Day 5

Today is our last full day outside Jerusalem. We stayed last night at our hotel Dan Panorama in downtown Jerusalem, just a few blocks from the Old City and its incredible walls.

Last night, as we were coming into town, we stopped on the mount of olives and looked out over the old city and the temple mount. Wow! We are actually here! This is where it all happened! From our vantage point we were able to see the valleys surrounding Jerusalem, the City of David, the Old City, the Temple Mount, Mt Scopus and Hebrew University and so much more. What a sight!

This morning we made our way out of Jerusalem and headed south to The Dead Sea. On our way, we stopped by En Geti, a beautiful national park and wildlife reserve that carves its way through a valley and back to a series of waterfalls. It was here that David forgave King Saul for his relentless pursuit of him in an attempt to protect his throne. It is so cool to be in the places talked about in the Bible... it really does all come alive. Jason swam in the falls and we both had a terrific time there.

Further south around the Dead Sea, we visited Masada, an ancient fortress set atop a high flat topped mountain. It was here that the last of the Jews held out against a sustained roman siege before finally killing themselves, rather than falling into enemy hands. This was really one of the coolest things we've seen.

While at Masada, we had lunch... at McDonalds! A kosher McDonalds that is... no cheeseburgers! And no Bacon! I had a "Double Royal" burger which was $14! Wow.... and it was cooked to order, not from the heat rack.

We ended the day with a nice float in the dead sea. What a strange feeling! We spread dead sea mud all over and got a high end skin treatment... what a trip!

Now we're back in Jerusalem for another buffet dinner and early bedtime! Up at 6 tomorrow for another action packed day!

We are video taping everything we do and it is a good thing. We're both feeling like we're drinking water from a firehose and we can't really take it all in right now. When we get home and go through all the videos and photos, it should be easier to process through and really grasp... in the mean time, its go go go.