Tuesday...our departure day. The elevators took WAY TOO LONG...I stood waiting for 20 minutes by the elevators on my floor. They wouldn't even stop! Just kept passing us by. Finally, I walked down to the lobby and then road back up from the bottom, held the door as I grabbed my luggage from my floor's lobby and then continued to ride the elevator all the way to the 22 floor and then back down. Some folks on my tour had to walk down with their luggage...all the way from the 20th floor!!!!
Tom and Master John (our driver) took great care of us, and we arrived at the airport on time. Check in was rather easy, except I had to pay extra because one of my suitcases was over weight. I could have just shifted stuff around to my other suitcase, but there were so many people checking in and not enough room, so I just paid the $26 and that was that.
The flights home were uneventful. I had my aisel seat (YEA!!!!) but there wasn't a phone in the seat, so no calls home or text messages. :( Oh well. It was only 10 hours to LA, which was nice.
I loved this trip to China. The tour group was great. I made some fabulous, hopefully life long friends. Our guides, Alicia, and Tom were wonderful. I loved Tom's passion for his city and also appreciated that he knew and understood that we wanted to shop too. Alicia really cared about each person on the tour and helping them with their shopping needs. Alicia picked the best jeans for me and I really enjoy wearing them--I look so different in "good" jeans. The culture, the people, the shopping, the places...everything was wonderful. (I even got used to the toilets! lol)
How blessed and lucky I have been in my life. I have traveled to 5 continents in my short 31 yrs. (haven't been to South America or Antartica). I have met incredible people and shared my journeys with many loved ones and friends. I am thankful and just dang lucky that my dad's job has taken him to Germany, Australia and now Russia, so I have a reason to visit those places and a place to stay when I go. While my parents lived in Germany, my mom and I had so much fun traveling around Europe. I love hearing about places my dad has been too...he really has opened my eyes to the world. I love learning about my heritage and then going to those places (haven't been to England yet though). I've been lucky to get cheap flights that have allowed me to go places like Tokyo. I am thrilled that my husband and children share a love of traveling--whether its a 10 hour plane ride, or an hour car ride around town, we love traveling together and exploring. I love traveling, plain and simple. I love talking about traveling, reading travel books and watching travel shows. Its in my blood, just like scrapbooking or baking might be passions for others--traveling is my thing.
Lastly, I want to thank The Lord for blessing me with so many things. I don't take my traveling for granted, but realize its a gift from Him. I am thankful that I was born and raised in the USA. I am thankful for my freedoms--especially religious freedoms. I have so many things in my life that so much of the world could only dream about having. I am blessed so much.
One last thing...if you are just now starting to read my blog...you may want to go to the index on the right side and start with China Report 1.
PHOTOS: Tom and I at the airport.
--Super Angie
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