4 wheeling across the Naftali ridge... YeHaw! I was third in line so the dust could have been worse. Those things are definately fun. The scenery? I have no idea. I was busy. We got up to 40 MPH on this road, the smoothest of the day. Other roads weren't really roads but that's what the little things are made for.

The re-created, "Nazareth Village" features live actors and animals who show us life as it was 2,000 years ago. Here is a shepherd with his sheep. A little later we visited with some women at the well, a woman who showed us her weaving and a carpenter. There was also a group who were eating a meal prepared over an open fire by the staff, in period costumes and serving food that would have been common 2,000 years ago. They served us bread and olives that came from their own land.

Speaking of water... Rafting on the Jordan river, above the Galilee is one of those really nice experiences. If you combine that with dinner at the Thai resturaunt at Kfar Nechemia, you have a five star afternoon.

A new Israeli museum opened recently, featuring an underwater exploration of the ancient port of Caesaria. I have to say that the tour would have been better without the fisherman whacking me on the head, telling me that I was disturbing the fish. I probably won't be adding this one to my itinerary, mostly because of the 15 foot fishing poles.

I met Sean (Shalom2U) on the internet several months ago. At the time, he was nearly a neighbor. Now, he's moved quite a ways away. So, of course, now we had a chance to get together and meet face to face. Go figure.

Somebody asked me today if the walls of Jerusalem today are the same as they were when Babylon destroyed the Temple. Not exactly... Here is a drawing showing 8 versions of the city walls and there are other variations that are not included. Notice in diagram one that the original city, called Salem and later called the Jebusite city was entirely outside of the walls as they exist today. The shaded areas represent the variations of the walls.

One of the sites that nearly everyone wants to visit is Masada. A new cable car system was installed a couple years ago. This is the take off point. The ascent is nearly 1000 feet. Walking the trail takes about 30 minutes.

Standing at the entrance to a bedouin tent in the Judean Wilderness. Pastor Lamb is standing beside me as we squint into the sun during a hot afternoon in May.

Every tourist to Jerusalem seems to notice the Golden Onion domes. They are part of the roof of the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene at Gethsemane. This view is from the top of the Mount of Olives.

I love to see how the tourists who follow me around see Israel. I found this picture on a chip from one of the guys on my last tour. He got away from the group a ways and took this picture on the shore of the Galilee, looking toward the Arbel cliffs and Migdal.