Mark and I got up early Wednesday morning at 3:30 am to get ready for our big trip. That alarm was brutal that early in the morning, and we didn’t get to bed until 11:00 pm. We said our good-byes to the kiddos (who probably won’t remember being woken up) and drove to the airport. Our first leg of the trip left at 7:00 and we arrived in San Francisco without any problems. We were starving by then since we didn’t eat breakfast. Who wants to eat at 4 in the morning? So Mark took me to Yankee Pier which is his usual stomping grounds for breakfast when passing through SFO airport. After a yummy breakfast we headed to the United Airlines lounge to twiddle our thumbs until our next flight. Let me tell you, airport lounges can be awesome. Free drinks and snacks, clean bathrooms, free wifi and lots of outlets to charge all your electronic devices. Having status with United sure pays off (even if it means Mark travels frequently).
Two hours later we went on a long walk to stretch our legs before the long flight. Once we boarded the plane we found there were lots of open seats so Mark and I spread out and enjoyed our 4-seat row all to ourselves. It sure came in handy when I was tired. I was able to lay across three seats and rest. So nice! We made it to Beijing in just under 12 hours, with the last 30 minutes circling the airport for whatever reason. We landed without any problems, made it through immigration, got my China stamp in my passport and walked right up to the luggage claim to find our bags circling the carousel already. Like I said before, it pays to have status with an airline.
Marriott had a minivan all waiting for us at the airport and I got to finally experience Chinese driving/traffic at its finest. Mark has warned me before about how they drive here and how crazy the traffic can be. Let’s just say I’m surprised there aren’t more traffic accidents. A four-lane highway does not mean only four cars across. It’s more like guidelines. Usually there are more like six cars across and the shoulders are used for lanes. Awesome, right? After sitting in traffic for forever we finally made it to our hotel. I felt like we got the royal treatment. They sure made us feel welcome. We ordered room service for dinner (pizza, of all things) and then crashed at 9:00 pm. Tomorrow...the fun starts.
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