Geo: 35.7465, 103.711Today my perspective on this river cruise has changed - I love it!! I was wide awake at 4am this morning, typed some of my blog and finally got back to sleep for a bit. By 6:15am Kamie was in the shower and the PA announcements had started in the room. We were sailing and entering the gorgeous gorges. Words and pictures cannot describe the beauty of this river cruise. We went to the main deck and watched as we sailed into the mist, into the gorges. Pictures were being taken, announcements were being made about where we were and what we were seeing, and everyone was having a wonderful time. It was early in the morning, cold and windy out on the deck but we all kept sneaking inside to get the hot ... read more

Geo: 39.9165, 116.391Tonight is December 6th to us. I'm not sure what day of the week that is but I do know we are almost a day ahead of you. Anyway, we had a small change in plans today that worked-out quite well. Kamie started getting a sore throat and thinking he was getting sick so we skipped the morning tour to the Summer Palace. So did several others. Our tour guide has continually reminded us not to overdue it in Beijing or we would not enjoy the remainder of our trip. Kamie needed the rest, some cough drops, and he is feeling much better tonight. It worked out well for us because we got to sleep-in, then talk with a few others skipping the morning tour, then took another nap after breakfast. We left again ... read more

Geo: 39.9165, 116.391Hello!  Today was so crammed-packed full of fun and interestingness I don't know where to start!! It was a wonderful day!  We woke-up around 5:30am, showered in our spa-like giant bathroom (I'll have to get a picture before we leave here) and we were starving from skipping dinner last night.  The hotel offers a "western-style mixed with eastern-style" buffet breakfast every morning which is included for all of us on the tour.  The selection ranged from dim sum, corn on the cob, and steamed greens to scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, jelly.  You know I had the eggs, bacon & eggs toast - and even though the eggs have a fishy taste - they maybe were cooked in the same grease or skillet as something else - breakfast was good and we were happy.  After breakfast ... read more

Geo: 34.0533, -118.245Today was a long day of flying from one airport to another. Nothing exciting happened.We left our hotel just before 9am and drove to the long term parking lot at the St Louis airport. We flew from St Louis to Denver, Colorado – uneventful, small plane, baby crying in the back off and on. Took about 2.5 hours. We slept off and on. We got to Denver and walked from B89 to B45 gate – that's basically 45 gates. What a pain in the arss. We took the train to the C section so Kamie could smoke in the one teeny tiny smoking lounge in the entire airport. We ate an extremely overpriced meal – we shared a grilled chicken/avocado sandwich and six hot wings. I downed about three glasses of iced water with ... read more

Geo: 37.209, -93.2916Our VISAs have arrived! Our final paperwork from the tour group has arrived! Excitement has replaced any previous fears we may have had about visiting a communist country where we only know how to say hello, thanks, and thank you ….and we aren't even for sure about those pronunciations. We are traveling to China with our minds and hearts open to their cultural differences ~ the mannerisms, the language, the food, etcetera…. but there are some trepidations on our minds as this trip is only a few weeks away now…. * Kamie says he will eat anything. If he sees a cockroach on a stick, he's going for it. He has no fear of any of the food we may be eating. I am amused by Kamie's attitude toward trying strange items but I ... read more