The Pictures Are In!

Floating In The Dead Sea

If you’re of a “certain age” you probably remember taking pictures and dropping off your roll of film at a store. Then, having to wait about a week or more before they were ready. And finally, the excitement when you got to open that envelope of treasured memories! (Followed sometimes by the disappointment when many of the shots were ruined by a finger that got in the way of the lens, or an overexposure that went way wrong). My how that’s all changed now.

Well, I had a little taste of that childhood nostalgia last week when one of my Holy Land travel mates brought me a CD with the only pics of me floating in The Dead Sea with his wife four months ago.

First up though, here’s a fabulous group shot he took which I am not in. More on that later. But I love this pic. Wouldn’t it make a wonderful cover photo on any Facebook page? These are some of my favorite people (friends) on earth in the lowest place on earth. Sing it, Garth!

Notice everybody’s hands and feet are up! That’s the pose you traditionally have to strike in The Dead Sea to prove you are actually floating. With a salt content 10 times that of normal ocean water, you float as easily here as if you were sitting back in a comfy recliner. Here’s one half of the set of twins in our group demonstrating. Sorry, not sure if this is James or John, but he’s a Hearnsberger!

Unfortunately, I was not in the water yet when that group pic was taken. I had stepped aside to make a video to send back for air on my KATV morning show. Here’s that video as a reminder and a bit more on the sea where nothing can live. Still don’t know why it sometimes shows upside down here, but just hit play. It’ll work.

So, after that I went in to try the Dead Sea Float for myself. A big thank you to my sweet friend, Gayle Teague who stuck around to float with me. And a big “I’m sorry” that my feet floated up right in front of her face!

While the floating is fun, swimming is basically impossible. I learned that when I got a little separated from Gayle and tried to swim back to her. All of your body basically pops up to the top of the water and you just end up splashing around, which is not good in water that tastes bad and stings your eyes. So after some laughing about it, we survived. I’m glad that Gayle’s husband, Dr. Randy Teague then captured the two of us post-float! Thanks, Randy! He went through the hundreds of pictures he took on our trip just to find these two for me.

The Dead Sea is one of the spots you really should visit on your trip to The Holy Land. Next time, I’d like to maybe stay a night and check out the many spas and resorts on the beach. It’s a place unlike anywhere else on earth. If you’ve been there, please tell us about your trip.

Up next, the products I’ll never leave home without when traveling abroad! Also, I’ve been contacted through this blog by another tour company about hosting faith-based trips in the future. Not sure if I’m ready for that now, but maybe someday? 🤔