A Spectacular Day!

Today was simply spectacular.  I confess that I have not been davening (praying) every day, at least not in the formal sense of attending the daily morning service.  However the prospect of joining this community of riders in morning prayer overlooking the Makhtesh was not to be missed.  It was a chilly 5:45 am when we put on our tallitot and teffilin at the overlook, climbed over the protective wall, and joined in song, drumming and prayer.  Watching the sun come up over the Makhtesh, with the sky and landscaping changing color by the minute was a deeply moving moment.  (I am not sure if I will get to pictures tonight, but I just Googled “Makhtesh Ramon,”  and the one of the first links is of images.  Look at them!)

Unsure of what would top that, we set off, 2 at a time, down a hair-raising descent into the Makhtesh.  Don’t know how long it was, but it seemed to go on forever, and very fast.  For the next hour of so we rode through the floor of the Makhtesh, past hundreds of millions of years of geological formations and wonders.  I really can’t describe the sights in words - and I did not take many pictures along that route - so, like I said, go to Google!  We did pass a jeep parked off the road under a tree with a small group of people  sitting at a table drinking coffee.  It reminded me of the tour we took with the kids (I think it was 11 years ago) to the bottom, and then off road, when the guide pulled under a tree and set up coffee and tea for us.  I wonder if it was the same guide.

We had a couple of difficult climbs - the first one climbing out of the Makhtesh (what goes down, must go up!) - Although we exited the lower end, so it was not quite as high a climb as was the descent - but it was steep!  (I can’t possibly write about how these things are formed… they did tell us how the erosion worked over hundreds of millions of years… suffice it to say that we started at the top, and went out at the bottom.)

The rest of the day was a continuation of the spectacular experience that is the desert.  I wrote about the inspiration that is the desert.  I suppose that what made today even better was that the ride was not quite to hard, and there were 3 or 4 dramatic descents as we rode from Mitzpeh Ramon.  A difference in elevation of 800 - 900 meters.  We were able to ride at a good clip and take in the wonders around us.

Tonight we are at Kibbutz Kutera, home of the Arava Institute.  The descent into the kibbutz is another very steep 4 mile descent.  We are challenged to ride out tomorrow.  The call it the Meshuga (crazy) Hill.  But it is good to see the thing we are riding to support (and that so many of you pledged in support of as well).

Tomorrow we leave for Eilat, our final destination.  Robin is in Jerusalem visiting our cousins, and she will meet us as we ride in.  I can’t wait!

L’hitraot,

Lester