Chase County Longhorns VS Wood River Eagles. Grandson Dawson is a Senior this year, Tucker is a Freshman and both started on offense. The first game we got to see was 3.5 hours drive away from home! But worth the drive, as Dawson got 3 touchdowns and both guys got a QB sack! They won 35 to 29
https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/2022-Football-
We are visiting the Nebraska family, daughter Liz, son in law David, and the boys, Dawson, Walker, and Tucker. Emma visited 1 day so we were able to see her too on this trip. Her are some photos of the farm and the corn harvest.
https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Life-on-the-farm
Leaving in a few minutes for a trip to see our Nebraska family! 2 of The boys play football so we will get to go to 2 or 3 of their games and otherwise help where we can during this busy harvest season. Photos will show you a bit of farm life, and how big the bits have grown! I’m the shrimp now!
I always enjoy going back through the pictures and reliving the last trip….. but 10 weeks worth of photos on both phone and camera was a daunting task!! Took me several days of perusing to find photos that I think are a good representation of our experience. I’ve put them into a smugmug gallery, grab a cup of coffee or a drink and watch the show.
https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Our-10-week-adventure-2022
It was an adventure and one of those 26 or 27 hour awake days, but we are home now and back into our routine. …. planning our next trips! Stay tuned for the next chapters!
We have a delightful, creative friend, Henry Ratz, who created this for us!! Enjoy his humor ….. and don’t hold your breathe for tickets!
Our last full day in Israel, in Galilee, we spent an hour on the sea! Our boat ride onto the lake gave a little time to see what the fishermen and Jesus would have seen on a typical sunny morning, the coastline of Capereum and the Mount where Jesus preached and taught. Most of the 3 years of his earthly ministry was here In Galilee.
We took our boat ride out of the Kibbutz Ginossar, the place I stayed on my last trip in about 1993! A fishing boat from Jesus time had been found after several years of drought in 1986 and at the time of my visit was in a preservation process. Today, it’s preserved and on display! This was a highlight for me!
We visited the place where a natural semi circular hillside would have been a natural theater for His Sermon on the Mount. The catholic church of the Beatitudes sits above it.
Ruins of Caperneum have been positively identified by the family name Zebedee, carved on a pillar there! Remember, James and John, the sons of Zebedee were 2 of the fishermen disciples of Jesus. We saw the house where Peter lived, where Jesus stayed when he was in Capereum and we saw the synagogue where we know He preached! Everywhere you looked today, you can see the places where Jesus and the disciples have been.
We also went to the top and the bottom of Mount Arbel, overlooking the sea on 1 side and Wadi Haram on the other, the pass between 2 peaks where there is a natural trail. We even walked a portion of the that trail, the Jesus walk, the trail where He would have walked when he left Nazareth and came to Galilee. From the peak, The views of the Lake and all around Galilee were breathtaking! From the bottom we could see the caves where rebels hid from the Romans in the rebellion.
But as usual, even great things come to an end. Our group flies home tonight, we do in the morning. God has given us a wonderful trip and we will remember this experience forever.
For more photos. https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Our-last-day-in-Galilee-
Today was a mix of Biblical sites and Israeli national sites. The government has done a great job creating national parks at all kinds of sites.
Our first stop, very close to the Lebanon border, is 1 of the 3 origins of the Jordan River at the Tel Dan. This site was already a settlement for 900 years, when Jeraboam took the 10 northern tribes to form the northern kingdom some 2950 years ago! We learned about the sin of Jeraboam in trying to change the rules of Judiasm and how that has not fared well for the tribe of Dan.
We visited then Caesarea Philipi at the 2nd source of the Jordan, the Hermon Spring. It is a place also where there was worship of Greek gods and Temples to Pan and Zeus. Biblically it is very significant because it was here that the disciples recognized Jesus as the Christ, not just as a prophet like Elijah, but they still didn’t understand fully his mission.
Our lunch was in a Druze restaurant, (a delicious large size falafel) in a Druze village. This is a sect about 1000 years old, a break off of Islam, with some different views, but accepted by both sides. Many of them appreciate Israeli democracy and even volunteer to serve.
Our guide, Avi is a war veteran and was captain of a group fighting the Syrians on the Yom Kippur war. He took us after lunch to Mt. Bental, an extinct volcano, with an outpost on the Syrian Border where the Yom Kippur war started. He explained the problem there and how the battle was first lost but the war was won. Took 19 days…. 2 weeks longer than the 6 days war!
Our last stop, and surprise was to meet Kurt’s partner in Israel, setting up these tours. He is a young Swiss man with a Dutch wife and 3 small boys, who, as a Christian, wanted to live in Israel and live his Christian faith in a useful way. When our President Trump encouraged Israel to finally open Golan Heights to development, money became available for settlers to open a Kibbutz community where you can start your own business, a slightly different, new concept from the original but an exciting development for this young family. And added treat, beside the ice cream break, was the view of the Sea of Galilee from the eastern side! we drove completely around the Sea of Galilee today.
More photos are up at https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Golan-Heights
Today we visited a site important to Judiasm, Seppora or Zippora, ancient capital of Galilee, not mentioned in the Bible but possible the home of Jesus grandparents, and possibly where Joseph worked. The magnificent mosaic floors show the wealth of the community.
We traveled then to Mount Carmel and heard the stories again of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Elijah challenged the prophets to call on their god to light the fires under their sacrifices, but all day they called and their gods did not answer…. no fire! But Elijah called for water to be poured on his sacrifice, alter, and all the wood, not once but 3 times. He flooded it! And God answered Elijah’s prayer and sent fire from heaven. It it lapped up all the water and consumed the alter, sacrifice and burned everything! A bonus of visiting the top, of course, is the view of Armageddon, our 2nd angle.
We traveled next to the Mediterranean Sea, to Caesarea, where we learned the story of Herod’s life. He was paranoid and killed his wife and 2 sons thinking they were trying to replace him. His grandiose plans for that first Deepwater port were amazing and what remains of the city dedicated to Caesar are still evident.
On our way back to Tiberias we visited Mount Precipice, perhaps not the exact place, but a representative location near Nazareth, where Jesus may have been threatened by his on hometown people with blasphemy and was to be thrown off the cliff. It is a 3rd location to see the Valley of Armageddon and to be amazed by how immence it is! You can see the old city of Nazareth from there and the church of the Annunciation, celebrating Mary’s message from the angel that she would bear the Messiah.
https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Zippers-Mount-Carmel-Caesarea-and-Mount-Precipice-
We change hotels today, moving from Jerusalem to Galilee, but this land is so full of sites from iniquity we saw several. Our first site was a drive by, as we need to travel thru the West Bank today. We saw life on the west Bank in Jericho, and drove by the ancient ruins of the oldest city on earth! It is the first city taken by the Israelites when they returned from exile in Egypt.
We then traveled north along the Jordanian border, along the electronic security fence. We learned a little about the issues and problems between Israel and its Arab neighbors and the Arabs that live within the Israeli borders. 25% of Israeli citizens are Arab Muslim and chose to live there. This doesn’t include the West Bank or Gaza. Those 2 places have autonomy, run their own affairs, have their own Healthcare and schools and live as they choose…. as long as they don’t raise an army or weapons and disturb Israel. Israel provides security. Arabs in those 2 areas who want to work in Israeli jobs must keep a record clean of any terrorism. They can make 5 to 7 times as much money per day there, so there is incentive to be peaceful. 2 of the 4 Arab countries surrounding Israel have made a peace agreement with them and know the value of being an ally with Israel.
We travel on to visit two ruins and the Spring of Gideon. We saw Beit She’an, where Saul and his 3 sons died, and Tel Megiddo, overlooking the valley of Armageddon. Mt Carmel, Mt Moreh, Mt Precipice, Nazareth, are all surrounding this immence flat plain, where the final battle between good and evil will be fought!
Our last stop was to give all those wishing to be Baptized in the Jordan River the opportunity. Since I had the experience in 1978, I know how meaningful that can be!
The next 3 nights we are in Tiberias in Galile. For more pictures https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Jerusalem-to-Galilee-
We had a long day out of the city of Jerusalem today to the east and the dead sea. It is the shabbat so much in the city is closed anyway.
Our first adventure was hiking Ein Gedi to the falls, the springs where David and his men hid from Saul. The trail was hard and in places could be slippery but we all made it with no mishaps. The falls were refreshing, but we only wet our feet.
We traveled on to Masada for the story of the Jewish rebels, told by Josephus in his record of the Jewish war. The revolt against Roman rule began in earnest in 66 AD. The Romans burned the 2nd temple and Jerusalem was destroyed totally in 70 AD. For 3 more years, the last remnants, almost a thousand men, women and children, survive atop the mountain among the ruins of the old Herodian winter Palace. In 73, with a Roman Legion, 8000 men under Flavias Silvas bearing down on fortification, the remnant has to admit defeat. The wall was breached and the next morning all face rape, murder, and slavery. This remnant decided to kill their wives and children, cast lots for the last to survive and take the lives of the rest, then fall on his sword. A few widows and children lived to retell the tale.
After lunch on Qumran, we visited that archeological site. Where in 1947, 2 beduin shepards, young boys, threw a rock into a cave and broke a jar containing leather scrolls. They thought they scored new sandals and took the leather to a shoemaker in Bethlehem who realized the value and just paid the boys off. The remnants of the scrolls now reside in the Shrine of the Book we visited yesterday, and they are studied and preserved there. Parts of All the books of the old testament are there except Esther. Unfortunately, when the Romans destroyed the settlement of Qumran and drove the inhabitants out, perhaps to Masada, they destroyed the scrolls they found in 1 cave, the closest 1 to the settlement. Half the scrolls were destroyed in their attack but they missed the rest of the other caves, 12 in number. The entire book of Isaiah was found pretty much intact! The manuscript is virtually identical to today’s, written 200 years BEFORE Christ, validating today’s scripture and the prophesy of Isaiah about the Messiah. This group MAY have been early believers as their teachings are quite Christian.
Our last stop, for those who have never done it, a float in the Dead Sea. Watch for photos at https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Ein-Gedi-Masada-and-Qumran
