Day 15 – June 19 – Tuesday

(Travel to Tel Aviv Airport and fly to San Francisco through Frankfurt, Germany)

Going Home

It’s hard to believe that this wonderful experience is coming to an end. As directed, we gathered in the lobby of the hotel at 11:30 in preparation for our trip to the airport. It has been a long day and the group is on the quiet side. The tour organizers have arranged for a nighttime snack of pound cake and coffee for those interested. It was a nice gesture on their part, but candidly speaking, the cake wasn’t very good and I’m not a coffee drinker.

We learned that our Tour Leader, Pastor Rick Cole, finally succumbed to the problems of eating and drinking in a strange land. Evidently, he became quite ill and simply could not make the return trip with the group. We found out later that Rick felt well enough the next day that he and his wife Cathy flew back the next day. After we all boarded the bus, Pastor Randy prayed for a safe trip and for Rick’s recovery. He then informed us that “there’s a new sheriff in town’ which got a good laugh. Someone from the back of the bus yelled “Is that Joanne?” (Pastor Randy’s wife) which got an even bigger laugh. The tour company arranged for Pastor Rick’s and Cathy’s return flight and they were treated like VIPs.

Tel Aviv Airport

We left the hotel at 11:30 pm and arrived at the Tel Aviv airport at approximately 2:15 am for a scheduled 5:00 am flight to Frankfurt, Germany and onto Sacramento, California. As we got to the first check point at the airport, an armed guard came onto the bus and checked our passports while another guard checked the luggage compartment. As we entered the airport we were directed to stand in line and ready ourselves for another security inspection.

We were positioned by the elevators for the purpose of going down one floor to an inspection area. However, the guards at the elevator were not moving anyone at all. After waiting for about two hours, Rimon spoke to a security person on the floor where we had been waiting and that security person agreed to allow us to go through the security process on the same floor.

We were moved to what looked like a typical airport waiting line and readied ourselves for inspection. The security guards took Pastor Randy aside and asked him several questions about what we had been doing in Israel. At the same time, another member of our group, Stan Brown, was being asked the same questions. If Randy and Stan are not giving the same answers to the same questions – security goes to another level. Fortunately for us, Randy and Stan studied for the test and provided consistent answers.

As we stood in line, we were each asked questions about the trip, the contents of our luggage and whether anyone had given us anything to transport back with us. The next step in the process was to have our luggage pass through the x-ray machines. If there were not any items in your luggage that raised the screener’s suspicion, the security guard placed a sticker on your bag. If any of the bags did not have a sticker placed on them, you were directed to a secondary security point where your bags were opened and inspected. Both Cathy’s and Shannon’s luggage were opened and inspected. The reason had to do with the bags of Bath Salt that Shannon purchased for friends from a Palestinian store during our trip. It seems that terrorists have used similar bags to store explosive materials and the Israelis do not take chances.

While we were involved in this long security check-in we heard several announcements over the Public Address system to “please move to the middle of the hall and away from glass windows.” We don’t know if there were threats received or this was just a common warning – it was a little unnerving.

Frankfurt, Germany

We finally made it through all security check points and settled by the gate at about 4:45. Our flight that was supposed to leave at 5:00 did not leave until 5:30. That may not sound like much but we only had an hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany – so any delay may mean we miss our connection. The food served on the flight was the box lunch variety – a sandwich of some description (I really don’t know what it was) that was barely edible, chips and some type of chocolate bar. It’s a good thing we were not hungry. As we approached Frankfurt, the flight attendant gave specific information about rescheduled flights. Our group was told to exit the plane and head to a specific numbered bus. We did not deplane at a gate but on the tarmac – near Gate A1. As directed, we boarded the bus and were driven to Gate A65. There was no way that we would have made our connection if we had to walk to it – it was a several minute drive to that area.

When the tour was first getting organized, there was a scheduled 2-3 hour layover in Frankfurt. Somewhere in the planning process, someone decide that it would be better just to continue on with very little or no layover in Frankfurt. The only problem with that is a 4 hour and 8-9 hour flight turns into a 12-13 hour flight and that is a long time to be on a plane. The two movies helped pass the time. The first movie was Rocky Balboa (Rocky 6) and the second movie was Wild Hogs. Neither will win any Academy Awards but they kept us entertained. About two minutes before we landed, Shannon thought it would be a good time to use her ‘sick bag’. Her timing was perfect. She seems to fly for 10 hours without a problem, but those last few minutes are killers.

San Francisco International Airport

We landed in San Francisco as scheduled. The only hiccups in San Francisco were that one piece of Stan and Elease Walton’s luggage did not make it back with us and the tour bus driver had a difficult in locating the area in which we were waiting. We waited about 30 minutes for him to find us.

Capital Christian Center

The drive from the San Francisco airport back to Capital Christian Center was uneventful – most people were sleeping. We all loaded our cars, said our goodbyes and headed home. We made it home – exhausted and still in awe of what we had experienced.