Day 7 (Changchun to Guangzhou)

I thought about just doing two days at once (since it's already 1:50pm here right now), but that would make the post really long. So I'll split it up and do one now.

Friday was an odd one. We didn't have anything to do except show up in the lobby at 2:00 to head to the airport. So after breakfast, we caught up on FaceTime by talking to my brother, Cindy's sister, her brother, and as usual our girls. As always, it was really nice to touch base with family!

That took us just about up to Lacey's nap, as we packed and played with her as much as we could. She took a nice nap, but we had to wake her up to head off. We met Lillian in the lobby, got Lacey's Chinese passport, and bid the Shangri-La goodbye.

Ah, Lillian - such a great guide! She went with us to the airport to get us all checked in, even though she had to go back to Changchun to catch an 11-hour train ride to Beijing! So we made it through security - Cindy loved the guy whose response to her "I have a camera in my bag" was an annoyed OK! Whatever!" At the end of security, we looked back and sweet Lillian was still there, making sure we all made it through okay. We waved goodbye and headed to our gate. Note: this marks the end of the good parts of the day.

I don't want to sound overly dramatic, but a root canal done through the nostril via the ear canal would likely have been more fun than the next 7-8 hours. First, the airport was BOILING. Second, the water and other drinks for sale were room temperature. Third, the "bathrooms" were inexplicable. Fourth, our flight was delayed 30 minutes. Fifth, there was little room to walk around. Sixth, the boarding of the airline made as much sense as, well, the Chinese language. Seventh, the plane was completely full. Eighth, the food on the plane was "food." Ninth, Lacey thought that yelling, screaming, and crying was a profitable way to spend 2 hours of a 3.5 hour flight. Tenth, it was so bad that a well-meaning flight attendant asked, "Ma'am, what is wrong with your baby?" The desired response would have led to an immediate arrest of the writer. Eleventh, we had to take a 10 minute shuttle ride to baggage. Twelfth, the baggage was on belt 19, then belt 20, then belt 21, then belt 19. Thirteenth, we had to walk a decent way to the bus. Fourteenth, the hotel was 35 minutes away (at 11:30pm, mind you). Fifteenth, after check-in, they forgot our crib so they had to bring it up in time for Lacey to get in bed at 12:30am, which is really the perfect bedtime for any 16-month old. Also note: we have no pictures from today, because photos of traumatized travelers are not the greatest thing to put on a blog.

Good news - the hotel is gorgeous, Starbucks and McDonalds are within walking distance, and we slept like stones.

I cannot overemphasize this enough - PLEASE (to the 43rd power) pray for our trip home on Thursday. This flight was 3 hours, 40 minutes. Thursday's is a tad longer at 15.5 hours. Yes, you read that right. We can only pray and trust in the power of God to help us through it. Romans 8:28 comes to mind, "...(a)ll things work together for good to them that love the Lord..."