We made it!

Our trip started with a short drive from Stillwater to the Oklahoma City airport with Lia and Stephanie.  Lia was not happy to see Chad leave and we later found out that Stephanie had to calm her with ice cream.... it always worked for me.  At the ticket counter the attendant said "UH OH" which is that last thing you ever want to hear them say.  But it was nothing and our flight to LA went well.  Around midnight was departed on Cathay Pacific for our 15 hour flight to Hong Kong.  Somehow our assigned seats were lost and we got split up.   I was seated next to a woman that didn’t know any English but on the other side of me was a man from the US diplomatic service.  He was very friendly and full of good information about Hong Kong.   The service on the flight was excellent as they gave us Dinner,  Light Lunch, and Breakfast in that order.  The food was very good. In Hong Kong we had no problem catching the Shuttle Train to Hong Kong and the express train to Guangzhou.  For 2 hours we saw mostly 4 to 20 story apartments with small farms and gardens in between.  After 33 hours of no sleep we arrived and met our guide around 11 am China time. The Hotel Victory is great and I can’t wait to see the breakfast.   Today Chad is going to exchange money and our guide will pick us up to go and get Samuel!    - Don

And from Chad...

Keep in mind that I was concerned about folks having the false impression that Don (my father in  law) and I were two gays adopting a kid.  Thus I make it a point to mention my wife in conversation.  When we get to the hotel, the staff was just as friendly as they were to us last year.  One of the bell boy was helping us with our luggage; while I was in the elevator with him he said to me, "you are very handsome".  I hope that he just confused his English.  Perhaps he only memorized a few phrases and he meant to say, "I hope you enjoy your stay".  Anyway, I did not know what to say in reply, so I just gave a nervous laugh and found some way to mention my absentee wife.

The train ride from Hong Kong to Guangzhou was incredible.  I wish we had a train like that running from Stillwater to OKC or Tulsa.  So fast and smooth, comfortable.  inexpensive.  here are a couple of pictures from that ride.

Anyway, we get Samuel at around 2 pm today (local time).  Can't wait. I need to get back into diaper changing and nap mode.  There are a lot of people here in the hotel compared to last year.  The city is spotless (at least from the highway) and more green than before.  Typhoon is going to hit very close to us.  I pray that it does not keep us from departing next Wed. 

God Bless.