Travels to Israel

Many people I meet are Christians who know the Bible well. Our travels to the Holy Land made the Bible come alive for me. This section is to share what I learned in order that you might have a better picture of the land where Jesus walked and will walk again.

My husband and I first traveled to Israel in the spring of 1988 as part of our world trip. A letter I wrote home at that time is in the World Trip section, here. The first day we were there, I had tears in my eyes thinking about my mom. Going to Israel had always been a dream of hers. Ten years later, almost to the day, we returned for two weeks with Mom.

The photos in this section are from both trips. You might want to refer to a map of Israel to get a sense of distance and location, and/or look up and read what the Bible says about the places we visited. I enjoyed doing that as we traveled.

On our second trip in 1998, we rented a car in Tel Aviv and drove north along the coast to the border, through Haifa and Akko to Rosh Hanikra. Then we continued along the northern border to Metullah, the northernmost point in the country. Sunday we drove around the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee, visiting the Jordan River, Capernaum, and the Mount of Beatitudes.

Monday we drove to Nazareth and then on to Megiddo (better known to Americans as Armageddon). We had missed the turnoff to Caesarea the first day so we returned there, then drove south through Tel Aviv. Tuesday we went all the way to the Dead Sea. We hiked up Mt. Sodom, and went "swimming" in the Dead Sea.

Wednesday we explored Masada and went to the En Gedi oasis, then on to Jerusalem where we drove up the Mount of Olives before checking into the Petra Hotel just inside the Jaffa Gate. We returned the car and spent the rest of our time in Jerusalem.

Click to any location that interests you, or read through the whole trip in order. Links on each page will guide you to the next story.