Sweat, Freeze, Repeat

Oh - my - goodness. Two words. PITA BREAD. Forget all the weight I am gaining from ice cream whilst on this ‘trip’. The real problem is the pita bread. Have you ever had fresh pita? Straight from the baker’s oven in Israel pita bread? If you have then you are one lucky duck. Mmmm. It’ll change your life.

We have officially hit the two-week mark on our trip. (Drew reminds me that we are not on vacation, we are on a TRIP - big difference. I think the main distinction between a vacation and a trip is the amount of rest and relaxation you do or do not get.) Total days on our adventure will be 35 so at day 14 we are not yet at the ½ way point. A quick status check this morning and I can report that everyone is in good spirits, happy to be here and ready for more. My youngest did divulge a slight tinge of homesickness.

Did I mention how hot it is?

We’ve said goodbye to the ‘Golden City’ and our comfortable hotel and started south. That means it gets hotter and hotter and hotter. Quick stop at Ein Gedi, a little oasis where David hid from King Saul. There is a water source and a lot of Ibex so it’s a nice little safe house.

Seven miles south lays Masada, the last stronghold for some zealot Jews. Before we left home we rented a DVD about Masada so the boys would have an idea of the wonder they would be seeing and they all fell asleep during the film. No chance of that today, they melted in the heat. Masada is a pretty massive compound built by Herrod who wanted a vacation home and it was REALLY something! He didn’t use it that much and eventually some Jews moved in and used it to withstand the Roman legions that were destroying Jerusalem and enslaving Jews. It took the Romans about three years to build a ramp and bust in but by then (A.D. 73) the zealots had killed each other.

Lunch today was at a kibbutz in southern Israel that specializes in the dairy industry. (Don’t tell my sister Sherise but I had Magnum bar flavored ice cream and it was A LISHIOUS!)

Crossing the border into Jordan was more than an experience. Here it is in a nutshell; get off the Israeli bus, enter the 115 degree heat (I am not exaggerating) get your bags, walk to the Israeli check point, show your passport, wait in the heat, walk to the Jordanian check point, wait in the heat, walk again to the Jordanian bus and you've made it. Whew. Tourism is the number 1 industry in Jordan so they were pretty friendly even if they did have automatic weapons. And they seem to really like their royal family here - their pictures are everywhere.

(The boys said this was their 'Backstreet Boys' pose.)

115 degrees outside and about 55 degrees on the bus. Sweat, freeze, repeat. Our hotel has a pool and a real Turkish bath. Not sure if I’ll have time for the spa treatment as we have an early wake up call for our visit to Petra tomorrow! (Spa! Haha!)