Day 3 - Beit Shean to Mitzpeh Ramon

Truthfully, the northern route we rode this year was gorgeous and very interesting, but being bussed for 2 1/2 hours first thing in the morning from Beit Shean to Yerucham was not a great biking experience! It was a pleasant bus ride, but a bus ride nonetheless.  Once we reached Yerucham, though, it was smooth sailing. The ride is magnificent, especially as you begin to view the valley below. There was, of course, the requisite humongous climbing.  Our destination was Sde Boker, and we reached it tired and happy. That seems to be a theme.

Ben Gurion's tomb is set in those most beautiful setting so that visitors will marvel at the view and be inspired to move to the desert to make it bloom. Apparently, that is exactly how and why the founders of Kibbutz Ketura - a group of American Young Judeans - ended up on the Arava!

Rather than continue on by bike to Mitzpeh Ramon, I decided to take the tour of Amer's research labs at the Ben Gurion Institute. Amer has been working on solving water issues in the Middle East, particularly working on projects in desalination and water recycling. It was fascinating, and the new building is state of the art.  I fortunately remembered that the ride from Sde Boker to Mitzpeh Ramon was not my favorite stretch and am very happy I got to see Amer's work in progress.

This time, getting on a bus to the hotel as opposed to riding was a very welcome change!A jump in the pool, a few minutes in the sauna, Azzy's arrival and a delicious Shabbat dinner capped off the day. Not bad at all!