Update for Thursday Night...

Hi all,

Thanks for checking in.

I see that the last "real" post was from Monday, the night before we left to come home.

We've been home for 2 full days now.

Our Journey on Tuesday was long, challenging and a little bit unnerving at times.

We left HK for Tokyo just fine, and the Business Class seating made a huge difference. We were able to board much easier (giving more time to settle into our seats), and the service was of course much better. It was more expensive, but wort the investment. I would recommend it to anyone considering a trip like this. We were the only family in BC but there seemed to be a number of families on the rest of the plane.

At this point, I'd like to digress a little bit and take you back to our trip from Guangzhou to HongKong. We had had a long night before and I was pretty tired, and probably not thinking straight. Regardless, I forgot to make allowance for our Breakfast on the morning of our departure. I didn't have ANY Chinese yuan/RMB with which to get even a cup of coffee or tea at the airport for Lisa, who still wasn't feeling well. Thank God for the goodness of strangers (well, sort of strangers). I recalled meeting a really nice couple in Guangzhou, and we shared a really nice conversation about Kyle and about how he came to us. They were very nice and very complimentary to Kyle. I know now that their names are Paul and Dorothy Lacy. How, you ask?

This is where the kindness comes in. We also walked past the Lacys on the way to our gate in the GZ airport. Shortly after reaching our gate, I knew that we both could really benefit from even a small breakfast. I had only $US and there was no place to change money from $US to Chinese RMB. I then remembered again seeing Paul waiting for his flight at a gate near ours. I approached him and asked him if we might borrow enough Chinese money for a small breakfast. I told him that if he could lend us a small hand, I would mail him a check immediately upon our return. I was hardly able to finish my request before Paul was already digging for his wallet. I want to acknowledge Paul and Dorothy for their kindness and say a heartfelt thank you for their gesture. He suggested that we not send a check, which might be difficult to cash at a Chinese bank. However, he did give me his card so that I'd know who he and his wife were. They have a small company that offers hand-made, hand-embroidered, and hand dyed fabrics, batiks and tapestries. Everything is made by the Miao women, a little known minority ethnic group that has its own language and customs dating back thousands of years, yet whose exquisite embroidery skills are relatively unknown outside their own people. They can be found at www.shenaini.com. Please visit their website. We have and we'll be returning the favor in our own way. Again, many thanks to Paul and Dorothy, and all the best from the Lockheads and Kyle.

Back to our story...
Once we hit the ground in Tokyo, for some reason we needed to pass through another security checkpoint. This was an absolute mess. Our flight landed concurrently with 2 other 747s from other originating cities, but this entire mass of people needed to squeeze through only 4 (FOUR!) single-file metal detectors. It took nearly an hour and it clearly didn't matter that we were pushing a 15-month old in a stroller. In fact, it seemed like some of the other people in line used this to THEIR advantage. People were generally well behaved but there was definitely some jockeying and jostling for position. Kyle's head was at about mid-thigh height, so it was on a collision path with every shoulder bag in the line. I spent most of the time shoving bags out of his way so he wouldn't get dinged. Props must go to Kyle at this point for he didn't budge from his stroller - he did not make any fuss or noise, and never came close to losing his cool. (He was a shining example for both of us.) It was one of the worst line/queue management experiences I've ever seen!

We made it through the line and headed to our gate. The flight from Tokyo to Detroit went fine. It was on-time, and comfortable. Kyle was a little challenging toward the end but he finally settled down. He was a bit of a disruption in the BC cabin, but only for a few moments, probably due to ear problems. Again, you can than the Raisins!

In Detroit, the smoothness of our entry into the US (through Homeland Security / Immigration) can be largely attributed to Cathy, our Guide. Hopefully, you remember her? We needed to stand in 3 lines, but all the waits were quite short, and the agents were very professional and even helpful. Thanks to Cathy, all of Kyle's and our documents were in order and correctly filled out. We sailed through. (Unlike the 15 or so "ne'erdowells" we saw sitting on the floor of one of the secondary screening room - clearly, they were having some difficulties and might be there a while. Black cable ties are usually not good news.)

We claimed our bags and got them cleared back onto our LAST FLIGHT from Detroit to Philadelphia. This last flight was pretty much a blur. But I guess it went OK, since we made it home safely, as I said in a recent message. I think Kyle got a little uncomfortable again on this flight, but nothing too unbearable.

Once we landed in Philadelphia, we were met at the Airport by Grandmom & Pop-Pop Lockhead, Aunt Mary, and Aunt Rita. What a great surprise! Everyone was so excited to see Kyle and us and it was great to see such a welcoming committee since we were so exhausted. (Kyle would like to say a big Thank You for the Welcome Home signs to his cousin Alyx - They are really great!!!) They came to bring us our car, outfitted of course with Kyle's new Car Seat for the ride home. So we drove home.

At home, we (and Kyle) got almost as big a surprise when we were welcomed into our home by Grandma & Poppa Wedder!!! Thanks to Grandma for making us dinner so we could eat some real food once we made it home.

We didn't last too long before we all crashed for the night.

More soon...
C