Day 16 - July 6, 2008

Waking up at 3:15 am is a tough thing to do! With our luggage out at 3:45 and a quick breakfast of juice, croissants, rolls, and cheese we were on the bus about 4. As we drove to the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv we listened to a few last words from Brother Gunnerson. Less than one hour later we pulled to a stop. A security guard got on the front of the bus and walked down the aisle then exited the bus through the back door. Did we mention he had a machine gun? No worries...it was slung over his back. A few minutes later we arrived at the Airport and went through security with few delays, though a few in our group did have their suitcases searched. We said our first goodbyes as Charlie and Terilynn were not flying with our group.

We flew to Paris, France via Air France. The food was also an adventure...was it really food? We landed safely in Paris and prepared for our 4 hour layover. Many of the group walked the airport in search of food, toilets, souvenirs, etc. Others were able to take naps, read, or have one last game of cards. Art was booked on a different flight he missed and since our plane was full he had to wait for a later flight. Bye Art! Our longest leg was to New York. The flight was long but we were happy that our individual movie screens were working!

When we arrived at the baggage claim in NY, our suitcases were pretty much the last ones off the plane. Some of our group was spending the night in NY and others were flying on to California so many good byes and see ya laters were said at this time. Wonderful friendships were created while we were adventuring through the Bible Lands. For those of us who were continuing on to Salt Lake City we had to check our luggage (again) and literally ran to catch our flight. It was a bit tricky getting through security, but we all made the plane! Thirty+ hours and about 7,700 miles later we arrived in SLC just before midnight. Wahoo! What an adventure!!!