Hitchhike from En Gedi to Eilat, 3 hours of fun.

Today we left Ein Gedi via hitchhiking. We made a nice sign with “Eilat” written on it. Now, Eilat is about a four hour drive from Ein Gedi so we were hoping this method of travel would work out...I think Mariella was right at home with the hippie like family that eventually picked us up. The people who picked us up were an Israeli family. We did not learn much about them because they did not talk much on the journey, but they did rock out to reggae music and they did sing a couple songs together, each chiming in when feeling it. Some songs were in Hebrew others were in English, even Portuguese some even had drums and didgeridoos playing. They were content rolling through the desert in their campervans. They did not even ask where we were from. The father sitting in the passenger seat sported a scraggly like beard and hairdo. Oh how we wish we could have recorded parts of the journey. Mom sat in the middle of the front three seats. She was carrying her compact homeopathic kit in a small case. The sixteen year old (I am guessing) son was driving, passing cars on the two lane desert highway wall beating his hand against the steering wheel. Their young daughter was woken up in the back seat while the family pulled over to pick us up. She moved out of her sleeping spot and Mariella sat next to her while I crawled into the very back of the van complete with blinds around the window. We were jamin’. The best part was the family singing to the songs. Sooo funny! Mariella was moved to give the little girl a bracelet that our young friends in Kenya made. The bracelet had the word “PEACE” woven into the bracelet. Mariella also gave the little girl a glass necklace that was made in Monaco and purchased in Venice. The girl was grinning ear to ear. I don’t think her parents saw Mariella giving the little girl the gifts. I bet the girl’s mother will want the necklace. It was a cool necklace. Unfortunately the family was not going all the way to Eilat, so they dropped us off at a bus stop in the desert. We had a sandwich and whipped out the sign reading “Eilat”. It was not long before some guys working for the city water department picked us up in their work truck, by the way they had just passed earlier and waved, turned around further down and approached us as a taxi driver also stopped, wanting to give us a “deal” we obviously took the cheaper/free option. They dropped us off at the door of the hostel, and seemed happy that we were visiting their home town. Thank you God for providing. Our German friend, Thomas who we met in Jerusalem, is also staying in this hostel, today is his birthday, we went to sushi…mmmmmm, sushi, we shared a delicious cake and ice cream with some sparkle candles on top. Happy Birthday Thomas, we’re glad we met you.