Old Jaffa and a road trip!!!!

Sorry...It's been a while since I posted an update. We had a few days where we were working at midnight and our schedules were all backwards.

We managed to get out and make it through Old Jaffa on Friday. We walked through the old churches and along the port. Everything was amazing. Jaffa also had a market that we walked through. We took in the sights at this old port town. It is just south of Tel Aviv. A google search will give you all the history you could ever want. Old Jaffa

On Saturday we took a road trip to the Dead Sea. We decided to drive and checked in to the safest way to go. Most said that it was safe to go through the west bank with the "as long as you don't get off the highway" clause. We decided to avoid it. Our goal was to make it to Masada. However we made a wrong turn at Albuquerque! Wow! Ya want to talk about getting nervous! There was no one else really on the road we ended up taking on our attempt to get to Masada. As we traveled down the road through the twists and turns...I couldn't help but think of every movie that I have watched where the tourists run into armed road block. We ended up driving 20 kilometers on this twisty desolate road, to find out that it was a dead end. We ended up on the back side of Masada and couldn't see the Dead Sea. We had to drive all the way out and go around the south side of the Judean Desert to get back around to the east side of Masada. There is a cable car that will take you all the way up to Masada. You can see on the Google map where we went on the road to no where! Oh well! It was definitely an experience!

You can see where we had to back track just above the "B" marker. We could also see smoke coming from the Gaza area as we drove south.

The Dead Sea was amazing. If you ever have a chance to check it out...Don't hesitate! It is the lowest place on earth as well as having the highest concentration of salt of any body of water. Nick and Kary actually went swimming. I had no desire to get in there! The view was beautiful but it smelled like rotten eggs!!! We managed to time it about right and had the chance to see the sun set. It was a nice romantic moment for 5 guys to experience together!

The Dead Sea is split down the middle by Israel and Jordan. The mountains you see across the water is Jordan. It was a cool experience. I wish the pics would have come out a little better. The day was hazy and made the pictures a little difficult.

Check out the pics on my Picasa when you get a chance!