The River Jordan

Sunday (which is more like our Monday) we went down to the river Jordan to see the only spot we know of that you can even get close to the river. We were so excited to get to go see the Jordan river. It cost about $30. It must have been over 100 degrees. We ended up waiting for the bus to take us to the site for almost an hour. Even just sitting in the shade the kids were dripping sweat. By the time we got on the bus some of the kids were already done. We got off the bus and had to stay with our tour guide. We walked for about 30 minutes to the river. Most of it was in the shade. When we got to the river we only had about 10 minutes and had to go back. We were disappointed that we had such a short time at the main destination we paid for. The kids were hungry and tired on the way back. I brought a lunch with us thinking that we'd have plenty of time to eat by the river. I hope we find a way to see the river better. So far this has been the most disappointing trip here. I'm glad we all got to put our feet in the river and some of us got to squish the soft mud in our toes.

 The boys looking at the map while we waited for the bus.

Hannah looking down a "girl"(squirrel)  hole.  

 My sassy, filthy child!

Some of the churches we drove past on the bus. 

At the first look out of the river. 

Walking on the trail. 

A baptismal site. 

All over Jordan there are amazing mosaics from the Muslim golden age.  Most of them are pretty old and impressive.  I think this particular one is from some time in the early 21st century A.D.  I got a kick out of the random mosaic of the King and Queen with the Pope in a golf cart. 

I was very glad almost to whole tail was covered. It was so hot! 

 A church right by the baptismal site. 

 Inside the church.

They had a skull and bone of some old monk. 

Michael praying. Okay just pouting because he was hot and tired.  

The outside of the church. 

I love the tired, grouchy faces. 

He wanted a pictures with the kids. He was impressed with our huge American family. 

Finally the river! We were the only ones really touching the water. 

 The other side of the river is Israel. 

The water felt so good!  

It reminded my of the water in Louisiana, 2 inches in and you can't see your foot! 

 The kids testing the mud with their toes! It was surprisingly smooth and soft.

We were close to the Dead Sea so we decided to drive down and see it. On our way, we saw a man with some camels. We flipped around to see if he'd give some rides. For 5JD (about $7) he gave the 5 older kids rides. The kids loved when the camel stood up and sat down. 

You can barely see the man with his camels on the left side of the road. Funny spot to see our first camels here.  

 Josh at the Dead Sea

The cliffs at the Dead Sea.  

 We drove on a steep windy road away from the Dead Sea. 

We stopped at a look out spot. It was such a hazy day, but that's the sea way down there.  

There were so many spots in the desert cliffs and cave where palm tree grew like little oases.  If it had just been Josh and I we would have loved to hike to some of them, and the caves.

 A Bedouins camp on top of a hill.

When we got back to Amman, we saw this shepherd and his sheep. All the shepherds seem to also have a donkey. We saw a lot on our drive today. I just think it's funny to see them in the big city.

A little bit of Amman. It's a huge city!