Red Thread Journey of Grace: Goodbye Xining

Getting out of Xining was no small feat for us. Getting our luggage to the airport and our carryon baggage through security was a stressful event. Our baggage was 5 kilos overweight, so we had to pay an overage charge. We were relieved it only cost us $20. They pulled out some of our bags and searched through them. They thought Donna had something dangerous in her bag, but it turned out to be shaving cream. While Donna was behind the counter watching them go through her bag, Joe was trying very hard to understand exactly what was wrong with our baggage, whether we were overweight and, if so, what did we have to pay. Donna and Joe were both saying things to me when Katrina said, “Mommy, look at Gracie.” I looked over and she was standing in the little stand where you are suppose to place your overhead luggage to make sure it will fit in the airplane overhead bins. She had this big grin on her face and she was jumping up and down inside of it (don’t ask me how she got herself in there). She was not too happy about me making her get out and get back into her stroller. The good news is that she is small enough to fit the overhead bin (wink, wink).

After getting on the plane with all of our carryon bags, we were pretty stressed. Then Grace was not interested in sitting in her seat, so she had a little melt down. I got her calmed down and she fell asleep in my arms. I think she was just a little cranky because it was nap time. She slept the whole flight (at least we thought it was the whole flight).

We were told it was a four hour flight to Guangzhou. When the captain announced our descent after one and a half hours, we were shocked but happy. I was a little suspicious so I asked Joe to ask the stewardess if we were indeed on the plane going to Guangzhou. When he did she said no we are going to Xi’an. We were about to freak out when she said the plane would be going on to Guangzhou but that we would have to deplane in Xi’an for one hour and then re-board. We were awfully glad we asked because otherwise we would have gotten off the plane like idiots and went wandering around the airport looking for someone holding a sign from CHI (Children’s Hope International – it’s our adoption agency). How goofy would we have felt?

We were so happy to land in Guangzhou. As embarrassing as it may sound, we were desperate to get some Starbucks. I had previously researched our hotel in Guangzhou and knew that it had a Starbucks store in its lobby. We were so happy when we finally arrived at the hotel and saw the Starbucks sign (we really wanted coffee after a week of only tea for caffeine). Even Katrina was all excited to see the Starbucks sign. She was yelling, “I’m so excited there’s a Starbucks.” Okay, in case you’re worried I just want to let you know that we do not give coffee to our four-year-old daughter. She likes the pastries and the experience of us all going and sitting on the couch together.

After we checked in, we got a Starbucks and then headed to the hotel’s Western (aka American style) restaurant. When we walked in they gave both the girls these amazing play dough

sculptures on sticks. We were blown away by the detail. Just look at the pictures below. The guy was a real artist. We got a hamburger, a taco salad and a club sandwich. Everything was really good. The restaurant also had a highchair for Grace and it was very much appreciated. She’s so curious she has a hard time staying in her seat ordinarily. The highchair made it a lot easier to keep her at the table. I think she enjoyed it too because I think she felt more safe and secure in it (the previous hotel had no highchairs in any of its restaurants). There was a three-member, roaming band playing music (mostly American songs in English . . . it was cute) and Grace loved it. She was swaying to the music and smiling the whole time.