Israel Trip - Day 8

Today we covered a lot of ground.

We started with a trip to Masada.
        This is a fortress that Herod the Great built as a strategic location for a “final stand” if absolutely necessary. It is an unbelievable architectural feat! He even had a sauna/steam room that had in-floor heating!
        Herod’s palace was amazing. Three tiers on the mountainside with an incredible view and protective measures!
        There are amazing aqueducts to catch water from the mountains and used to funnel the water to Masada.

Revisited En-Gedi (See Day 3 for more on this)
   

     There were tons of students visiting the falls - we literally waited in line on the path for 10 - 15 minutes to get up to the falls!        It’s really nice to have Linda present in all of this - s

o often, I have the privilege of seeing some amazing things like this and she’s home with the kids and all and misses it. Not to mention that in a few says we will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary! WOO HOO!!!

Burger King - Israeli style!
        We stopped at “The lowest Burger King on the earth!” for lunch today.       

 
Dead Sea swim
As you can see, we kicked back for an hour or so at the Dead Sea this afternoon. I took my tray, cup and latest copy of Relevant 

magazine and spent a little time just floating around on the Dead Sea. The Sea is 30+% salt, so floating comes EXTREMELY easily. It is actually very comfortable to float in position that I call the “fishing line bobber.” If you have ever used one of those red-and-white plastic bobbers, you know exactly what I mean.





After a few minutes in the hot tub/jacuzzi, and ice dip, I took a 4 mile run @ -450 meters below sea level with 3 brothers and a sister from South Africa.