Saturday, November 26, 2011

Holy Land - 11.14

Staying overnight in Atlanta was a GREAT decision. It allowed us to sleep-in, start fresh, and enjoy a good hot breakfast at the hotel. It also removed the stress of leaving early, traffic delays, possible car problems, extending the travel day, etc. It added a little expense to the trip, but it was definitely the way to go! When we were ready, we simply locked our cars in the secure parking lot, and loaded onto the hotel shuttle bus.

The driver dropped us off at the Delta entrance and the check-in process began. I used to frequent the Atlanta airport when living in Marietta, GA; but haven't been there in a while. The Delta self check-in and lack of real people to assist with our questions about a seat change was frustrating, but not earth shaking. In the end, everything worked out fine and all requests were accommodated at the gate.

In Atlanta, we met half (approx. 40) of the total travel group (approx. 90) that were going to tour the Holy Land with us. Our flight left at 1:40pm and we were on our way to JFK in New York. On the flight, I started the book, "Radical Together" and finished it during the layover at JFK. It was a great read that challenges Christians to think about reaching the world with the Gospel.

While waiting at JFK, we enjoyed a slice of Sbarro's pizza, followed by coffee and a donut from Dunkin Donuts! We had plenty of time to walk it off during the extended layover. At approximately 8:00pm, we started loading aboard the 747 and left on-time at 8:55pm for our 10+ hour flight that would also result in a loss of seven hours with the time zone adjustment.

1 comment:

Jerome said...

If I did the math right, you guys traveled the day... left New York at 9 pm... arrived in Israel at what would have been 7 am... but it was really 2 pm... time to start your day. Oh man, you've gotta be aching with jet lag. Good thing you were in the Holy Land... because you're going to need some prayer just to stay awake.