Today the sun is shining in Jerusalem, Israel.
The daffodils in the Botanical Gardens are in bloom.
But last week was very cold,
and for the first time we drove south to Eilat.
Once we left the Judean Hills,
there are long stretches of road in the desert,
lined with camel warning signs.
Not sure if these camels were real,
but this ostrich was running along a fence.
Bedouin encampments,
have popped up everywhere.
I always thought Eilat is far.
Well, nothing in Israel is that far!
We did stop once on the way down,
the distance is similar to that of NY to Baltimore.
In the rest stop this was a favorite sign.
Another interesting sign on the road was
this one is to warn of a road closed due to flooding.
I now understand why people run to see areas like this
when they are covered by streams of rushing water.
It is hard to imagine deep water here,
but these markers are in many locations on the road.
Then there is the huge Ramon Crater,
an impressive sight stretching for as are as you can see.
But from that crater outlook
you must go down,
twisting around and down,
on curves and sharper curves.
Once in Eilat the views
of the water from beachfront hotels
are picture postcard perfect.
Remember,
Jordan is this close,
and Egypt is just on the other side.
We went to see the Israman (Israeli Ironman) race.
At dawn nearly 2000 men and women
swam in the cold water.
Then after a quick change, they jumped on their bikes,
and pedalled up the Eilat Mountains.
They left their bikes here for UPS trucks to take back to city,
and then they set off running a full or half marathon course,
back to Eilat near the starting point.
Bart Candel of the Netherlands came in first again this year.
But I think every one who finished the race
was a winner.
Imagine doing this course with one leg?
There were lots of other inspirational stories,
maybe I will share them another time.
On the way back to Jerusalem
we passed the site of the new Ramon Airport
and fields of solar panels.
The Dead Sea may be shrinking,
but it still seems big as you drive along.
These beware of sink hole signs warn of serious
sink holes along the Dead Sea.
Back to Jerusalem,
where else would one find these new bus signs?
“Listen, Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One.”
