Getting Caught Up

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Boy, am I behind! We had a great experience yesterday. We cruised through the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River. Gorgeous, beautiful scenery. We boarded a smaller boat and continued up one of the tributaries. A little ways up, we transferred to a sampan and had five "trackers" row us on up the river. One of the men was 80 years old! This guy climbs down the mountain, does two tours, and then climbs back up the mountain at the end of the day. I guess there is a guy who is 86 , too! That evening we went through the Three Gorges Dam's five locks. They were very impressive. The Yangtze used to flood and had very dangerous places that made navigating the river dangerous. Many people had farmland in the fertile valley. The government made all of the farmers move up into the hills and then built the dam which flooded their old farms. Now the dam provides electricity for the millions of people who live near the dam. The farms are the terrace kind. They grow oranges, potatoes, and other vegetables. They are all grown by hand. No Deere tractors on those mountains! Today we had a tour of the dam and locks. Then it was time to leave our river boat and head to the airport and are now in Shanghi. I understand we have a full day tomorrow, our only full day here. The weather has been great the last couple of days, sunny and upper 70s. We start at 7:30 tomorrow and end with dinner and an acrobatic show. Better head to bed. Night, all!

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