I'M BACK!!!

So after 27 hours of traveling on 3 flights, overnight in a hotel and a 4 hour bus ride I have arrived in Wanzhou, China.  I was so happy to see CJ and my soon to be daughter-in-law Christina.

But 1st let me tell you a little about my trip.  I got up on Friday morning at 5:00 am and went to work that day. Kathy took me to drop my car off at Ryan's after work. We came back to my house and I finished packing, went to a dance from 8-1 and then we went out to breakfast and then to the airport around 4:30am for my  flight to San Fransisco at 7:11. I was ready for a nap by that time and figured that would be perfect for my 5 hour flight.  My seat was in the very back of the plane, middle seat, a young gentleman on either side of me.  The seats don't lean back and they are very cramped. I got no sleep as I planned. The young man on my right, with the window seat, slept most of the time with his elbow on the food tray, his chin
 in his hand and head propped on the back of the seat in front of him, blocking the window so I couldn't see out. The little girl in the seat in front of him kept jerking the seat and his head would bounce off of it. Later, when he was awake, I saw him studying some papers about bone fractures. I figured he was going to have a fractured skull from all that bouncing so he will be prepared. The man in the seat on my left was maybe a little older and he had a table that he kept writing in. He wrote page after page after page, then put on his headset and did a crossword puzzle.  Every time someone would walk buy to use the bathroom or one of the flight attendants would walk by they bumped him so I am sure he will have some bruises. When we got to San Fransisco I had a 5 hour layover.

Along the way to San Fransisco I checked the time, it was around 9:30 so I figured I still had another 2.5 hours to go, checked it a little while later and it said 9:20. I thought I must have looked at my phone wrong the first time.  After another hour I checked and it said 8:50. I then realized that my phone was changing the time as we crossed the time lines.  So now I am flying into the future because they are 3 hours behind us but the time itself was going backwards and I lose 12 hours going to China!! Time Travel.

Finally got on the Air China flight to Beijing, a 12.5 hour flight.  I was in the 3rd row back and had a window seat and much more leg room.  The view taking off from San Fransisco was beautiful. Our flight took us up along the coast, over the tip of Alaska and over Russia and Mongolia and into Beijing. After we had dinner I finally slept off and on. Then I woke up feeling sick and had a headache. I think between the air conditioning on the planes and not getting outside for fresh air and not sleeping for 38-40 hours and being cramped and having to sit for so long really threw me off.  I had to get off that plan, get my luggage and go through more security. Then I had still another 2.5 hour flight to Chongqing

Customs in China is interesting.  You hand them your passport and the girl that took mine, looked at me and the passport and said...hmmmm, looked again and did the same thing, then took my picture with the web cam and send me on my way way. Then you stand in line to have your bags scanned. If you have a camera or laptop you have to take it all out and put it in a tray to be scanned. Then I had to get to my flight to Chongqing.  I was in the last seat next to the isle this time and no one was next to me so I tried to keep from getting bumped all the time.  That seemed like such a short flight compared  to the previous one.  We had to get off the plane and walk down some steps and up the next flight of steps but I was outside and could breath and feel fresh air which made may headache go down about 2 notches.

CJ and Christina met me at the airport. We took a taxi to the hotel and I got a shower and went to sleep. We got up the next morning and took a taxi to the bus station. Got on a bus and took a 4 hour ride to Wanzhou, were Christina's mom and her uncle picked us up and took us back to CJ's apartment. We then went and had some lunch nearby, then walked to the taylor and picked out fabric and got measured for a dress that Christina wanted to buy for me. We then walked and walked back to a corner where Christina's dad was watching over the drink stand that Christina's mother has.  It was right next to the place where we are getting wedding pictures taken on Saturday. So I had to go in and look at that. They have clothes, gowns, and suits and props that you can wear to have your pictures in. That should be a lot of fun!!

Christina had to go off to her job for a while so we left her and her parents and walked back to his apartment and on the way we stopped into 2 of the schools where he teaches and I met some of the people there.  We came back to the apartment and I had to take a little1 hour nap. Got up and talked to CJ for a while and called home and then we went out to dinner with Christina and her parents. I had rice and lentils. Not sure what they were all eating, some kind of meet cooked over potatoes. We all came back here and CJ and Christina gave me my Christmas, mothers day and birthday gifts.  A beautiful jade Buddah necklace, a HUGE cross stitch that I have to do and a smaller one and also a very pretty cross stitch in a frame that Christina did for me!!! I should come here more often!

 I am sleeping in for a while tomorrow, CJ works till noon and will be back and we are going out for a while till he has to work at 5:00 pm. Sorry I don't have any pictures yet but I will post some as soon as I get out there and take some