Galilee part 4: Gan Hashalosha squared

The next day it was back to classes. I was hoping to finish up early, but we had too many good things to talk about, and we didn’t get done very early. The classes were great, and I loved our time together there.
When we were done it was time for a little family trip. We had long been planning to go to this place that had natural hot springs, water slides, and a crocodile pond above which you walked and you got to see them feed the crocs. We got all ready, got discount tickets, and drove out to go. For whatever odd reason the place is actually open on Friday and Saturday, but closed on Sunday. That is weird, we really didn’t see that one coming. Oh well. We came up with plan B, which was going to Gan HaSholsha at this point, with the Judd class, and that way tomorrow the kids could rest and get ready for the last three field trips. So we did that. We had a great time with everyone there. Jacob and Sabrina swam their little hearts out, playing with Judd kids and the students. Kaleb and Alexia and I did some fun exploring of different parts. Jacob got in an exploring mood, and we had a ton of fun.
The next day I did the field trip without any of the family. It is a bit sad, but it was a great field trip. We went to Mt. Tabor. There we were able to get right up to the top, get in the church, into the Moses Chapel, and have a nice little devotional. We talked about Jesus appearing in glory there, about Moses and Elijah appearing and bestowing keys, about the witness of the Father. We sang The Spirit of God. Then we went out and looked over the valley and told the story of Deborah and Barak. It is such a great view and such a great story.
2050 ft at peak, 1156 at the climbing up point, 894 ft. difference, but it is 1210 feet above plain, very visible. N 32* 49.535 E 035* 39.037
In the meantime, Ray and Sandy Huntington were working on Nain for us. They place had been locked last time we went, and we couldn’t get in. Frank had also been unable to get in yesterday. But the Huntingtons kept asking around for how to get in. They found out that a guy at Mt. Tabor had the key. So while we were in the church they found Father Angelo. They found out he was just heading down to clean the church. So off we went to follow him. It turns out that the church had a broken window, and a bunch of pigeons took up residence inside, and the place was filled with bird poop. They cleaned it up quite a bit while we had a devotional outside about raising the widow’s son from the dead. I am always so touched by the Savior’s mercy when doing this. Jesus understood well that this widow had no one to care for her in her aging years when both her husband and only son were dead. Jesus takes care of those who can’t take care of themselves, and in the end that is all of us. When they had it cleaned enough we could go inside we went in for a moment to enjoy the nice pictures. It was a good stop.
640 ft. above sea level, N 32* 37.833 E 035* 20.992
From there we went to Megiddo. That is always a great site. We went over the story of Thutmosis III coming up the Aruna Valley in a surprise move and taking the city, which he described thus: “the taking of Megiddo is like the taking of a thousand cities.” We said that line about 10 times while there. We went through the Solomonic 6-chambered gate. There we sang Chadwick’s song: “Tel Hazor has a Solomonic gate, singin’ doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy do. Its got six chambers and its walls we call casemate, singin’ doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy do. The wall is (the wall is) Casemate (casemate), The wall is casemate and six chambers has the gate. Well Tel Hazor’s not the only one we know singin’ doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy do. There’s one at Gezer and there’s also Megiddo, singin’ doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy do. Hazor (Hazor), Megiddo (Megiddo), Hazor, Megiddo, but to Gezer we don’t go. Ohhhh, Nooo, to Gezer we don’t go! singin’ doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy do. singin’ doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy do. singin’ doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy do.” We had a lot of fun with that song. We toured the place, and especially enjoyed the view where you can see Carmel, site of Elijah’s contest, Nazareth, Tabor, Moreh, which has on its slopes the village of Shunem, where Elisha raised someone from the dead, and the spring of Harod, where Gideon’s men drank, and then you can see the valley where Gideon fought, and then Gilboa, where Saul and Johnathan were killed. We also saw the old Canaanite stuff, a great silo, wonderful mangers and horse areas, and of course walked through the water system. We also talked about Armageddon of course. I don’t have a lot to say about that, it is so hard to figure out what is literal and what is figurative, and most people have been so sloppy in what they have said about it. All in all I think it was a wonderful site.
367 ft. above sea level, N 32* 35.088, E 035* 10.928
We made a quick stop at Beit Alpha, where they have an unusual synagogue with a mosaic floor depicting Abraham sacrificing Isaac, a zodiac, and the temple. I went over with them some very interesting things Matt Grey and I have been talking about lately. From there we went to Gan Hashalosha, and had a ton of fun swimming. We spent good time letting the fish nibble on our feet, and I helped a lot of them get up the guts to stand there and let them do it. Weird sensation, kinda fun. We explored tunnels, and had a great time. Then we came home, had a nice dinner, and it was time for me to take them to Tiberias. But Tawfic and his family were there, and wanted to go to Tiberias, so I let him take them and I stayed home with my family. It was sad to have them go without me, but I am glad I did it, I need to be with my family as much as possible.
They had enjoyed a great day at the beach, especially celebrating Amanda Judd’s birthday. I think they are having the time of their life up here.