Countdown . . . two weeks!

In two weeks, we'll be loading up the troops and heading out. Doug's teachers gave him a homework journal to write in while we're away. They called it "Doug's Excellent Chinese Adventure." He's supposed to write stories each day about places he went, people he met, things he saw, etc. He can also draw pictures and write what they call seed ideas for stories to write after we return. The class will be following our journey on this blog. That should be fun. The teachers also gave a journal to Katie, but she doesn't have to turn it in.

We are lucky. The principal and teachers have been very supportive and understand that this is a rare learning experience for an elementary school student. It's just one less thing we have to worry about.

Our cameras are still out getting repaired (note how there have been no pictures lately?) We should get them back in time, but it still makes me a bit nervous.

We have decided to take the high-speed train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong instead of an airplane. The trip is only 1/2 hour longer, and we'll get to see the countryside of Southern China. The train drops us off in the center of Hong Kong, where we'll stay one night before boarding a LONG flight to the US. I'm really looking forward to that. Lisa went to Hong Kong right after we met, so she's been recommending things to do. I think we'll try to go to the top of Victoria's Peak and ride the Star Ferry. We'll only be there for about 20 hours, so we can't see and do too much.

Lisa has been a shopping fool, so we are almost ready to start packing things up. She's left the travel planning to me, and I've left the packing planning to her. I'm sure we will be a lean, mean traveling machine.