After a Looooonnng day, we made it!

Cackie, Deanna, Daddy, Mom & Me before heading thru security at the Memphis airport.

Walking to our gate at the Memphis airport.

Finally in the air headed to Beijing. We just ate our first meal!

Me & Cackie, about 5:30 a.m., waiting for our plane to Chicago in the Memphis airport. (By the end of the trip, we don't look quite as good!)

We made it to Chicago about 7:30 a.m., and got to spend our layover burning off some energy, eating breakfast and spending time with our Uncle Donald that came to visit us. He lives outside of Chicago. After making it through security again and check-in, we boarded the plane to Beijing at about noon. Unfortunately, after the plane left the gate, we were informed of a mechanical problem that we had to return to the gate for. This took about an hour & a half to fix and was extra time that we were on the airrcraft. So, our flight was delayed, causing us to have additional time in the air of about 13 hours. There's also a first time for everything...not only the first time for me to fly that long, but also the first time to use the bathroom on an airplane! It wasn't so bad. We also took many opporunities to get up and walk around because our legs were cramped when sitting down for such long periods. I also have to say that the horseshoe-shaped travel pillows we bought for the flight were probably the BEST investment so far!
When we arrived to the Beijing airport, it was 4:30 p.m. local time and 86 degrees! HOT! After we claimed our luggage, Helen, the CCAI (Chinese Children Adoption International) guide met us and a driver took us back to a hotel. Beijing traffic is by far the worst I've seen...I guess I shouldn't say Memphis is so bad anymore! And I probably shouldn't criticize daddy's driving, because the driving is just crazy here! I probably paid more attention to that than other things when we were driving into the city to our hotel.
We arrived at the hotel about 7:00 p.m., checked in and Michael got us some bottled water at a store around the corner (we can't drink the tap water here). After the long day and being in the same clothes for more than 24 hours, we were each ready for showers, ordered room service (Chinese dumplings and fried rice) and called it a night. Cackie & I slept in one room, and Deanna & Michael were across the hall. Cackie & I woke up about 3:00 a.m. (2:00 p.m. to us/central time), but had to try to go back to sleep to make sure we had energy and got adjusted to the time difference.


Our hotel lobby...isn't it beautiful!


My & Cackie's beds.

This morning, we went downstairs for a HUGE breakfast buffett that was delicious. Our plan is to meet Helen downstairs and go to the Temple of Heaven. Then, we are going to relax close to the hotel for the rest of the day.
Stay tuned...