Blogs from Bakersfield, California, United States, North America - page 8

Got our itinerary today: May 15- Leave LAX May 16- Arrive in PEK. Check in to , visit Tiananmen Square and go out to dinner. May 17- Forbidden City, Jade Market, Old Summer Palace (if time allows) May 18- car to Great Wall, night at hotel at the Wall. May 19- car to Beijing, train trip to Xinxiang, night at hotel in Xinxiang May 20- Yellow River, Chinese Opera, visit villages, night at hotel in Xinxiang May 21- bus to Luoyang, Dragon's Gate Grottos, night at hotel in Luoyang May 22- train to Xi'an, dinner in Muslim Quarter, night at Bell Tower Hotel May 23- car to Terracotta warriors, plane to Yichang (near 3 Gorges Dam), night in Yichang May 24- bus to Dam & tour, bus back to Yichang, night in Yichang *May 25- flight ... read more

Since my son Nate has another tour going to China we decided that I’d get the visas for the people in the other tour as I was getting ours. I checked the site Monday night to check the address as it has been some time since I’ve been there. What a surprise to see that they were not issuing any 1 day visas, and had extended the time to process visas from 4 days to now 6 days. Today, Tuesday, I planned to pick up my mom then drive to near Nate’s to pick up the visa apps from his tour group. I would drive to the city near his place as he had worked all night. Then we would get to the Chinese Embassy and turn all of the visa applications. Great Plan. 1st as ... read more

Friday morning we said goodbye to Gena and Bob before heading out ourselves. Hwy 99 is a horrible road, so we elected instead to head east to Porterville and go south on Hwy 65 through farm country. We again enjoyed the orange blossoms and stopped once at a farm store in quest of garlic-stuffed olives. Unfortunately, they were out, but recommended we try Trader Joe's in Bakersfield. We got to Bakersfield early in the afternoon and headed first to Walmart to drop off my prescriptions and do a little shopping. We then went to Trader Joe's and found our olives, then ate lunch at the local BK steakhouse before heading back to Walmart for my prescrips. We got to Pat and Jim's around 4 and made ourselves at home on their back porch, enjoying the shade ... read more

As my husband and I were working out at the gym today I started thinking that I’d better get in a few extra workouts before heading off to China. I’ll be hauling my camera and tripod along in a backpack up the Great Wall and around the country. I have a meeting with a trainer tomorrow morning at 10am to see about getting trimmed up once I’m home from China. I decided that I’ll load up my pack with weights and work out after meeting with the trainer. After returning home I weighed my tripod and camera, which is about 7 pounds total. I’ll load up the pack with 10 pounds of weights and workout on the stairs and the treadmill at an incline. Should get another good workout tomorrow. ... read more

We had to go to Santa Barbara to take grand kids home on Sunday night so Nate and I thought that it would be a good time to start the final plans for the China trip which is only a month away. Nate put our trip mostly together while I sat there; Beijing, Luoyang, Xian, Yangzhou, Three Gorges, he just needs to make sure of the flight schedules. I know that we will need to cut some activities in Beijing that I’d like to take Mike to like Temple of Heaven, Pearl Market, and the Summer Palace, but we have many places to go and see and so little time. I’m just not sure what we will have to cut, Tinamanim Square and Forbidden City are must see’s. We will see what works for the final ... read more