 Jerusalem, March, 2000 |
 Branson, Missouri Pre-Christmas, 1996 |
The first paddle-wheel river boat journey was in April 1998 aboard the magnificent American Queen, out of New Orleans and north to Baton Rouge and Natchez, Mississippi.
Our first trip overseas was to Israel in March 2000, a well-timed visit considering the eruption of violence in that area later that year. Some 23 were a part of that trip, visiting the biblical sites, including the Sea of Galilee, Masada, the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem. No one will forget the meaningful worship service aboard a boat on the Sea of Galiee or baptism in the Jordan River.
We journeyed northward in September 2001 to Canada and a spectacular train trip through the splendor of the Canadian Rockies, Lake Louise and Banff, with 42
making up our travel group. Our second paddle-wheel cruise aboard the Mississippi Queen, took place in late October 2002, as we moved westward on the historic Ohio River from Cincinnati and on to Louisville, concluding our journey on the Mississippi at Memphis, where we visited the Graceland Mansion of the late Elvis Presley. Canadian Rockies, September, 2001 |
Sharing the riches of various travel
experiences has deepened our bonds of Christian fellowship with
one another and has given us so many enduring memories of some
really good times together. We thank Ruth Ruff for her most
helpful assistance in providing needed travel arrangements for
these fascinating explorations of the wider worlds of God's good
creation.