Floating and Camels

one thing i did in Israel i could do nowhere else and another i could not do all that frequently in this part of the world.
and those things were:

float in the dead sea uncle paul

and riding a camel with 'uncle' mike



we stayed at a hotel on the dead sea for a night and had the next morning off to do as we wish. i opted for a dip in the dead sea. they recommend that you only stay in it for about 15-20 minutes because of the saltiness of the water.

the first few steps were pretty normal as far as walking into a lake go. then when it got a little above the waist it became difficult to keep my feet on the ground. so, i decided, why fight it? and let my feet come up.

while floating i was thinking to myself, 'is this really all that different from a regular lake?' having not swam in about 9 months i really couldn't remember.

since being home i have swam in a couple lakes and have dually notedto myself, 'yes, it is that different.' i tried to float, face and limbs out of the water as pictured below, but i was not successful.

in the dead sea i could more or less lay on, not in, the water on my stomach and keep all limbs entirely out of the water, effortlessly. in the lake at Look Up i can do that with the help of a life guard tube or two.

i think it was the next day that we got to ride the camels. i am not a huge fan of horses and the like, so this was a little out of my comfort circle. our camel was a bit hesitant to stand up, but eventually he did. and we rode for a little ways. and i sang the song sally the camel. it was only appropriate.

what was possibly more entertaining than the camel ride itself was dad running along side the camels trying to get good pictures of us on them. if you don't know my dad and can't get the mental image for this, i apologize, he had my camera. i do however appreciate his efforts and taking the above pictures of the camels and us.

both were touristy things to do. and i am ok with that. because they were unique and fun and good memory makers.

i think i have about 3 post left to finish up the trip.

then it will be on to summer camp and the craziness that entails. which started last week and is going rather well.