Great Wall (Saturday)

I didn't get much sleep again, but I forced myself to lay and rest. I am amazed on how much I could do on 2 hours of sleep. After breakfast we met the group and started our travel to the Great Wall. Now, I told you how the taxi ride was scary? That was nothing! Logan and I were in the fron seat. This will not happen again as you can see way too much. Luckily, Logan took a nap for the entire ride. Pleole in the cars next to us look at Logan sleeping. They pointed and laughed, they thought it was cute. We ran into traffic and it got crazy. One lane was closed off so all the vehicles had to merge. Yeah, they don't care if the bus is bigger! They cut us off anyhow and they love to use their horns here in China. It is a constant. There were security men along the side of the highway about 50 yards off the highway. Every 50 yards was another guy. This all seemed very odd. Jeanie wasn't sure what was going on. They communicate by cell phone and she soon got a call. There were VIP's coming through and the Great Wall we couldn't get to the Great Wall for a few hours. So we changed plans.

Instead we went to the Summer Palace. What a huge 'resort'! There is a large lake. Again, we didn't get much of the history. I'll have to research later. At the end, we took the dragon boat across the lake. Logan really liked that. He also learned a new Chinese word from the pan handlers at the entrance and exit. He learned the Chinese word for watch: Rolex! After that we ate at another family style restaurant at the back of a Friendship Store. This lunch served a small plate of ham among many other dishes. Logan liked the ham and ate the whole plate! We sat with adventourous people who even ate the fish. It was garnished with the fishes head standing straight up. Ugh! They also served sweet and sour pork so I was good to go. Erich nibbled on several dishes. He tries more than I do. The Friendship Store is a large store where you do not hassel over the price. However, you decide on what you want and they write you up a slip. Then, you go to the register and pay for it. Then, you go back to the department where it was, show the girl your slip, and she gives it to you. There are sales people every 15 feet! The one we were in seemed like a large tourist trap. I don't know if they are all the same or not. We'll see.

After lunch, we did get to go to the Great Wall. Wow! What an awesome experience. We did not remember to stretch beforehand. The stairs climbing up are not the same size, each are different. It makes for a difficult climb. Logan was a real trooper. He just wanted to go, go, go. Erich kept up with him and lugged the backpack. I held him up as the altitude was difficult on me. We got to the first tower going up and took a longer rest. Someone said about 20 yards more and we'd get our 'hero card' for climbing the Great Wall. Since it is April Fool's day, we though it was a joke. Logan wanted to keep going so we did. Sure enough, there it was, we got our Hero Card. Erich and I were done. We couldn't go any further up. Logan was so sad. He cried big tears. He wanted to keep going so much, but with Erich's heart and my 'asthma' we just couldn't. It was disappointing we didn't get farther. To come all this way and poop out. I recommend to any other families coming to adopt: work out and get in shape. It is tough!

I took a nap on the way back to the hotel. It was an hour away. I was so wiped out I didn't want to go anywhere for dinner. There was just so much to do, pack, get Logan ready for bed, download pictures, update the blog, and sleep. Erich, my love, went to Pizza Hut and we had a picnic pizza in our room. One bag is packed. We used 2 kinds of space saver bags. One at home that uses a vacuum and another kind we packed that doesn't. That way if we were stopped in customs and they made us open it, we could still repack. We weren't stopped, but it is helping us get everything back in the suitcase for the trip to Guanzhou. After Logan's bath, we started to watch a movie. Both he an I fell asleep before 8 PM. I woke up at 4 AM and feeling good. Logan got up shortly afterwards and ate a snack.

We have to have all of our bags packed and outside our door at 7 AM. The bell boy will pick them up and get them loaded on the bus. We meet at 10 AM in the lobby to fly to Guanzhou. 1 1/2 more days! I am anxious, nervous, scared, excited, happy, and out of my mind with joy. How will she respond to us? Will she cry or be in shock? How will Logan react (pretty good, I think). So many questions. They said we will be at the Civil Affairs office about 1 1/2 hours. Then go back to the hotel. We will have to strip Maelynn, give her a bath, and treat the scabies right away.

More tomorrow from Guanzhou,
Robin