This next couple of blogs have been written over the course of two days.  At least I think it has only been two days.  With the delay in getting here, and the tours, and trying to catch up with sleep, the days have run together.  Also the wifi hasn't been the best and I couldn't get to the blog site.  So, I did make a couple of notes in Word and am going from there.  It is Sunday afternoon right now.  I'm sitting on our balcony overlooking the beautiful Sea of Galilee and cannot believe we are here.  The things we have seen are unbelievable.  But let's do things in order. 

May 15

I’m sitting on an airplane.  It’s dark outside, but I see lights, so I know there is land down. there.  We left Germany about three hours ago, so we should be getting close.  They said our ETA to Tel Aviv would be around 11:00 p.m.  (which is 3:00 p.m. Texas time.(  From three we still have customs to go through and a 45 minute bus drive to the hotel.  Have I mentioned how tired we are.  We left the house at 11:00 a.m. Thursday morning to catch the bus at the church for our ride to the airport.  So, if I have done the math correctly, and Mike says I have, but we are both tired, we left 26 hours ago.   AND we are not there yet.  The good news is – we are really going to the Holy Land this time.  I know God has His plans for us and He is in control.  We will begin the actual tour bright and early in the morning.  Once we get started though, I’m sure our enthusiasm and time of worship will overcome our weariness. 

Our flights so far have been very nice.  Good hot food, movies to watch, even hot towels to clean your hands, and no we were not first class.  Lufthansa just seems to be a step above the other  airlines.

I will update again once we arrive at the hotel.  This email will probably be sent out at the same time.  Even if I wanted to, I can’t send it out now.  Too high in the sky with no wifi.  I really hope this makes sense, we are really tired.

May 15/16

WE MADE IT!!!!!     WE ARE IN ISRAEL!!!!

We arrived at the hotel around 1:15 a.m.  Talk about nice!  This is the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in.  Too bad we didn’t get here in time so we could enjoy it more.  We are on the 26^th floor, our balcony is bigger than my patio at home, we are overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Netanya.  It is called Island Luxury Suites.  They are.  The living area is two stories tall with wall to wall, ceiling to floor windows so we can look out over the water.  The bedroom is upstairs with one wall completely glass so you can look down on the living area or out the window at the water.  It also has two bathrooms.  The chandelier in the living area is about 15 feet long and beautiful.  We got in our room, had to check everything out, get ready for the next day, rearrange some things in the suitcases because they had to be out in the hall at 6:30 a.m.  We were so pumped up and excited that we didn’t want to go to bed, but it was now almost 3:00 a.m. and we had to get up at 7:00.  (They decided to give us an extra hour sleep since it was so late.)  30 hours it took from the time we left our house to the time we got our room – that’s a long time and we were tired.  I’m writing this the next night because I was too tired to write it when we arrived.  Plus, the wifi wasn’t working enough to get to the blog.  After a full day on the bus, and seeing many wonderful sights, we are crashing tonight.  Once again, this wifi is not working.  I can’t even text.  We can on the bus, but not at the hotel.  So, I am closing out for now.  I made some notes, and hope I can remember everything I saw and felt.  I will try again tomorrow and include some pictures.