Road Trip

I've taken a lot of road trips, and I have great memories of pretty much all of them. There really is something liberating about getting into the car and taking off on a long drive, with good company, good music, some tasty snacks, and a sweet destination at the end of the drive. I've come home from many road trips with great memories and photos; it's easy to look back at them and remember the fun parts of each trip. But if I'm honest with myself, I have to admit that almost every road trip I've been on has also had some rough moments. Anyone who's been on a decent road trip has gone through some of the nightmare scenarios that can come up when you're living out of your car for a few hours -- or a few days. Having car trouble, getting lost, arriving at a long-awaited destination that turns out to be lame -- there are many ways that a road trip can quickly turn sour. And of course, road tripping with babies adds a whole different set of challenges. So even though in general I get excited to get out of town and have a change of pace, I'll admit I was a little apprehensive about packing up and taking off on our recent road trip down to the Tel Aviv and Herzliya area.

Now that we're back in Jerusalem, I can say that I learned on this trip what I should have remembered from previous journeys: for a road trip to be a success, you pretty much have to go with the flow and be flexible with your expectations of how the trip is going to unfold (believe me, this wisdom came with time; it was not with me when both kids were screaming in the car on Saturday afternoon). But it's true. We left for this last trip on Thursday, and came back today (Sunday). Because we've had a heck of a time getting going on our last two trips out of town (due to issues with renting a car and simply getting two kids out the door in a timely manner), we figured Thursday would be a rough day of adjusting and getting settled, and that Saturday, which was wide open, would be the highlight of the trip. As it turned out, everything worked like clockwork on Thursday, and we got going early enough to eat lunch out in the Judean Hills and visit some cool stalactite caves before heading to Herzliya. On the other hand, by Saturday, we were all overtired from Friday's trip to Tel Aviv and a late (but wonderful) Shabbat dinner at Ruthie's, so even though we fit a lot into the day, we probably pushed ourselves too much and ended up having some frustrating moments before the day was done.

All in all, we had a great couple of days out of town. Eric had some productive meetings with teachers in Tel Aviv and Kfar Saba, we had that wonderful trip through the Judean Hills, and we loved being close to the ocean again. But like most road trips, this one wasn't only about great scenery and food. It was also about working on that perennial task: figuring out how to have a reasonable plan and expectations, then knowing when to take a deep breath and to go with the flow during moments of unexpected excitement or frustration. I'm still working on that last task. Meanwhile, here are some highlights of our last few days on the road.

Soreq Cave
This striking stalactite cave was discovered by stone miners in the 60s. It's been preserved ever since. Scroll down past the photos of the stalactites and you'll see a couple of shots taken on the hike down to the cave. In the last one, you can see that just outside the nature reserve, the mining operation continues. I've noticed this in many of my travels throughout the U.S., also; just outside preserved areas, it seems mining and logging and other resource extraction are at their worst. I'm sure the mining looks more dramatic because of the striking visual contrast of a gutted mountain next to a preserved one. When Alexander finished oohing and ahhing over the stalactites, he came outside and caught a glimpse of a huge pickup truck carting stone through the mine below. His response was, of course, "Wow!" Exactly.

 

The Mazda 5
We rented the Mazda 5 to test drive it; this was our first trip in a minivan, and I have to admit, it made things a lot easier. So what do you think; should we get one?? (Speaking of resource extraction...)

Ein Hod
Ein Hod is an artist's colony in Israel. Located mid-way between Tel Aviv and Haifa, in the Carmel Mountains, Ein Hod is home to about 150 artists and their families. Since we visited Ein Hod on Shabbat, it was very quiet and most of the galleries and studios were closed, but we still enjoyed the architecture and beautiful views of the mountains and the Mediterranean.

 

Zichron Yaakov
Zichron Yaakov has been called the "Provence of Israel." Also in the Carmel Mountains, this mountain town is in the heart of Israeli wine country. While we weren't really up for wine tasting with the babies (next time!!), we did enjoy the town's playground (check out the giant banyan trees growing there), ice cream, and main street. The last photos is of "Benjamin's Pool," which was one of Israel's first pipe-fed water fountains.

Caesarea
Caesarea is a coastal town that was originally built by King Herod in 25-13 B.C. Since it was an administrative hub of the Roman empire, there are some impressive ruins in Caesarea, including a Roman theatre, palaces and administrative buildings, and an aquaduct (pictured below). There are also some decent beaches. Caesarea is a beautiful place, but right before we got there, we were having multiple meltdowns -- the boys were hungry and tired, and we were all stressed out. It was nice to be able to stop, get out of the car, and put my feet in the water!

Benedict's
Our new favorite restaurant is Benedict's. They serve 24-hour breakfast, and I don't mean diner food; this breakfast is fast, cheap, but high-quality! They serve nutella with their dinner rolls and champagne cocktails with an order of eggs benedict. It doesn't get much better than that, right? We ate at Benedict's two our of our three nights in Herzliya. Here are Alexander and Eric playing as we wait for the check; notice the super-clean plates! Not a bit of egg or pancake left!

Park Kfar Saba
The boys and I hung out in Park Kfar Saba for a couple of hours today while Eric went to a meeting at a local school for art teachers. It was close to 90 degrees in Kfar Saba today, but luckily, the impressive playground in the park was covered with awnings, so we had a great time there.

Coming Home
It's always good to walk in the front door after a road trip and feel glad that you're back. We had a good trip, but it's nice to be back in Jerusalem again!