The Journey Home

Super Lu here with the report on the journey home. Thursday morning brought the last of the wonderful buffet breakfast. David had some nervousness as shown by his light eating. He did make sure to get one last chicken sausage! Bobby was elated to find that they had his beloved sicky rice for this last breakfast in China (He later told me that he did not want to leave China because he wanted to eat Mooncakes and sticky rice every day!)

After breakfast the crew headed back up to relax for a bit before having to leave for the airport.

Soon it was time to leave their home of the last 2 weeks. The boys each helped push a suitcase.

One last elevator ride....

It was then off into the van. Today was our favorite driver and van. Bobby loved the stuffed dogs on the dashboard and thought they looked like steamed buns! Today he finally got to touch one and have his picture taken with one!

A few shots taken while on the drive to the airport. So many apartments and the buildings are so close together. Many looked close enough that you could reach out your window and shake your neighbors hand!

We reached the airport and it was time for goodbyes and a couple of pictures. The boys both enjoyed our guide Lucia and she was great with them! She did a great job making sure our crew got to where they needed to be and did a wonderful job showing us some sights.

 The boys also enjoyed our favorite driver. He had driven us around a couple of other times and drove us to the orphanage for the visit and was so great with both boys!

Lucia did acompany our crew inside and made sure that check in went well and then made sure the crew went through the first checkpoint.

 Once at the gate, the crew had to move to the next gate over due to a gate change. Both flights were going to Seoul so there was lots of confusion when the other flight boarded!

Korean Air was great about boarding those who need a little extra help or time first and took immaculate care of Bobby's travel wheelchair on all flights. Once all were boarded, there was a delay due to air traffic which seems to be the norm flying out of Guangzhou. Soon we were off and on our way to Seoul. Goodbye China! (the airplane is facing that way because we had to do a turnaround to fly out of Guangzhou)

The flight had quite a bit of turbulence, but it didn't sem to bother David as he was glued to the game screen!

The crew again spent the night at the Transit Hotel at the airport and had the buffet dinner. It was very soon off to bed for all! This time all slept well as there is only and hour time difference between Seoul and Guangzhou.
It was an early morning wake up and off to board the last leg of the journey home. Once again the food was plentiful and very good. David really enjoyed the Korean dishes with the hot sauce paste!

  David sat like this most of the last few hours of the flight. He kept putting the route map up and trying to move the airplane along faster. It unfortunately didn't work and the flight was still about 14 hours long!

No pictures were allowed entering the airport or in immigration, so the new family had to bid fairwell to Emily at immigration without a goodbye picture. She was off to catch her flight home and the family had to wait to get through immigration for David. It took a bit, but it was smooth and the officer was so friendly. It was then off to get baggage and catch the shuttle to the parking deck. Soon they were on their way home! A quick stop to pick up lunch from McDonalds and they were finally home. Waiting for them was big sister Taylor who had decorated the house and had roses for mom, presents and signs for the boys, Gigi's cupcakes and fresh food in the fridge!

 Neither boy had slept during the flight but everyone managed to stay awake until 7:30 pm. Bobby made sure to tuck me in before heading up to bed!

So the family is now home. Taylor headed back to school on Sunday and so this reporter's job is now done. This was quite the trip and so a rest is in order! Soon I will travel to Cincinnati so I can be with another traveling family as they head to a different country. After that? The schedule is unclear. Here's hoping I can return to the Baird family in time to accompany them on their Disney cruise in early April. There is rumor that a couple of other Disney outfits are waiting for me should I be able to cover the DCL cruise assignment! So for a final time on this China assignment, this is Super Lu signing off!