11/27/12 – Desert Wasteland

I awoke early from a terrible sleep.  The cold that I was getting over before I left Canada was back with a vengeance; I had awoken numerous times during the night in a choking panic.  I wondered if things would have been different if I had been baptised yesterday.  Maybe it would have provided a placebo effect and offered some mildly curative relief.  Then I saw Deacon Mike on the bus.  He was in horrible shape and had to lay down across the back seat.  My baptism question had been answered.

We left the Sea of Galilee behind and drove towards Jerusalem along the Jordan River valley.  The topography changed from lush to desolate in a matter of a few kilometres and for the most part the security fence to the East remained in view.  While the Jordan River forms the official border between Israel and Jordan, a security fence is set well back to establish a military zone to buffer any potential threats through Jordan.  It has been many years since any attempted attacks, yet the security fence and with it the military zone, remains in place.

We stopped at a highway gas station for what Amnon had termed “coffee in and coffee out” and the group was given a strict fifteen minute time limit to re-board the bus.  That was plenty of time to grab a coffee and to persuade dad to do something quite unexpected.

Who would have thought that you’d be able to ride a camel at a highway rest stop?  Yet there it was… a camel for hire.  $2 US got you a short lap around the parking lot.  After some of the others had their turn I convinced dad that he should do it.  He didn’t protest and only said “your mother will be surprised about this.”

Dad’s ride was brief, but it was still hilarious.  He looked like a real natural.