We're in the US

We made it to America!!! Hooray! It was crazy in the TLV airport the weekend before a holiday. It's their New Years Celebration. It was stressful trying to get through the lines and having people pushing from behind. One middle eastern looking young man actually wore a belt with a "hand gun belt buckle". It held up the line for quite a long time. Finally they detained him while they let others go through. Not sure what he was thinking wearing something like that... especially through the Israeli airport. The flight was long (13 hours) but we were able to sleep quite a bit. And the TVs worked at each of our seats so we could pass the time watching movies. On the leg from Atlanta to Orlando we (Ken) got a first class free upgrade (due to his frequent flyer status) which I got to take advantage of. Pretty cool. Customs was a breeze at 5:30am and our luggage made it to the US as well!!! That's a recipe for a good vacation. The car rental and hotel check in went smoothly. We were given an upgrade to the business floor which included free breakfast M-F and appetizers in the evening :-)

After check in (at 10am) we went to Kennedy Space Center. We were hoping to stay up for most of the day and get onto Eastern Time Zone. The KSC was very cool (hot outside, but lots of amazing things to see). On our way there we figured out the toll roads. We only had 2 quarters on hand which held us till the next toll booth which had an operator to make change for us. It was so fun to see restaurant chains we were used to and a few new ones too. We stopped for lunch at the WhataBurger. YUM. Ken had a fabulous Bacon Cheeseburger. At the Space Center we took the tour to see the shuttle launch pads and went to International Space station Museum. We stayed for the whole day. On the way back we stopped by an Alligator park. It was closed but we did see them up close through a wire fence. They were about 12 feet long and made a hissing noise at us. Yikes, glad the fence was there. We were able to stay up till 9pm before hitting the pillows hard for the night.

Saturday we drove to Tampa to visit the Busch Gardens. We didn't actually realize how far away the park was from Orlando, but we enjoyed it quite a bit. There were lots of fun rides and it was quite warm/muggy (not as hot as Haifa though). We saw all sorts of animals and enjoyed an entertaining show as we ate our lunch. We stayed until when the park closed, which may have been a mistake. We sat in traffic forever. It took us over an hour to get out of the park :-( I knew I should have used the restroom before we left.

On the way out from the park we got the crazy idea to go to a gulf coast beach. Ken thought he saw a sign indicating it was only 6 miles out. Well an hour later the sun was setting and we were still looking for the coast. We finally found Reddington Beach and were able to dip our toes in the gulf coast just before the sunset. We didn't stay long, but it was worth it. The drive home was long (over 2 hours) on unfamiliar roads but we made it safe and sound.

Sunday we used the other half of our Busch Gardens ticket to get into Sea World. We went to a couple of shows and were very impressed with the dolphins and the killer whales. Shamu, Shamu, Shamu everyone chanted. I was a little disappointed to find that there is more than one Shamu. We hung around to try and touch the dolphins but were unsuccessful. We may have had better luck if we had stood in a mile long line to get into the special feeding area. Oh well.

Monday we went to Disney's Epcot. We decided to tackle the "Future World" attractions in the morning. Most of the rides were pretty relaxing- sit in a chair and float through the exhibit. I liked Soarin the best, where they simulated a hand gliding adventure with a big screen out in front of you. It was fun. We left around 2pm and had lunch back near our hotel and took a short nap while Ken had a short meeting for work. By 6pm we were back at Epcot and toured the "World Showcase" which features exhibits and food from all over the world. The firework show at the end of the evening was very cool.

Tuesday we went to Disney's Magic Kingdom. I woke up not feeling great, but we went anyway. It was a bit overcast and the weather man indicated a light sprinkle was coming our way. He wasn't kidding. This was the first raindrops I had seen since June 2nd. It was very light and hardly counted as rain. The park was all decorated for Halloween/Fall. How fun. The castle was fun to see. We enjoyed each of the six regions of the park. I think Frontierland with Splash Mountain was Ken's favorite. Some of the shows were very interactive and funny. The Main street parade was fun too. It was so cute to see all the little girls dressed up in their princess outfits. We unfortunately came on a day when they closed at 7pm instead of 9pm so we missed the evening firework show that's held every other night. Guess I should have planned better. It was a full day and I was exhausted.

Wednesday (today) we decided to go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Universal Studios was interesting. I think the Mummy ride got the best review. There were a couple of short 3-D movies we watched that were cool too. The second half of the park was more thrill rides (which Ken likes more than I). The Incredible Hulk ride and the Dueling Dragons were a favorite here.

It's been a whirlwind vacation but a lot of fun. Tomorrow we plan to have a relaxing morning and leave FL around 1pm. Can't wait to see home! Looking forward to seeing you all in Portland soon!