China - Really?

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As I sit overlooking the green grass and barren trees that surround the rear of our house, I see that two new homes have sprouted up on nearby vacant lots during this winter I’ll not soon forget, I marvel that spring may actually be here. However much we might all like to malign Punxsutawney Phil, he actually got it right this year about the six more weeks of winter. I can only wonder what spring will be like in China next week when we arrive for our Viking Imperial Jewels of China vacation. It all started over a year ago upon our return from the Holland America cruise around the tip of South America and into Antarctica. Sharon urged me to pick somewhere to go for my 60th birthday, and my choice of Disney World did not quite meet her yardstick for measuring the merits of a vacation. She tossed me a Viking Cruise brochure that was in our mail when we returned after the three week cruise, and said, that maybe there was something in there we could do. I mentioned later that the China trip looked interesting, never thinking for one minute that Sharon would seriously consider such a trip, not my Sharon who has a very discriminating palate… perhaps discriminating is not the right word. Put simply, there are many things that Sharon will not eat. Sauces, of any kind; Gravies, of any kind; Cheeses, of any kind; Veggies, of most kinds make up the scores of things she avoids. She is quite simply, a meat and potatoes girl. For me, part of what I’m looking forward to on this trip is the food. As we have begun packing I can see what Sharon’s backup plan is, seeing her squirrel away two packages of Ritz’s Peanut Butter Crackers and two boxes of Kellogg’s Special-K Chocolate Pretzel bars. She is hoping she doesn't lose these on our arrival at Customs. I frankly don’t know what her Plan-B might be.

Sharon has been learning Chinese for about a year, practicing with a course she found on-line. She’s learned to say things in Chinese like “I need to report a missing suitcase” or “Where can I hire a rickshaw?” I really marvel at the variety of things she can actually say, but I wonder how well she will handle any responses she might get. I wonder if Sharon knows that we are going to China in the Year of the Horse. I was born in the Year of the Horse! I’m sure Sharon would approve of the Lucky Flower for people born under this sign… the calla lily (the theme flower for our wedding coming up on four years in October).

Our plan is to drive to Chicago on Monday, stay overnight, and board the United Airlines flight to Shanghai on Tuesday. Weather reports are now predicting stormy weather for our drive to Chicago, and I’m expecting the weather to be similar to what we faced when we drove Sharon’s mother Shirley to Chicago for her return flight to Portland. Shirley had visited with her sister Flo in Boston before stopping off in Ohio for a brief visit with us. We plan to take some Pepperidge Farms Chessmen and Chocolate Hazelnut Pirouettes with us, as we did for the first time on that road trip with Shirley, and which we did again on our most recent road trip to Nashville. As I've mentioned, this trip has been in the works for some time now. But our two recent excursions to Nashville and New Orleans were spur-of-the-moment affairs which we can do now that Sharon is also retired.

The challenging thing about packing for China is the 44-pound limit on checked baggage for the intra-China flights (we'll have 3), which we understand is strictly enforced. Carry-on bags (a limit of one) are also subject to an 11-pound limit, although we’re told this is not enforced. Sharon is very organized when it comes to packing, and a firm believer in packing cubes. She has a cube for our Chicago portion of the trip (both arriving from Springboro; and, later arriving from Beijing). She has cube for staying in Shanghai, and another for when we board the Viking Emerald for five nights. She thinks we should try to do a limited amount of laundry, once on the Viking Emerald, and once after the cruise part of the vacation in Xian (where we stay for two nights). We’re told that laundry can be expensive, and I have a feeling we’re going to miss the free laundry we enjoyed on the Veendam during our Antarctica cruise thanks to Sharon’s 4-star status. I was planning to use cubes also; and, now I’m thinking Sharon’s way of doing might make pretty good sense. But I’ll also be bringing along one of my large light-weight nylon laundry bags.

We got our passports and Visas back after we returned from Disney World. Yes, we took that part of my 60^th birthday celebration too; as I’ve never been to Disney World (I grew up in Anaheim, California, and was close enough to walk to Disneyland, albeit a long walk).

One of our concerns is the quality of the air that we will find in the larger cities. It was a concern, that seemed to spare the Olympics two years ago, and we’re hoping it doesn't rear its head this time. Sharon and I both grew up during the worst of the smog in Southern California, when Stage-3 smog alerts were common most of the summer. But the banning of outdoor incinerators, special emission controls for California cars, changes in the formulation of gasoline, all worked together, and now those smog alerts have faded to a distant memory. We have our hepa-filter smog masks, and somehow, I wound up with one with dragons on it. I’m sure that will be a big hit! Sharon's is navy with polka dots. As our travel day nears, all we have to do is pack and weigh everything, and look forward to our adventure!

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