Our 2 weeks in Israel and Jordan have been jam-packed with so many adventures, it’s hard to know where to even start with describing them all. We find ourselves being especially exhausted at the end of our days here, filling each moment with so much activity. I’m going to summarize some of the highlights.

Eilat was a relaxing 3 days of fun in the sun. We went snorkeling in what was supposed to be an incredible marine life filled Red Sea, but must admit we were a little disappointed. I think the Maldives spoiled us with the range of sea-life we experienced there. It was still beautiful none-the-less, especially the colors of the mountains in Jordan that seemed to glow during sunset.

Jason shared the details of our quest in Petra in the previous post, which was amazing. The following day we continued our desert adventures in Wadi Rum. A jeep safari took us through the most gorgeous terrain, stopping off at some fun points along the way – these included mushroom rock, Lawrence of Arabia’s home (cave), a sand dune we could climb up and then run down, some Nabatean carvings in the mountain, and a couple of free-climbing areas. Let’s just say we were pooped after this activity filled day, and found much comfort in the luxurious Intercontinental Hotel in Aqaba we crashed in that night.

Being that it’s Sukkot in Israel, this is a special time to enjoy the countries wonderful outdoors. We had a lovely meal in our cousin’s Sukkah on Shabbat, followed by Jason’s star performance of shaking the lulav and etrog. The following day we all went to Bet Guvrim to go cave exploring. Since Miryam had worked in this site, she took us through the “off limits” areas to explore, using only the light from our flashlights to illuminate our way. Wasn’t sure if we’d all make it through some of the tight squeezes in the rocks, but somehow we managed.

Yesterday I had an incredible union with a long lost cousin, who I randomly was introduced to at Yom Kippur Services the previous week. When Aaron Leeper asked me if I was related to Elaine from Ohio, I told him that was my grandma – he then informed me we were somehow cousins. According the family tree we are 4^th cousins once removed. I even got to meet my 5^th cousins (his children Maayan and Shalev), which was great. I guess I have 2 sets of cousins in Beer Sheva – who would have thought!?!?

No trip to Israel is complete without the quintessential Masada visit. Although our initial plan was to take the cable car up to King Herod’s Fortress (Masada), upon seeing it from afar Jason decided he wanted to climb it. I guess looks can be deceiving, because had Jason known it was going to be as rigorous as it was, there’s no way we would have done it. The snake path winding up to the top is very steep, but more grueling was the high noon heat that was blazing on us. At the top Jason was so drenched he managed to wring drops of sweat out of his shirt – he sweats a lot!

Floating in the Dead Sea was a perfect way to soothe our sore muscles from the Masada climb earlier that day. We had so much fun playing around with the buoyancy in the salt filled water. Large crystallized salt rocks covered the bottom of the sea, which were actually quite sharp on our feet as we tried to walk over them. Now we can say we’ve been to the lowest place on earth!