Hi everyone. Finally getting a little time to get back online! The last 2 days have been really busy. A good example was yesterday. Honestly, we were either walking or standing all day. I was wiped out by time we got back to hotel; too tired to even get online and give an update of the day.

Yesterday we started out by visiting the Western Wall, otherwise known as the Wailing Wall to the Jewish and is Jerusalem’s most sacred site. Our guide, Mark, had even arranged a special trip thru the tunnels that border the wall. This is something that even the folks on the tour that had visited Israel before, had not gotten to do. It was amazing.
Afterwards, we ended up on the Via Dolorosa path, which is the claimed path that Jesus Christ took, carrying the cross to his death. Disputed by many, but just about everything in the Holy Land is, either by Muslim, Christian, or Jew. Got to visit the Lithstratos, the location of the judgment of Christ by Pontius Pilate, then a brief stop at Bethesda. This is where Jesus saved the man that was paralyzed, told him to get up and walk away, which he did. Again, this is amazing stuff, to actually stand exactly where Christ stood 2000 years ago. We spent the afternoon at the Holocaust Museum, which was both amazing, and saddening. The worst by far, was the pictures and stories of the children that suffered and ultimately died, simply because Hitler wanted the Jewish race to die. Finally, we arrived back to hotel, but as many of you know, Bill Gutshall had remained behind yesterday because he was not feeling well. When he didn’t open the hotel door for Carol, we all knew something was wrong. Hotel provided a spare key, and when Carol opened the door she screamed a horrible sound. Bill was found on floor, semi conscious. Had been trying to get up for hours, rubbed his knees and hands raw. Ambulance came and he is now in local hospital. They are continuing tests, not a blood clot, but they won’t permit him to leave or fly home at this time. So keep them in your prayers, it would certainly be a scary thing to be in a foreign country with your spouse in a hospital and unsure what will happen next.

Today was another great day. Probably the most beautiful scenery we have seen the entire time here. I took 123 photos and have a lot of video I will have to review, of this day. Our day started at a place near the Dead Sea, known as Masada. This is a huge fortress that was built by King Herod. It ultimately was the location of the final fight between Romans and the Jews. This fortress is something like 1400 feet up, and the view is stunning. It overlooks the Dead Sea. Again, I just kept taking pictures, as did everyone else. Probably one of my favorite destinations so far. Trolley car ride up, but several of us daring folks took the long and winding hike back down. Tiring but wonderful view every step of the way. We Stopped briefly at Ein Gedi, for more view, then visited Qumran. This is the location where most all the Dead Sea scrolls were located. Great to learn the history and how they were actually recovered. Finally, a stop at the beach of the Dead Sea. Mark says the Dead Sea is poisonous; drinking a cup of the water will cause cardiac arrest. Nothing lives here; the salt content is a third of the volume, about 10 times the salt of ocean water. You gotta be careful if you swim here to not get in face or eyes. The good news is you float, due to the specific gravity of the water. Doug, Dema, and Vladimir all swam, while several others waded in. It was hilarious at times, had a great time of it all.

Tomorrow is supposed to be our busiest. And will be our final day touring Israel before heading back over the border to Jordan on Wednesday. Several of the folks are pretty worn out; hopefully they can make it just one more day before we move on. The food and the hotel have been great, although I don’t always recognize what I’m getting from the buffet. Don’t care much for their scrambled eggs; they don’t cook em long enough. Also since we are in Israel, there is no pork here. So there is seldom meat of any type at breakfast. They also don’t serve coffee at dinner, otherwise people would want creamer for it. And there can be no dairy product with meat at same setting. Oh, speaking of meat, that another funny thing; they don’t call it steak, or roast, or hamburger, or meatballs, brisket, etc. It’s all called simply beef. So, when you order something, they usually ask if you want chicken or beef, no matter what the beef actually might be.

Anyway, that should pretty much catch everyone back up with our days. Oh, Doug found a place that sold Dr. Pepper today! He was so excited, until he had to pay $3.50 for it. Ha! But we are finding everything is expensive here. Soup and salad will usually cost more than $12 here. A full meal at lunch can be $20. But none of us are starving and as expected, we have all become a big family, sharing our lives with one another throughout the day. I’ve made some wonderful friends and love every one of these folks, they are special to me, I’m sure everyone else on the group feels the same.



Ok pictures are up on Facebook and I've added a map of our journey again. Had to create a new folder of pictures, cause Facebook only accepts 60 in one folder.
Again, keep Bill and Carol in your prayers. Goodnight everyone, love and miss you all………Dave



Pictures

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51566&l=d597f&id=578079683

Map

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=113407999173617109556.00045f8d1a6316e0aa4ce&z=9