has been excavated is amazing. The gates of the city has been excavated and you can walk through and see the place where the city judge would sit. At the beginning of the time of the Divided Kingdom, Jeroboam set up high places and golden calves in Dan and at Bethel (I Kings 12). We were able to walk up to an on top of the "high place" at Dan. We stood on the exact spot where the Golden Calf would have been placed. It is amazing to be able to actually touch history. Finally, we were able to see one of the original gates of the city. This gate is over 4,000 years old. Abraham (yes, that Abraham) walked through this gate when he visited the city. What an amazing thing to see. The pictures below are of the "High Place" built by Jeroboam and the ancient gate of the city. (Note to all archaeologists around the world: Someone needs to dig more to see what else can be found!)

From there we drove on the Golan Heights and were able to look into the country of Syria (including the UN facility that was between us and them). We finally ended up back at the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee and saw where the Jordan River enters the Sea (picture included).

Well, I really hate to leave the Sea of Galilee area. Tabatha and I were talking after dinner and concluded that we had really only started to learn all that we could learn about this area. It is so important in the life of Jesus. All of the stories that we read will now be seen in a totally different way.

We head over into Jordan tomorrow morning and will be there for three days. We are not sure if we will have an Internet connection over there, so if you don't hear from Tabatha in the next three days, don't panic. She's still here and she is still taking pictures as quickly as she can. And eating Oreos.

A Day At Sea (of Galilee)

We started our day three with a relaxing ride on the Sea of Galilee. Yesterday's weather was cool and damp. We actually rained on us yesterday which is very unusual. In this area it doesn't rain from April to October and it rained on us. We were afraid that the view on the sea would not be good; boy where we surprised. It was absolutely breath taking today. We left the dock in Tiberius and headed to toward the northwest coast. We could see Caperneum, the Cove of the Sower where Jesus preached to the multitude, the city of Magdala where Mary of Magdalene was from, Bethsaida, the location of the Sermon on the Mount, the feeding of the multitudes, and the Ginosaur. The Ginosaur was a museum that held a 2000 year old Roman boat from the first century. It was found off the coast of the Sea of Galilee buried in mud and water. The area had been in a drought, so the water level was very low. The boat was discovered by two brothers who where fishermen. It took 9 years to get the boat in a good enough condition to display. We watched a video on the excavating and preserving of the boat.

We then rode the bus to beautiful ruins of Caperneum. It is said to be known as the City of Jesus. This place held lots of photo opportunities like the ruins of the synagogue, ruins of what is believed as Peter's house, and ruins of large pieces of stone used in everyday life, like an olive press. This is also a place where Jesus performed many miracles like the healing of the paralytic man on the Sabbath and and the curing of a man with a withered hand. He also taught in the synagogue and the twelve apostles here in the city.

My next favorite place was Herod's Spring. This was not on our itinerary, but was a great spur of the moment decision. Of course, all along our journey we have to remember that the landscape doesn't look exactly the same as it did during Bible times. Our landscape is constantly changing due to the changes in nature, but I was very surprised at how small spring and its stream was. Remember this is where Gideon is getting ready to go fight the Midianites and, he has thousands of men ready to fight, and God tells him that he has too many men. Gideon then tests the men. They go to the spring for a drink and depending on how they drank was how he decided who he was taking with him to fight. Gideon had 300 men and defeated the Midianites. This spring sits at the base of Mt. Gilboa. I always thought of this spring and water flow to be much larger than it is. This is also the area where Saul and Jonathan were slain.

Another big story of the day was lunch. We ate what was call St. Peter's fish. The fish was deep fried and still had its head on when it got to our tables. Needless to say, there was lots of giggling and snickering from many. There is just something about eating food that is staring back at you! We were very grateful for our lunch, and once we got past the fish staring at us in disbelief, we devoured everything but the head.

I have to make mention that we brought a visitor along on our journey, and his name is Flat Stanley. He is a third grade project that my cute little nephew Dillon is doing for class. Flat Stanley has had his picture taken at the Mediterranean Sea and in Caperneum at the Sea of Galilee. I hope Stanley has had as good a time as we have.

So much history and so little time. We have been in information overload ever since we got off the plane, but it has been quite enjoyable, and now I can see in my mind the places that I teach about in Bible class. I plan to learn as much as I can.

To be continued,,,

Day 2

Well, we have wrapped up day two. We started our morning at 4:45; we skyped with the kids this morning, and they were glad to hear from us. It was 8:45 pm their time, so they were going to bed as we were getting up. I went back to bed when we were done talking with the kids. I stayed in bed until the last minute. We were at breakfast by 7 am and on the bus by 8.

We headed to Caesarea Maritima first. This was a fascinating place. We saw an amphitheater and what is left of Herod's palace. The theatre is still being used today. All of this sits on the Mediterranean Sea. Herod had great architectural ideas. We were able to walk in and on the ruins that was left of his palace. He actually had a fresh water pool put in on the edge of the sea. This pool was surrounded by the sea itself. He had massive aqueducts built to bring in fresh water to the city, and there are large ruins of these still in existence. When we visited the aqueducts we got to actually touch the sea water. Of course there were villagers fishing there just like another day, but for those of us who study the Bible and live so far away and are now seeing the Bible in color, so to speak, this was a thrill. We also learned that all of the sand dunes that we were seeing is sand that is is actually from the Nile river. The currents in the Mediterranean Sea move in a counter clock wise motion stirring up the Nile placing the sand along the sea coast. Of course, the wind also stirs up the sand reshaping the landscape constantly. I am actually bringing home a small bag of sand from Egypt, and I didn't even visit there.

The next stop of the day was to Mt. Carmel and of course we know the story of Elijah challenging the Baal priests. There was a very nice monastery and garden at the supposed sight that this event happened. I am having to keep in mind that some of the sights that we visit is a best guess or reasonable assumption that a certain event happened here instead of somewhere else.

Megiddo was the next sight of the day. Of course, this sight was of great strategic importance. Whoever had this city, had control over the entire valley of Jezreel. From where the city sat, they could see enemies coming from any direction and have plenty of time to ready itself for defense. Another historical significance was the fact that Josiah, the last of the good kings, was killed near this city. The city had such a defensive stance, and was well thought out enough, that King Ahab had a tunnel built under part of the city so that the people wouldn't have to actually leave the city to get water from the closest spring. We walked down 186 steps to reach the tunnel. We walked the tunnel and then ascended 85 steps to get out. It is amazing that these people were able to tunnel through the rock so far underground.

We then drove through Nazareth. The stop in Nazareth was a constructed Nazarene village. It was constructed in such a way so that the visitor could learn what life was like during Bible times. We saw how they terraced the land for farming, what a carpenter's workshop was like and what a rich man's house might look like. We also saw a wine press and an olive press.

We finally made it to Tiberias. We stopped up on a hill to look out across the Sea of Galilee. We took several pictures, but it was quite hazy. Tomorrow we will take a boat ride. We were warned about how quickly storms arise on the sea. We will be staying here for a couple of days.

If anybody is interested, I had oreos for lunch.

We are here!

We boarded a boeing 777 Wednesday night in Atlanta. We had a lot of anxiety over a 12 hour flight to a foreign country and leaving our children for 14 days. We actually had a wonderful flight. Samuel would have loved this--we actually had our own video screen and ear phones to watch our own individual movies or play video games. There were probably 75 movies to choose from. This occupied us for quite a few hours. Once we landed, we stood in line to get our passports checked. I actually have my first stamp-Tel Aviv, Israel. It doesn't seem real

We have finally made it to Israel. We landed at 5:15 pm Tel Aviv time which is 9:15 am in Athens, Alabama. Barry and I have been teasing each other about what day it actually is. We have concluded that yes it is Thursday and yes we have just flown 6500 miles today and we are on the other side of the world. Once the sun came up, we had the opportunity to see some amazing sights. I have to tell you that when flying over Italy, Italy really does look like a ladies boot. Very beautiful. We did fly over France, which I was looking forward too, but we couldn't see anything; the clouds were too thick. We made it to the Greek Islands and the water was spectacular! The water was so blue that the view looked like a water painting. Over one of the southern islands we saw a beautiful thunderstorm from its top side. I attempted to take a picture of it. We flew over Rome, the Aegan Sea and then the Mediterranean Sea. As we approached Tel Aviv, it was amazing to see what a metropolis Tel Aviv is. I always thought of this area not as modernized, but the coast is absolutely beautiful and the airport is very modernized and enormous.

We boarded our bus and drove for a while and reached the old city of Jaffa. We got off the bus and walked for a while taking pictures. We talked about Jonah leaving Jaffa to go Nineva to do God's work. From where we were, the coast of the Mediterranean was beautiful. We followed the coast to the city of Natanya. Our hotel room in Natanya has a balcony, so we opened the door so that we could hear the waves crashing. I can't wait to get some close up pictures from the balcony in the morning.

Still Getting Ready

Barry and I are still getting ready for our trip. I am glad to say despite being totally confused and excited, we now have clothes in our suitcases. I am reviewing spelling words, washing clothes, and smiling at my packing list. (I actually have several lists.)

We now just need to prepare for our 12 hour flight. We just have a few things to throw in our carry-ons and we are done. We will send the kids off to school first thing in the morning, wash the last few clothes, put the bags by the door and sit and maybe breathe for a few minutes. We will then wait for our neighbors to drive way over to our house and pick us up.

The drive to Atlanta should be interesting as I will remember things that I have forgotten, but can't do anything about, and I will probably be teased about falling asleep before I even get out of Limestone County, and I will participate in conversation about what fast food joint we will eat at at the airport before there is no more french fries and hamburgers for two weeks. As I think about this I am already laughing.

Can someone please pass me an oreo?

Getting Ready!

So, I have now officially entered the blogging world. I hope to post most everyday for the next couple of weeks. I am getting ready to embark on a trip of a lifetime. Barry and I along with Barry's parents, are leaving on a 13 day trip to Israel and Jordan. We will start our adventure with a 12 hour plane flight out of Atlanta. We will visit Petra, Bethlehem, the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias, etc. I told my Bible class that I would be bringing them some rocks and as 5 and 6 year olds would, they thought that would be cool.

So far, I do have the most important thing packed, and that is the oreos. There can't possibly be any Britnell family vacation with out oreos, the family staple. Yes, other things are packed, but food is always on our minds, so that is where I started. Considering that I wouldn't find a Wal-mart right around the corner, needless to say, the shopping on our packing list has been a bit complicated. Clothes are slowly being packed, the house is slowly being cleaned, orders for good behavior expected from the kids have been slowly taken in, and finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is slowly being seen.

We are so looking forward to this trip and for all of those being left behind, we will be thinking of you. Some of you have seen through me that preparing the children for us leaving has been a bit overwhelming at times, but they are being left in great hands. We are very grateful to you all and when you get overwhelmed while we are gone, all I can say is "eat some chocolate", though you may have to sit in a closet all by yourself so that you don't have to share.

Although I am looking forward to posting every evening on the trip, I will not take any responsibility for any gramatical errors or such. We will be so overflowing with Biblical information, that I will have to be swift as not to forget.

I am sure that I will be totally exhausted by the end of the day, but at least I will have oreos.......