Travel Adventures

We arrived safely in the US on Friday evening.  Our trip was long, but we had no problems.  The mini-bus to the airport picked us up in Debrecen at 3:40 a.m. Hungarian time and we arrived at the Budapest airport with time to spare.  We flew to Warsaw where we waited to board a Dreamliner.  This is the new Boeing 787 airplane that has been in the news recently, first with battery problems and then with engine problems.  We waited for quite some time on the bus that was to take us to the plane.  They told us the departure delay was due to "operational difficulties."  Once we boarded, we discovered some nice new features even in the economy section, like footrests, cup holders and noise-canceling earphones.  We finally took off about an hour later than schedule, but once in the air, the pilot said we would probably arrive in Chicago ahead of schedule!  He said that the new airplane can fly faster than the older ones, and he was right.  We were half an hour early arriving, so we were in no rush to go through customs and make our connecting flight to Des Moines.  That flight, too, was delayed, this time by storms in Des Moines.  We landed in Des Moines half an hour behind schedule, but had to wait another half hour in the airplane for our gate to be available for unloading.  But oh how wonderful it was to see the smiling (and patient) faces of Nancy's sister and brother-in-law, Delores and Jim, and to give them hugs!

We enjoyed a good night's sleep after our 26-hour day and the next morning attended the events for the Inste Bible College graduation here in Des Moines.  There we connected with more friends and family and celebrated the awarding of degrees and diplomas to 26 American and Canadian Level 2 INSTE graduates.

Eleven of the 26 Level 2 INSTE graduates

We are pretty much over our jet lag and are enjoying being with family while we prepare for national convention in Colorado.  Thursday we will leave Des Moines for convention, making a side-trip to Rapid City for Mike's high school reunion.

Thank you for your prayers for our safe travel.  Please keep it up!