The Journey Begins

Wow! It’s hard to believe this trip to Israel is finally upon us! Our team consists of Pastor Josh Huff, John Sisler, Shushan Richardson, Ruth, and myself. We are so very excited for this opportunity Gad has given us.

For those who are interested in our upcoming itinerary, I’ve included a brief one below.

7/8 – Departure Day, Night in Pittsburgh, PA
7/9 – Travel Day to New York, Overnight flight to Stockholm, Sweden
7/10 – Flight to Riga, Latvia with overnight in Old City
7/11 – Morning in Riga, Flight to Tell Aviv, Israel, First Night with our hosts, Shlomy & Miriam
7/12 – Begin Ministry week with Awake Israel
7/17 – Enjoy final Shabbat service and meal with our hosts
7/18 – Depart for Jerusalem, (Site seeing in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Dead Sea)
7/21 – Depart for Galilee (Site seeing in Nazareth and Galilee Region)
7/23 –  Flight to Stockholm, Sweden (overnight in Old City).
7/24 – Morning in Stockholm with evening flight to New York, overnight bus to Pittsburgh
7/25 – Morning bus ride to Cincinnati, and on toward home.

Let me first say, we are making this trip happen on a tight budget, so we will have a few inconveniences. For starters, we are flying on a budget ticket, which means no meals, no choosing our seats and a carry-on only. This past month, we have been trying to figure out just how little we can live on for this trip. Ruth has been sampling a couple new hair products to see which one can stretch the furthest. ;) We’re each traveling with on duffle bag, which will make travel in and out of the airports much easier.

Another way we've cut costs is by taking a Greyhound to New York. Wanda Speas was gracious to take us to the Greyhound Station in Cincinnati. This is my first time to take a bus in this fashion. Unfortunately, the bus is running about half an hour behind schedule, which could pose a problem when we switch buses in Columbus. As I sit here in the bus to Columbus, I find that I am unable to confirm our outbound trip to Pittsburgh on the Greyhound Bus Tracker. (Thank you Greyhound for free wifi!) The number I have on our ticket directs me to a bus in Kansas. Hmm … hopefully there hasn’t been any cancelation that Greyhound didn’t inform me of. Worst case, we'll have to take a bus out late tonight.

As for seating on the bus, we ended up being at the end of the line, so we didn't get to sit with each other, but close enough to play telephone ;)

Update: A gentleman across the isle from us is also heading to Pittsburgh with a newer ticket than my own, which I hope means that Greyhound does not track this route.

Ruth Reading Arthur Conan Doyle to pass the time.

Me typing away on my tablet ... There will be typos, as we bounce along ;)