Today was the final day of the 2013 Bible Land tour of Israel. We had some great visits today, but it has been a long day and I am about ready to turn in for the day.
Our group should be boarding their flight to the USA. My friend, Dan, arrived on time, but without his luggage. It went to LAX instead of TLV! Not an easy mistake to make.
We will be spending about a week or more traveling about the country.
Late this afternoon our group had dinner at a seaside restaurant in Joppa. I decided to share the beautiful sunset we saw about the time we finished eating.
Sunset on the Mediterranean from Joppa. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.
A nice conclusion to a wonderful, sunny day.
Ferrell's Travel Blog 
Mary, it was a pleasure to get acquainted with you and Nancy. Glad you could join us.
Dennis, I don’t remember the name or exact location of the the restaurant. Our guide had the voucher for it, so I did not pay attention to that. I really dislike when I leave my camera set wrong for the photos I am shooting, but it has happened more than once.
Thank you, Ferrell for a one of a kind trip to the Bible lands. I learned sooo much and look forward to going back over the tour book with the atlas and pictures. Hope Elizabeth continues to improve. I look forward to receiving your blogs. Nancy and I are sitting in JFK waiting for our flight to takes us Dallas. God be with you, Mary Thompson
Sent from my iPad
What was the name of the restaurant in Joppa? Our day did not go so well. On our way to Qumran, the clutch on our rental car went out. Budget car rental rescued us, but we didn’t get back on the road again until noon. We decided to try for Qumran anyway and then got really crazy by driving on to Masada. We stopped at the lower visitors center just for some pictures of the fortress and then drove around to the upper entrance (we avoided the cable car ride). BY going this way, we did learn that camels roam free in this area (lots of camels). When we got to the upper entrance it was 4 PM. We were told we had to be out of the gate by 5 PM. Nancy stayed on the ground and I hoofed it up the steps for a quick run around the top (with about 150 Israeli school kids). Then we drove non-stop to the hotel near the airport and got here about 7 PM. When I checked my pictures of the top of Masada, I discovered that my dial had moved to “vintage Photo” rather than normal. Very frustrating. Guess we’ll have to go back to Qumran and Masada some day for a more relaxed tour. Today we go to Ashkelon for sure and haven’t decided what after that. Have fun touring with your friend.
Superbly beautiful picture for the end of your tour