Dunes on the #5 Highway

If you are ever driving down the #5 Highway from MexiCali down the coast of the Sea of Cortez, keep your eyes peeled for really cool dunes. We pulled off for a while to play on our drive south. On the way back north, we were treated to a small sandstorm with winds blowing sand and dust clouds across the road.

Our friend Ming strolls across the beautiful landscape.

 

Gorgeous untouched wind patterns.

 

Would you judge me for being cliche if I captioned this “Leave only footprints?”

 

 

Josh doing some surfing/skittering down the side of the dune.

 

 

 

Swimming in the Jordan River

We always had the vision of the Jordan River as a wide, formidable, ageless, and important-looking. It’s not. In fact, it looked just like any other river in the world, complete with a nearby bar, live music, families, and swimming children.

Sleeping Out on the Sea of Galilee

Watching the sunset and sleeping out next to the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) is one of my most cherished memories of Israel. We picnicked at night and bathed in the Sea in the morning, and I received a marriage proposition from a stranger along with a really strong cup of Turkish coffee. This place reminded me of the lakes and campgrounds my family would visit growing up. Even though it had a different texture, flavor, and language, the underlying core of it was comfortingly familiar.

 

Children play in the waves at sunset.

 

Picnic dinner, including bread, sausage, and olives.

 

Our good friend Ronen.

 

 

The morning after. With weather this temperate, who needs a tent?

 

 

Kosher Mcdonalds

Want cheese on that? Too bad.

 

The Israel Museum

It was a Dead Sea Scroll kinda day. Here are some highlights.

 

8,000 year old mother goddess figurines from the Yarmukian culture. The goddess was considered the guardian of humans and animals, the bearer of all life, and the provider of souls.

 

The rather striking Dead Sea Scroll exhibit lived in a concrete dome that was continuously cooled with fountains to preserve the important manuscripts.

 

The Dead Sea Scrolls were part Jewish scripture, part sectarian codes, and written in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, Aramaic, and Latin, excavated from the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea in Israel. They range in age from 800 BCE to the 1100 CE and are the most complete ancient Hebrew writings ever found.

 

The Aleppo Codex, a bound manuscript of the Hebrew bible from 1000 CE.

 

Josh examines a beautiful dedication plaque.

 

If you’re interested in taking a virtual visit, the Israel Museum’s website has a decent digitized collection.

 

The Western (Wailing) Wall

The Western Wall. This Wall is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray, due to its proximity to the Temple Mount. For Muslims, it is the site where the Prophet Muhammed tied his horse on his night journey to Jerusalem before ascending to paradise. This site felt a bit inaccessible and awkward to us, and out of respect for the religion we kept our distance.

After seeing this so many times on TV, I have to say: it’s smaller than you’d think.

Judaism can be an admirably practical religion.