This week the American Community School is out for Spring Break. I also took the week off work. As we typically do on holidays, we loaded up the minivan and embarked on a road trip - this time to Northern Israel. We were accompanied by our friends the Sanfords, Bangerters, and Bhallas.
On Sunday, we drove about an hour north of where we were staying (the Sea of Galilee) to Banias. Banias is at the base of Mount Hermon, one of the sites that is a candidate for the Mount of Transfiguration, and the source of the Jordan River.
We took an hour hike that paralleled the Jordan River. This time of year all the hill sides are green and there were spring flowers everywhere. It was a refreshing change coming from Jordan where water is scarce and the dominant colors are limestone white and sandy brown.
No trip in the Middle East would be complete without a visit to Roman or Greek ruins. Therefore, we visited Ceasarea Phillipi - the site of a temple built by the Greeks and afterwards the location of a Roman city Jesus visited. The city was built alongside several natural springs that come from the snow capped Mount Herman and feed into the Jordan River.
April 3rd was Shelley's mom, Susan's, birthday. To celebrate, we went to dinner and afterwards sang to her while a sparkler burned down over her coconut ice cream.
We stayed at our favorite place at the Sea of Galilee - Ein Gev. It is an ideal place to stay since it is one of the few locations along the lake that has a sandy beach and there is plenty of open space for the kids to play. It was a treat for the kids to play on grass.
