After a great time in Haifa, we made a run for the Israeli/Jordanian border in the southern part of Israel near Eilat, which is the easiest place to cross between the two countries.  Along the 5-hour drive, we stopped at Mitzpe Ramon, a massive geological crater in the middle of the Israeli desert.

The border crossing was entertaining.  We couldn’t drive our rental car across, so Stu dropped me and the girls off at the border station, then returned the rental car in town and rejoined us.  We had to pay our exit tax, have our passports stamped, then load all our bags (including two pastel polka dot little girl backpacks) up onto a luggage cart and push it the few hundred yards across the border.  All in about 110 degree heat.  Claire wasn’t impressed by the whole thing…. she spent most of the time either sitting in her stroller watching Curious George on the iPad, or smiling and making friends with the border guards and their large guns. Once we got through the Jordanian border process, a line of taxis was waiting to take us to our refuge for the night….a fancy 5-star hotel right on the Red Sea beach in the town of Aqaba, complete with kiddie pool and beach cabanas.