Sea of Galilee to Mediterranean Sea

Today I had a great day making a great big circle from the Sea of Galilee, up to the highest mountain in the Galilee (Mt. Merom), along the Lebanese border, to the Mediterranean Sea, down to the city of Acco (in the NT called Ptolemais where Paul stopped at the end of his third missionary journey while on his way to Ceasarea [Acts 21:7]) and then back through Lower Galilee to our "home" overlooking the Sea of Galilee.
As we (Greg Hatteberg and I) headed out this morning the sky was dark and the rain started to come down. The higher we went up into the mountains of Lower Galilee the view would open up and then mist over as clouds passed by. In a time of clearer viewing I took this picture above from road back toward the Sea of Galilee.
The cliffs at Rosh Ha Niqra are beautiful white limestone with flint that function as the northern end of the Asher/Acco Plain. The picture shows the cliffs in the distance. This is the border between Israel and Lebanon. There is a cable car that we rode down to the natural caves that the waves have made in this cliffs. The only trouble was that the stormy sea caused them to close the tunnels that we usually walk through to see the caves. The best I could do was take this picture!
Greg and I drove around Acco viewing the walls and moats of the Crusader city. We walked through the market and stopped to eat some "orange-called" dessert called Knafa. It is cheese and covered with saffron — delicious!
We drove down to Haifa, then east through the Kishon pass into the Jezreel valley. The Kishon river (in flood stage right now as the picture shows) is where Elijah had the prophets of Baal killed after the contest on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:40).
As we drove back to the house I took this picture of the sea-level sign and the south end of the Sea of Galilee in the background to show how it is above 670 feet BELOW sea level! You have to hold your breath when you drive below sea level of course!
Now, off to dinner at a coffee shop called "Gregs" Greg Hatteberg thinks they named it after him!!! Tomorrow we may get a private tour of Magdala from an archeologist there (stayed tuned).