Day 1: Arriving in Israel

Day 1: Arriving in Israel

Total miles traveled: 8496 

Steps taken during travel: 16,008

Details: 

Salem to Portland (Thank you Becca): 61 miles

PDX to LAX: 835 Miles

LAX to TLV: 7600 Miles

Shalom from Israel!!!  Over the past 48 hours I literally went from Salem to Shalom!!  I am so grateful to be IN Isreal.  Our hotel, the Port Hotel in north Tel Aviv is lovely and charming and clean.  I'll have pictures soon.  The weather is nice for an Oregonian - we were blessed by rain today!  The Bible tells us that the rain is a blessing, so the rain in Israel is truly a blessing upon our trip.

The flight here was SOO long.  This one was 14 hours.  If you've ever sat in an airplane  seat for a long haul flight, you know just what I mean.  My whole body aches.  I need to make tea and go to bed, but I think it's important to get this out.

A selfie with Governor Vic Atiyah - PDX

There were so many things that made this experience exciting and unique!  Meeting my friend Shawna in LA, traveling together, and then arriving to meet our party here.  There are so many!  15 people will go to search out the barley starting tomorrow.  Meeting the man who introduced me to all of these ideas, Joe Dumond, and having a chance to get to know him in person is so good. Not a face on the screen but a real live human.

Nice to meet you Shawna!! LAX

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Seeing Israel in the spring is AMAZING!  Last visit it was late September, my birthday and it was beautiful in a stark, brown way.  As an Oregonian, we like green things.  Right now it's so green!  It's eye popping.  I can see why the children of Israel were so excited to arrive here at the Passover.  Today I kept thinking about that as I looked around, how beautiful scenery they must have found things here after decades in the desert.  Amazing.

Nice to meet you, Joe and friends

This evening, we all went to a local fish restaurant. My salmon steak was so beautiful, I should have taken a picture - but I ate it instead.  The wine was delicious and dinner was so good.  Whenever I travel I try to eat local and this was well worth it.  I promise more pictures in future.

Tomorrow brings more good things. The day starts with breakfast with friends.  After that, it's a surprise.  I usually plan my vacations so carefully, but this time I'm throwing caution to the wind.  My time is in the Father's hands, and Joe's hands, as we begin our search.  

Each day I intend to share a total number of miles travelled and steps walked, along with where we started and where we ended and what we found.  I hope you follow along and enjoy the updates.

Please keep us in your prayers.  Please pray for the world situation with Iran, the lives and health of my friends, and safety as we travel around on unfamiliar roads. Please pray for protection of our drivers, and a higher level of situational awareness for the whole group.  And thank you.  Thank you for you prayers. 

Thank you for reading.

~~Rose