Home v1.1

We had breakfast at the hotel buffet one last time, got one last Starbucks, and headed to the airport at 11:30. The closer we got to the airport the darker the sky got, and as we arrived we were in the hardest rain I'd ever been in, with thunder and lighting as well.

We stood in the first of many lines we would be in during that day and night, and we made it through everything with no problem. We had a couple of hours before the airplane was scheduled to leave, and then we were told that it was delayed by half an hour. After we boarded, we sat without moving for an hour and 45 minutes. As near as we could tell, we were waiting for clearance to taxi which was delayed due to the backup caused by the weather earlier.

Fortunately, we had four hours scheduled between flights in Hong Kong, which was a good thing since by the time we made it to our gate there we really didn't have long to wait. The next flight was uneventful, but we were tired of traveling already by the time we got to Taipei.

Unfortuately, the flight from Taipei to Seattle was full, so there was no stretching out. The boys fell asleep pretty quickly, but Leah couldn't get comfortable until I made a nest for her on the floor; then she was fine.

Molly and I didn't sleep hardly at all, and the flight seemed to take forever. Finally, though, we descended toward Seattle, and Leah got her first glimpse of the USA. It was a beautiful evening in Seattle, and we could see all the mountains.

First stop was Immigration. It was a little strange standing in the "non-resident" line with all of the other, well, non-residents. Soon we were talking to an Immigration officer, who got Molly, the boys, and I checked through, and then we were sent down to a second officer to process Leah's paperwork. It took all of about 10 minutes, and Leah was a US citizen! We walked through the gate and high-fived each other.

Then we retrieved our luggage, made it through Customs, and scurried upstairs to the Alaska Airlines desk, where a very nice ticket agent was able to get us an earlier flight to Portland.

We finally collapsed into bed about 2 am, after 28 hours of traveling.









One last time at Starbucks:






With Leila, our coordinator in Guangzhou:









































A quick stop at Burger King on the way home: