Sunday, April 1, 2007

April 1, 2007 was spent almost entirely at 30,000 feet and above inside an airplane as we made our way from Detroit to Tokyo and on to Guangzhou! We were able to capture some awesome scenery out the windows as our flight path took us over Alaska (check out the picture).

On this day, April 1st, David and the “traveling grandmas” did make it Tokyo…but we missed our flight to Guangzhou, so we have to stay overnight in Tokyo! APRIL FOOLS!!!! Just kidding! Everything is actually just fine. The flight from Detroit was long but bearable. (We are really hoping to be able to use our miles to upgrade to business class coming home. It looked so enticing in that section of the cabin!)

Once we landed in Tokyo, we stretched our legs and walked around a little as we waited during the short layover between our arrival to Tokyo and our departure on the final 5-hour flight to Guangzhou. At this point, not much had happened for this April 1st update. We were just stuck on a plane for 13 hours. Even so, it was a good time to talk a little bit (in between trying to sleep) and to observe others on the plane - some who had babies and/or toddlers with them. I was studying them very closely and started to get a little nervous about having a 1-year old on my lap for the return flights home! Wow! That will add a whole new dimension to this long journey, but it will be a joy above all else despite any challenges that may arise.

The flight from Tokyo to Guangzhou was only about 5 hours, but the whole flight was non-stop turbulence. It was hard to rest or relax, but we tried very hard! Believe me! And we made it! Check out the picture below of the hotel staff who met us at the airport to arrange our driver to take us to the hotel – The Guangdong Victory Hotel. We had some good conversation with him on the 20-minute drive. David got to practice his Chinese and the “traveling grandmas” got to ask some questions of their own as we started to feel eager to get a sense of our surroundings, though that is hard to do in the middle of the night.

As we settle into our hotel, it is now 12:47am on April 2, 2007. But since we arrived in Guangzhou at around 10:30pm on April 1, 2007, I wanted to get this update posted about our arrival.

So, after all of our travels on April 1, 2007, we are now one day closer to getting Ainsley! Stay tuned… “Gotcha Day” is April 3, 2007!