The Long Journey Home

We got up on Friday at 4 a.m. and finished packing when the porter arrived at our door. Actually, we weren't quite finished and it was all pretty hectic from there on out. We just managed to get on the plane in Guangzhou, again something we would never had navigated without the indispensable Nelson. In Beijing we were happily able to upgrade to Economy Plus and since the flight wasn't full, got a free seat for Stefani as well. That made the long flight far more comfortable.

In Chicago, clearing customs and immigration was about a 2 hour process. The girls were starving and it looked like we had just enough time for a happy meal before heading to our gate. As it turned, we had LOTS of time. Our flight was delayed 5 times and then at 10:00 pm. Chicago time, that's 11:00 a.m. Saturday Beijing time and about 31 hours of travel, they canceled our flight. Papa Al and Shannon headed off to customer service and came back with a hotel courtesy of the airline. At least we had a bed to sleep in, but wow! was Air China ever a superior airline! Everything went smooth as silk, their planes have a lot more leg room (go figure) and the flight attendants are far more courteous. Ok, now I'm just complaining.

Anyway, here we are still in Chicago. We'll be heading back to the airport in an hour. Hopefully we'll be home by noon. Don't know when our luggage will arrive though, since it was checked through to DSM. Yep, that's right. I've got one remaining diaper and we all slept in our clothes. It's been a loooooong journey home.

Jill