Wednesday, May 16 In The Path of The Good Samaritan

Today, Wednesday we went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and it is down hill all the way since Jericho is right close to the dead sea, some 400 metres below sea level.  Is it ever a dessert here.  Most of us floated in the dead sea and some took advantage of the healing mud. 

A bedouin home near where good samaratin story took place

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Jericho - a town under seige, literally. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, a hotel that had a casino that catered to the high rollers from Israel. The fence and checkpoints went up and the Israelies stopped coming. So now its a 5 star hotel with 3 star prices. A beautiful structure that I only hope can once again be success. Much of the area is like that, evidence of so much potential with people begging you to buy trinkets so they can support their families

Russ and Lynn

Good News of a Distant Arrival

We were very pleased to hear of the birth of Alexander John Lougheed Aldis. We would like to congratulate Tonja, Phil, Mackenzie, Jan and Peter for this wonderful event. 

The Wailing Wall

Everyone here is having fun, walking more than enough and eating about the same amount. Today we walked the Via Dolorosa and ended the day with an inpirational session with the Sabeel Organization. Tonight we pack and are off to Jericho, Masada and The Dead Sea tomorrow. We wish you all well back in Ottawa and hope you can share a small bit in our pilgrimage. 


Shalom from all! 

Dome Of The Rock

Walking through the old city of Jerusalem

Day 3 - Caesarea &Megiddo

Shalom from Jerusalem on Monday. Yesterday we started out in Tel Aviv and journeyed first to Caesarea, the former Roman capital founded by King Herod to bonour, Caesar Augustus. We saw excavated ruins of an amphitheater,a hippodrome and aqueduct and a beautiful harbour. Next to Megiddo where we looked over the valley where some believe the last battle between good and evil will take place. A highlight in the afternoon was a visit to a Biblical nature reserve, with an excellent guide, who connected plant life growing there with Bible passages. It was here that Joan drew water from the cistern and proved she was a strong woman. At the end of the day we shared our thanks for the trip so far, talked about surprises, such as the size of the settlements and pondered how long it would take to walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem where we visit today, by bus, not on foot or by donkey. Joyce

Safe and sound in Toronto

The first part of the pilrimage went without a hitch. Now we wait for the next flight. The excitement is building

The Excitement Builds

Gad, it's now Tuesday evening.  The big pilgrimage is getting closer and closer.  Time to start thinking about packing.

Departure Approaches

One week to go !!!