January 12, 2015

Hello! My name is Henry, and I’m a small stuffed dog handmade by a nice lady called Marie Bond. Mrs. Bond modeled me after a real dachshund called Henry that owns a woman named Rachel – the same woman who hosts this blog.

As the guest columnist for the next ten days, I suppose you could call me the guest dogger!

This is Henry, the dog I’m modeled after. Isn’t he handsome? 

And here’s me – hanging out with my pack. That’s Toby the collie – he’s a really nice dog!

I live in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia (Western Washington), and our bishop, The Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel, is co-leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (Israel and Palestine) with the bishop of Northern California, The Rt. Rev. Barry Beisner. We will be joined by more folks coming from Arizona.

Sometimes, the hardest part of traveling is the traveling itself. Late last night, I flew on a plane all the way across the country, from Seattle to Newark – From the west coast to the east coast. It took a little over four hours.

Here I am in the Seattle airport….

And here I am at the Newark airport!

Don’t you just love the R2D2 roller bag? I think that all aspects of travel should be fun – even the luggage.

The most important part of traveling happened before I even got on a plane, and that was the packing! The farther I travel, the less I want to carry. So, I packed only carry on luggage for this trip…including leaving just enough space for me!

Later today I will get on another plane to Tel Aviv, Israel. About an hour before we leave, our group will all gather for the first time at our departure gate. I’m hoping that traveling with bishops will get me special access to squirrels, but – actually- I’m not even sure if there are any squirrels in Israel. I guess I’ll find out when I get there…

I love traveling, meeting new people and having adventures. Mostly, I love learning new things. This trip should be especially interesting, (Wish me luck with the squirrels!)

I will write next when we have arrived at our first stop – The north coast of the sea of Galilee. After we arrive in Tel Aviv, we will take a bus there. Let me know if you have any questions for me during my pilgrimage to the Holy Land through the comment section to each posting.  If I don’t know the answer, I will try to find out for you.

Here’s to barking at squirrels!

Henry