WE'RE HERE!

March 1, 2007
We got up very early today to be ready when the limo came to pick us up at 4:30 a.m. Yes, there is a 4:30 a.m. Our flight to Newark from Norfolk was full and it was a small plane. We had about a 4 hour layover in Newark and then boarded a huge plane – but it was packed also. The flight was hard. It was too hard for me to sleep. Clayton slept some and during the last few hours of the flight, he slept hard. I never really slept much at all. After arriving in Beijing (by the way, it is now March 2) and going through customs, we met Thomas, our guide for while we are in Beijing. We got on a bus (our luggage was on another bus) and rode for about ½ hour to downtown Beijing to the Poly Plaza hotel. It is a pretty nice 4 star hotel. After getting settled in our rooms, Thomas took us out to buy water. There was a McDonald’s on the way, so we stopped there and got some dinner to bring back to the hotel. I was so tired that I was dizzy and didn’t feel well and wasn’t able to eat much. We went to bed about 8:30 and slept until about 4:00 a.m. We both woke up at the same time. I guess it will take a while to adjust to the time change. Today we are going to see the Great wall and Tienamen Square.