Day trip to Ramla, Israel

Yes my friends,unfortunately we and our rig are separated till the next Spring,the rig is stored in Colorado and we are for the entire winter at home in Israel,so no RV trip stories and no waterfalls….at least till next summer..

Some times we are searching for things that are far away from our location and forget or rather neglect to see what is under our noses.

 

Ramla is only 45 minutes from home, but when lately  have we been there? I really do not remember…so we took advantage of this beautiful sunny October day and drove with friends to this historic interesting city.

Ramla,  on the coastal plain southeast of Tel Aviv–Jaffa  was established in 716 by the caliph Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (reigned 715–717), who made it the administrative capital of Palestine, replacing nearby Lod (Lydda). He built marketplaces,

  

The markets today…..

10 Shekels or 2.70$ for 2LB…..fresh and very tasty.

 

 White Mosque (Al-Jāmiʿ al-Abyaḍ). Only ruins of these remain, but the minaret of the White Mosque, the so-called White Tower, 89 feet (27 m) tall, added by the Mamlūk sultan Baybars (reigned 1260–77), still stands.

  

View from the top,see how close is the modern “new” city.

Solar panels and water tanks on roofs will heat water with only 2 hours of sun,and it is free….

During the First Crusade (1096–99), the city was captured and fortified by the crusaders, who called it Rames. The fortifications were destroyed by Saladin when he took the city from the crusaders in 1187. From the 14th century on, Ramla developed as a trade centre; though an Arab city, it contained a Jewish community until the Arab-Jewish disturbances of 1936–39.

  The city is unique in having a Jewish-Arab Friendship League. Ramla’s industries include the manufacture of cement, plywood, and electrical components. The city benefits from being located at a major highway and railway junction.

Interesting sites in the city, aside from the White Tower, are the Franciscan Hospice of St. Nicodemus and St. Joseph;

the Great Mosque (Al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr), built on the foundations of the 12th-century crusader cathedral of St. John; and the Pool of St. Helena, an 8th-century reservoir (cistern) decorated with ornamental pillars and now used by small tourist boats. Pop. (2006 est.) 64,000.

 

After climbing 130 steeps,walking from one site to another and rowing a boat in the pools it was in place to top this great day with a meal in the local restaurant one of many in this city.

Humus,pickles,pita bread , salad with olive oil and lemon.

Have a great winter where ever you are ,see you all in the next Spring.

Finally back at home

Leaving the rig stored in Colorado is tough but saying good byes to our son and his family in Toronto is MUCH harder,but it was time to get back home to see the rest of the family ,meet our friends,get into our “winter” mood and plan our next trip….

In just a few days we managed to organize the house,bring the garden to look like a garden again,buy a car (we sold ours before the trip) and meet our family.

It is still Summer here and around 28-30 Celsius which means (for the benefit of my American friends) 85 –86F,it is hot and humid ,the beach is full of people and shorts,sandals and T shirts are still worn.

Yesterday we celebrated Sukot

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Ingathering" redirects here. For the Ingathering of the Exiles (Kibbutz Galuyot), see Gathering of Israel.

Sukkot

From left to right, lulav, etrog carrier, and etrog used on Sukkot

Official name
Hebrew: סוכות‎ or סֻכּוֹת ("Booths, Tabernacles")

Observed by
Jews, Hebrews, Israelites andMessianic Jews

Significance
One of the three pilgrim festivals

Observances
Eating in sukkah, taking the Four Species, hakafot in Synagogue.

Sukkot, Succot or Sukkos (Hebrew: סוכות‎ or סֻכּוֹת sukkōt or sukkos, Feast of Booths, Feast of Tabernacles) is a biblical Jewish holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei (varies from late September to late October). It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals (shalosh regalim) on which the Israelites would make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.

The holiday lasts seven days in Israel and eight in the diaspora. The first day (and second day in the diaspora) is aShabbat-like holiday when work is forbidden, followed by intermediate days called Chol Hamoed. The festival is closed with another Shabbat-like holiday called Shemini Atzeret (two days in the diaspora, where the second day is called Simchat Torah).

The Hebrew word sukkōt is the plural of sukkah, "booth" or "tabernacle", which is a walled structure covered withs'chach (plant material such as overgrowth or palm leaves). The sukkah is intended as a reminiscence of the type of fragile dwellings in which, according to the Torah, the Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of travel in the desert after the Exodus from slavery in Egypt. Throughout the holiday, meals are eaten inside the sukkah and many people sleep there as well. A sukkah is also for the temporary dwelling in which agricultural workers would live during harvesting.

 

Building a sukkah[edit]

The sukkah walls can be constructed of any material (wood, canvas, aluminum siding, sheets). The walls can be free-standing or include the sides of a building or porch. The roof must be of organic material, known as s'chach, such as leafy tree overgrowth, schach mats or palm fronds. It is customary to decorate the interior of the sukkah with hanging decorations, the four species.^[3]

So here is our son’s Sukah and our Holiday dinner,the kids had double fun and stayed late before hitting the sack ….and got presents as usual from us after we return from our RV trip.

We celebrated Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) with our youngest son& his family in Canada and Sukot with the rest of our family in Israel…..

Best of all and see you on the road next summer.

Rosh Hashana(Jewish New Year) in Toronto

Before heading home we visited our son and his family in Toronto and celebrated with them our New Year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah

Click on the link above to read about the Holyday ,the tradition and its significant.

 

The round bread-so the year will be “round” and smooth with no sharp corners.

The apple and honey-so it will be sweet.

The Pomegranate-so the year will be full of good deeds.

The wine-for blessings.

Happy Jewish New Year to every one wherever you are.

End of our 13th RV trip

My wife and I started RVing in North America in 2002 only after renting a small motorhome in Italy,Norway and New Zealand (three different trips) ,just to make sure we can “live” 24/7 together and if we both like to RV,well it all went great, so in 2002 we purchase an used 1999 5W and a F-250 7.3LT 1994 ,used it for 4 years and traded them both in 2006 for the rig we own now,since then we RV every summer for 4-5 months each trip to different States/Provinces always starting from the same place we ended the trip in the year before.

our trips can be seen on our blog www.danyshula.blogspot.com

Few days ago ,at the end of our 13th RV trip we stored our rig for the winter  and are ready to fly home till next Spring.

This year we started near St.Louis MO and ended in Salida CO

We love nature ,hiking,waterfalls,history and especially meeting people and  we try to “hit” the main points and do all these things we love on every trip.

Here is a short summery of our another fantastic experience:

We meet Rick & Pat in a Crossroads RV rally few years ago ,they kindly helped us store the rig at the end of our 2013 trip near St Louis and get an easy start in 2014,great folks ,it was a pleasure meeting and sharing time with them,it sure would be much more difficult with their help.

   

Sam & Donna were perfect hosts at the beginning of our trip in Missouri ,we parked in their driveway and had 2 wonderful days together,and as you can see mostly eating….including Sam’s famous pizza.

 

In Jefferson we went to visit the Governor's mansion house and meet Roberta that was our tour guide ,a wonderful lady  that insisted that we meet later on at her house to meet Robert her husband and although it was a very short visit we shared lovely hours together.

 

We meet Paula years ago while hiking in the Tetons and stayed in touch since then,it was very nice when she drove all the way from Kansas City to visit us on the 4th of July when we camped in Bennet Springs S.P MO.

 

 

Missouri ,Arkansas,Oklahoma,N.Texas and Colorado provided endless Rv camping opportunities,mostly near a lake ,river or in a central location for us to do some side trips.

     

We hiked,

 

Kayaked,

Attended special events

 

Went to shows

 

Did ATV trips

  

Volunteered to put a cement floor for a friend.

  

In Oklahoma city we meet Claire that showed us around  ,we really appreciate Claire taking the time from her business to be with us –Thanks.

 

Lonnie&Hazel  from Anadarko OK  completely strangers to us answered a post on a RV forum and asked us to stop at their place for a while as they are interested to hear about our tradition,we jumped on the opportunity and for sure stopped to meet this great couple,Lonnie is the most decorated Comanche in the US Military and Hazel is a British born that plays on keys in the  church,I learned so much about the First Nation People –Thank you Lonnie& Hazel,it was a honour spending time with you.

     

 

Marvin& Linda ,friends we meet years ago in Vermont were on there way from Colorado to Texas while we were driving the same route but on the opposite direction , so made a point to meet next to Palo Doru Canyon next to Amarillo and spend 2 great days.

 

We meet Lynn&Jackie during a hike 9 years ago for maybe only 2 hours and we just “clicked” stayed in touch through the e-mail (bless this tech) and finally meet  in Salida Colorado.They offered us to store the rig at their place and made everything to make us feel at home,including taking us all the way to Denver to catch our flight.We do not have enough words to thank them for their generosity.

 

 

We love Rving,hiking and seeing the grass grow….but meeting people that we can call them friends is the sherry on the cake,it enriched our lives , we are very thankful and happy –may our paths cross again.

This is a short version of what we experienced and felt along this journey and I do not know enough English to put in words these “miracles” ,WE ARE LIVING OUR DREAMS ….

On the way home we stopped in Toronto to visit our son,wife and our grand daughter