Category Archives: The Land of Promise – A Visit to Israel

We met in a bomb shelter to say our goodbyes. Only minutes separated us from a knife wielding terrorist who was gunned down a short distance from us. Security checkpoints are too numerous to count. Armed security is required even … Continue reading →

Summary: Today we visited the courtyard of the former and future Jewish temples, roamed the Jewish quarter of the old city, went to the upper room where Jesus celebratee Passover with his disciples shortly before His crucifixion, and stopped at … Continue reading →

Summary: We started on the mount of olives, walked down to the garden of Gethsemane, narrowly avoided a terrorist attack, toured the pools of Bethesda, walked the Via Dolorosa to the church of the Holy Sepulcher, and then passed through … Continue reading →

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” … Continue reading →

Summary: Today we climbed out of the Jordan Rift Valley, first visiting Beer Sheva in the Negev, next stopping in Lachish, a city that guarded one of the main ascents up to Jerusalem from the West, and Azekah in the … Continue reading →

Summary: Today we spent the morning visiting Masada and had an afternoon to rest and relax at our hotel in the Dead Sea. Masada: Today we took a cable car up from the Dead Sea to a desert fortress called … Continue reading →

Summary: Today we left the Galilee in the North and headed South thru the Jordan Rift Valley. We went to a traditional baptism spot on the Jordan along the way, stopped at qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered, … Continue reading →

Today we headed to Caesarea Maratima, Mt Carmel overlooking the Jezreel Valley, ate lunch at a Druze restaurant, and then went to the city of Meggido (think Armageddon from Revelation 16). Caesarea Maratima: We started out by heading West from … Continue reading →

Summary: Today we left the Sea of Galilee and headed North for about an hour to get to Hazor, Dan, Caesarea Phillipi, and Mt Bental. The region has two elevations. The lower part is called the Hulah Basin, the valley … Continue reading →

Today we joined a bus tour to see some sites. As opposed to the footpath we just travelled where it was all about experiencing the journey, the rest of our trip will be the shotgun approach to seeing a country, … Continue reading →

This morning, Alon met up with us and gave us a ride to Arbel so that we could finish the section of the hike that we missed due to rain. Such a kind host, he did not have to do … Continue reading →

Today we joined the company of Abraham (Gen 19:27), Moses (Ex 34:4), David (Psalm 5:3), and Jesus (Mark 1:35) by waking early enough to spend time with the Lord early in the morning. We started with a sunrise over the … Continue reading →

It rained all of last night, forcing closure of the descent down the Arbel cliffs. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the guest house and then rode the taxi along with our bags down to Magdala where we picked the … Continue reading →

We woke up with the sun at 6:30 AM but didn’t crawl out of bed until almost 8Am. Surprisingly, legs were a bit soar even though we only walked 10 miles. Thankfully, like yesterday, today is mostly downhill as we … Continue reading →

The hitched hikers have set out again to wander the earth. This time, instead of traveling to the ends of the earth, we are headed for the center of it, and we are bringing our toddler, “Cheerio”, with. Our travels … Continue reading →