Hello Houston...we've got a problem!! (part 2)

Since you can see a picture of the plane and read Mary Kate's description of it, you know they made it to Houston, but not without a little excitement. That "missionary bus" I wrote about on my last entry, was true to it's name. On the way down to Houston, the bus overheated (what a surprise, since everything does at 100 degrees!). They had to open all the emergency hatches, etc. and let the poor thing cool down. They pulled to the side of the road (they always leave super early to get soooo many people checked in) and after a little while, they were back on track. God truly was watching over this group since by the time they arrived at the airport, they were the last to check in. (they could have been told, "you are the last to check in, I'm sorry to tell you this but you have been eliminated!!")

At the airport, they were each allowed to check two bags...about 23 kilos each,(50 lbs) for no cost (how about THAT...American Airlines, Continental, United, etc.) Mary Kate also had a giant garbage bag filled with sleeping bags to check. They kind of re-pack stuff since they have to all carry part of the equipment that is going. Some have sound equipment, some have food, some have teaching supplies, etc. There was a huge "sound equipment box" that had to go, but was way over the limit...like at 70lbs. Mary Kate and some others ended up with microphones and wires in their carry-on since some of that stuff had to be re-packed, then the ticket agents were gracious, and let the box go through since they didn't have many OTHER over weight bags. Praise God!!

Here at home, we were trying to figure out the shortest route to Dubai from Texas. Tyler, of course (if you know him) threw out the "great circle" theory, which in short is: flying north and down is shortest. He even went to get a ball and string to demonstrate. We ended up looking it up on the Internet and he's right! Check this out: http://liftanddrag.blogspot.com/2009/02/great-circle-route.html

Well, I see from the flight track, that they have landed in Dubai, 6:29 p.m. (local time there...8 hours ahead of us.) Thank you again for your prayers for their safety.