Let the Journey Begin! April 28-29 (Depending on where you live!)

As you can tell, I never had a chance to write some clever introduction to this trip…which by the way is called The Bible Land Travel Tour of Israel and Jordon, about how I was all packed days ahead of time and how excited I was…so just jump right in and hang on. If today is any indication, every day is going to be long and full of adventure. Tonight’s entry will be short and sweet, since it is very late here and I can never sleep on the plane!

I left North Alabama at 1:15 Wednesday with the Britnells in a “real truck” and was checked into my flight by 6:15 EDT. The drive to Atlanta was a hoot, of course, as we reminisced about all of our trips and what all can go wrong. We reacquainted ourselves in Atlanta with folks we’ve traveled with before from all across the country and newbies too. This is my third trip with Distinctive World Travels so I know what I’m in for! Boarding the plane was an adventure (a second trip through security – apparently once is not enough), but the flight was amazingly uneventful (except for chatty tours groups and little sleep) and we arrived after a mere 11.5 hours. We flew along the coast of Italy (Rome, Naples) and Greece and even saw some remnants of the volcanic eruption.

All but two bags arrived and we headed to the hotel in Netanya. Along the way we stopped in Jappa (known as Joppa in the Bible) and saw the coastline where Jonah sought a ship for Tarrshish to avoid going to Ninevah. You all know the story of Jonah and the whale… we saw one today… but it was cold and hard and a little smaller than I imagined (see photo below). We saw a house that was supposedly where Peter stayed with Simon the tanner… You are going to see that word supposedly a lot over the next few days…

Well, time to call it a day. From what I can tell our hotel is right on the Mediterranean Sea and our room has a balcony that overlooks the ocean. Can’t wait to see it in the daylight!