The Journey Home

We had a very predictable (well-planned by our agency) trip overall. The return trip was not great planning, just blessed.

Good Change of Plans

Saying goodbye to our guides in Guangzhou

We originally were going to take the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong then a taxi or subway to our hotel at the airport. From the states, this seemed the best route but while there we decided to take a private van directly from hotel to hotel. I guess the train stations aren't easy to shuttle baggage through. The taxi ride from the Hong Kong terminal to the hotel would be an hour and we might need two taxis because of our luggage. The van was much less hassle and took about the same time. The extra cost was worth it and we found out after we made the decision that a couple other families made the same decision.

Blessings Going Home

Enjoying Marriott's Executive Lounge in Hong Kong

So, we arrived a bit earlier than expected at the hotel, with two cranky 2-year-olds, and were informed that our room wouldn't be clean for at least another hour. BLESSING #1: We took an "Executive Level" room that was already cleaned and headed upstairs. It came with Exec. Lounge access w/drinks & snacks, "happy hour" open bar & buffet and breakfast buffet and internet. It was nice to get some drinks and snacks for the kids, then to take turns relaxing in the lounge while the kids napped. After naps we took a shuttle to do some shopping nearby and returned for the happy hour buffet. Great all around.

The new day brought more blessings. After a QUICK buffet breakfast, we walked outside for the shuttle to the airport. While we were eating a long line had formed for the airport shuttle bus. At the back of the line, we were worried we wouldn't get on the bus and the next scheduled bus was a bit late for our flight. BLESSING #2: Just then a black-leather limo pulled up behind the bus and the bellman wheeled our bags to it and ushered from the back of the bus line into the limo! We felt like rock stars with all the people in the bus line watching us get into the limo :)

We thought it would be smooth sailing after that. Surely our 2-hour early arrival at the airport would be plenty early. We got to the "Economy Class" line to check in with bags and the departure time showed 1/2 hour earlier than was on my e-ticket!? Uh oh. While Ann stood in line with our bags I went to a kiosk to try to check-in there. But the kiosk wouldn't process our tickets, even with the help of a friendly agent. We were stuck waiting in the longer of the check-in lines; the one for people who hadn't checked in remotely. Twenty minutes later we had progressed about 5 feet and our prospects for getting on the flight were dimming.

BLESSING #3: Some kind of security (?) agent who seemed to be there only to keep people in the right lines went to a nearby counter for a company called SATS and spoke to them about helping us, then called us over. A few minutes later the SATS agent had us checked in, then we even bypassed the shorter line to check luggage as we went straight to the Delta agent nearest the SATS counter. We were done before the other lines had even moved!

Noelle, just before leaving Hong Kong

MORE BLESSINGS: From there we went to a security line and found ourselves in a "Families with Children" line that was shorter than the others. From there we went to the immigration line for outgoing processing which didn't take long. From there we walked to the gate, arriving just a little prior to the earlier-than-planned boarding time. Whew! There was just time enough to take the girls to the ladies room before boarding. Oh, and our original tickets showed us all sitting separately (!) but the final arrangement was 2 sets of 2 seats, right across the aisle from each other. And we were "Zone 1" so we were able to unpack the girls' stuff and settle in before most of the people around us showed up. Thank you Father.

STILL MORE BLESSINGS:
We sat near the back of the plane so we were last to get off and the gate agent told us that the other Asia flights had gotten there first so there were long lines for customs and immigration. It WOULD have been a long wait but a friendly immigration agent took an interest in us as we got into the cue. He prescreened our customs document so we could speed through the immigration desk when we finally got to the front of the line. We thanked him and got in line. A minute later, though, he came and got us out of the line! We backtracked, apologizing to those who had lined up behind us. Then he took us to another "SPECIAL ASSISTANCE" line with only ONE couple in front of us! WOW. I can't show you photos because no cameras or phones were allowed, but that is the desk at which Noelle became a U.S. citizen!! There was no fanfare, just about 5 minutes of paperwork and a "Congratulations" from the agent and we were off to claim and recheck our luggage.

Noelle likes her new Aunt Kay and Cousin Cofer

The flight to Atlanta was relatively short and our homecoming was made SO much easier by Ann's sisters who all three met us at the airport and helped us get our bags into our van (they brought it from home and parked it nice and close.) Noelle screamed bloody murder for the entire 1/2 hour ride home so arriving was all the more sweet :) We were SO tired.

Thanks to everyone who helped. We came home to a nice clean house with flowers on the table, and food on the stove and in the fridge. And the grass was cut, front and back! After dinner, Ann had lots of loving help getting the girls bathed and in bed while Paul went to bed (about 28 hours after getting up.)