{"id":2887,"date":"2017-10-01T13:50:02","date_gmt":"2017-10-01T16:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/?p=2887"},"modified":"2017-10-01T13:50:02","modified_gmt":"2017-10-01T16:50:02","slug":"wild-tank-ride-negev-desert-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/2017\/10\/wild-tank-ride-negev-desert-1971\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild Tank Ride! Negev Desert 1971"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Fred’s Blog 2017 Travel Highlights<\/a>) <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a great pleasure to welcome back Susan Joyce with this terrific entry for the 2017 Travel Highlights Competition. Here is her intro to a very special highlight:<\/span>
\nAs a young American female, I never hitchhiked and never dreamed I might one day need to do just that. While living in the Negev Desert of Israel one scorching hot summer day, I watched the last bus to my village disappear into the distance. I had missed my ride home. Uncertain what to do, I stood at the bus stop on the main highway on the outskirts of Beer-Sheva, Israel and hoped a vehicle, any vehicle, would stop and give me a ride.<\/p>\n

When I heard traffic approach, I held up my thumb and begged God to hear my plea.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n
A Wild Tank Ride Across the Negev Desert!<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Beersheba to Arad. Israel, Summer 1971<\/strong><\/p>\n

Missed last bus home.
\nIt’s Sabbath!
\nNo taxis or passing cars.
\nScorching heat.
\n29 miles, 47 kilometers.<\/p>\n

Tank barrels toward me, rattles to a stop.
\n\u201cArad?\u201d
\nDriver motions. \u201cClimb aboard!<\/p>\n

Car stops, offers ride. \u201cTanks take forever.\u201d
\nConfused, I wave them on.<\/p>\n

An hour later, I hear a raucous scream overhead
\n\u201cBomber,\u201d driver yells.
\n\u201cGod!\u201d I gasp.
\n\u201cFriend!\u201d Driver waves skyward, pats tank. \u201cSoviet from Six Day War.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minutes later, second bomber buzzes tank.
\nDriver again waves.
\nFriendly fire? Feel faint.<\/p>\n

After three hours, we arrive.
\nWilted vegetables, melted ice cream.
\nShaken, I thank him.
\nWild ride! Shabbat Shalom!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Fred’s Blog 2017 Travel Highlights) It is a great pleasure to welcome back Susan Joyce with this terrific entry for the 2017 Travel Highlights Competition. Here is her intro to a very special highlight: As a young American female, I never hitchhiked and never dreamed I might one day need to do just that. While … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Wild Tank Ride! Negev Desert 1971”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-israel","category-travel"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}