In Israel...at last.

Jaime and I arrived safely in Israel. We are currently up North at the border of Jordan & Lebanon. It's warm, but not terribly hot.

We flew into Tel Aviv and stayed in a nice hostel/hotel outside the city. The hotel had a roof top garden. We watched the sunset over the city and water. It was a beautiful welcome to Israel. We ventured into the city for the evening. Jaime and I are not "city"people per say, but we enjoyed the nightlife.

The groups keeps us pretty busy. We went on a wonderful hike today-----felt good to walk on dirt (after all the city walking in New York City.) The hike was on the Burma Road Trail, the road that's saved Jerusalem in 1947. We then drove North to where we are now.

Tomorrow we are going kayaking in the Jordan river in the morning. It is wonderful to just be able to sit back and enjoy the vacation. The guide is quite knowledgeable and we are both taking away a lot of information, history and a deeper appreciation for where we are.

We have a cell phone number, here is the number from the states to call (including country code.) Feel free to call anytime. 011-972-523-125-993

Leaving New York

We had a WONDERFUL time in New York City. Yesterday was fantastic! Brunch with the ESA Girls at Serendipity's. And then a great walk tour of the lower Manhattan. Including: Union Square, Greenwich Village, Soho, West Village, Chinatown, Little Italy & Hudson Bay. I will fill in all the blanks with more details later.

Last night we saw Lion King. I think visually this was the most amazing show I have ever seen. I truly felt I was swept up and had gone back to Africa. The music, lights, costumes-----all incredible!

Today we are going on a tour of the U.N. and then checking out some of the other Burroughs of New York City, and then, off to Israel!

Man, the pizza is good here.

Yesterday was busy. This will have to be brief, as we have another busy day ahead of us. But, here is a quick re-cap of what we did:

• Try this new breakfast bistro----excellent coffee!
• Go to Time Square and buy theater tickets for tonight. We got our own private box----way cool!
• Take the metro to Central Park.
• Go on a guided tour of the botanical gardens. It was amazing! We learned all about different plants and got caught in the middle of an excellent storm!
• Take the metro South on Manhattan and explore: The World Trade Center Site, The oldest church in the city, Wall Street, City Hall, Stock Exchange and Battery Park.
• Wait in a REALLY slow, long line to take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty.
• Wait in an even SLOWER line to go to Ellis Island.
• One Ellis Island we take an excellent tour by a Park Ranger. We learned that Helene would have been sent home from the United States due to reduced mental skills taking some spacial geometry test. And Jaime didn't really fit in the size of 3rd class bunks for the boat ride over. After the tour we explored the museum and the wall with all the names of those who came through the island.
• Waited AGAIN for ferry back to New York.
• Took the ferry uptown to go to the theater.
• Saw A Chorus Line---AMAZING! And leaving Broadway in two weeks.
• Went to Juniors for dinner. Had egg cream's and NY cheesecake. (Well I didn't eat the cheesecake!)
• TRIED to go to the Empire State Building----closed to Antenna repair??? WHAT.....oh well, something to do tomorrow!

We may be in New York, but the Bunnies are having a hay day in Gresham!

Steve & Lynn graciously offered to bunnysit Tonks & Lupin while we were gone. We knew deep down they would fall in love with our bunnies immidiatly.

After arriving in New York we recivied a wonderful email with a link to photos of the bunnies having a ball. The photos can be found here: BUNNIES!

THANKS STEVE & LYNN FOR WATHCING THE FUR-BUNNIES. Our only fear is that we will come home and they will prefer to stay with the two of you!

Welcome to the Big Apple!

Jaime and I arrived safely into New York. We took the red eye flight from Portland to Huston, Texas and then another flight from Texas to New York, New York. One flight down, many more to go!

It was wonderful to be picked up by a friendly face---GREG! He has graciously agreed to be our official tour guide to this great city. After a delicious homemade lunch, featuring Greg's famous Kugel, we are about to head into the tourist mode. Today we are going to walk through Central Park and do a loop of the Lower East Side. We will leisurely make our way down to Time Square for dinner. After dinner are seeing our FIRST Broadway show of the trip: Spring Awakening. After the show, depending upon jet lag we will taste some of New York's fine desserts and possibly a night stroll.