Megiddo and the Dea Sea

Today we packed up and left Tiberias. Truthfully we were not too sad about this as the past 2 nights people were celebrating something near our hotel (we are pretty sure the first night was a wedding, but not at all sure what the celebration was the second night). Anyhow - they were celebrating far into the wee hours of the morning and none to quietly. This didn't translate into a whole lot of sleep for us. Last night we were considering recording a soundtrack for the blog. We didn't actually do it, so you will have to use your imagination, but just imagine very LOUD Israeli music, barking dogs and fireworks. FUN!

We headed southwest to Megiddo. This is the location for Armegeddon in the Bible. There are somewhere between 20-30 civilations that have built on this very spot over the past 2,000+ years. It was amazing to think about the history that has already taken place there, and what will happen at the end of days. There is an amazing view of the valley from the top. Amy and I saw a housing subdivision nearby and decided that we did NOT want to live there. While they may have a front row seat to the most amazing battle of all time, I am not sure I want to see it!

The group photo is taken in an underground tunnel that was dug out to a water supply. This allowed the area to have an uninterrupted water supply - even when it was under seige.

From there we drove further south to the Dead Sea. We will stay here for 2 nights. On the drive Amy hooked up her speakers to her iPod and she and Mike played dualing DJ. She would play a song from her iPod and then Mike would play one from his. It was amazing to listen to songs that I have heard over and OVER and over again, but now I have a new perspective. We listened to Amy Grant's El Shaddai and when she said "You turned the sea into dry land" - it was just so cool to think - I am going to SEE where that happened!!

Many of you know that the song "Voice of Truth" was a theme song for me last year during Mike's series of procedures. We listened to that song and I got chillls thinking about:
Oh,what I would do to have
the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
And realize I have looked out at that very SPOT where Jesus called Peter out of the boat. And then the next verse talks about standing before our giant with just a sling and a sword. We were driving through a valley today and Amy read to us about how that was the location where David confronted Goliath. It just brings things to life! SO COOL!

We arrived at the Dead Sea about 4 PM, checked into our hotel and headed down to the water. I am not sure what I was expecting, but the first thing I should tell you is that the water is HOT. I think I was anticipating that the water would be warm - after all, it was relatively shallow and it was about 1,000 degrees outside, but it was like HOT TUB HOT. You can see from the picture my initial reaction at my toes hitting the water! Then we had to do our obligatory "float in the water" picture. This was particularly exciting for Dan who says he is negatively buoyant.

For dinner we had a buffet at the hotel that had some of everything. I tried Falaffel - or something like that, and decided I didn't like it very much. My favorite was a cous cous (sp) salad that had nuts and oil and some spices. It was YUMMY!! I also had some hummus that I enjoyed - as well as some decent desserts.

The last pic is of me doing laundry in our hotel room tub. FUN!

Tomorrow we head out to Massada.