A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ...

Funny? No. Not at least when you are going through it. Funny? Yes, because if you don't have a sense of humor, you will most likely self destruct in 30 seconds, or something like that.

The day started out good enough. Everyone was doing their own thing to get ready to leave our wonderful hosts. I heard some guys on the moshav having band practice, who I visited the day before, start up again. I got a chance to play guitar with the drummer who was good. I actually videoed them and will post it on the web for them to see.

We were going to stay in Me-Ammi, supposedly in the Haifa district, but a bit away from Haifa. I called our upcoming hosts the day before and told them that we couldn't make it last night because I was still too sick to travel, but I should be alright for the next day. They said to give them a call when we were about to get to them to give us directions. OK, no problem (a bit of foreshadowing there)

We went to Rosh Hanikra, a place on the Israeli-Lebanon border where grottoes have been etched into the limestone. There is a cable car that takes you down to the grottoes and a film about the history of the place.

We left there and headed towards Haifa, making a brief stop in Akko. We played musical parking locations before we decided that the vibe wasn't very comfortable, so we left for Haifa. I called our hosts for directions and that is where the story turns. The guy said that he thought we weren't coming, so they made plans and weren't even there.

What? I said that we were coming the next day. He said to give him a call when we were near. He said sorry, but ... next time.

Next time? Right! He didn't offer to help us find a place and basically wished us luck.

Jaime thought it wouldn't be such a problem to get a hotel room in Haifa, not withstanding the price. We went through all of the hotels and most of them were full. Of those that were not full, they were not only expensive, but roach ridden. Once place that we got a room, after taking time to find the building, walking up 4 flights of steps, entering a dingy room and looking around, Natalie opened a drawer and found a 3-inch roach. Ahhhhhh!

Did I mention that it was after 2 am now?

One more place to check in Haifa -- and it had rooms! We got there and it looked promising, except for the prostitutes in the nearby beach parking lot. After a half hour of chaotic activity in the lobby, she came out with a key! And we have garage parking. Premature elation.

The hotel complex was enormous, like a set of three tall office buildings. Once we figured out where the garage entrance was, we realized that it was under and for all the buildings. We didn't know which building we were in or where the elevator would be. We parked by one place and Jaime ran into the lobby to ask the clerk. He came with her and he took us to what he thought was the right building. Wrong. We went back to the first place and went up to the room, but the clerk couldn't get the key to work. He was apologetic and said he didn't know what to say but sorry. He found another room and when we got in, it looked good. That was until Jaime spotted something moving on the floor. A huge @#$%'n roach scrambling around. Shortly, Natalie spotted another ginormous roach scurrying about. If they were any bigger, they would need leashes and collars!

We were soon on to Netanya where our little adventure ends, peacefully. Not pleasantly, just peacefully. We found a perfect parking spot at the beach, and at 4:30, with the kids already asleep, we all slept in the car for a few hours.