DAY EIGHT: GZ

We left Xi’an for Guangzhou today!

Bittersweet. Ready to move on, closer to home, but always tearful for me when my babies say goodbye to their hometown. Lincoln doesn’t know, but I feel it for her. Obviously, she will be loved and cherished as a daughter and a sister and her new forever ain't too shabby, but still… this is her’s. This is all she’s ever known and she’s leaving it for good. Bitter and sweet.

We got everything packed up and put in it’s place for check out and scooted out the door for one last lunch. They were coming at 1:00 to pick us up and I honestly had no idea what time our flight was or what time we’d be in GZ or when we’d eat again. Last time with Roman, it was hours and we were hungry so I wanted to be prepared. Layla wanted Pizza Hut one more time, which didn’t quite go as easily this time. We ended up with ham, I think. Not totally sure.

Sherry got us checked in for our flight and we eventually made it through security. We had to prove ourselves several times over and let them check every inch of us, our bags, our baby, the whole nine yards but we made it. We made a quick stop in the bookstore where Layla had spotted The Cursed Child in Mandarin and wanted to use some of her money on it. We made it to our gate long enough to grab one of the yellow sodas that taste like melted plastic to me but she seems to love, when everyone around us got on a bus. So we got on the bus too. The flight to GZ was about 2 ½ hours and pretty effortless. It was the first time we’d flown over China during the day though and the views were nothing short of spectacular. The fed us a meal, which we didn’t expect (and didn’t really eat… it was the worst so far). We landed in GZ around dinner time and our new guide got us checked in at the China Hotel.

Big. Fat. Bummer. to find out we weren’t upgraded this time. I mean, I knew we may not be with the holiday, they’re pretty full. But that breakfast buffet!! Waaahhh. I’d been looking forward to it all week and promised Layla unlimited amounts of bacon and French toast! Ya’ll know the executive lounge SAVED MY LIFE last time, but dinner is easier this time around with an almost-13-yo and a baby who’s pretty chill. The breakfast shot me right in the heart though. That’s been the hardest part, food-wise. They did offer to let us pay for it, but no way $30/day made sense. Whatever. We’ll manage. Mama just had the teensiest of meltdowns is all.

The girls were out pretty quickly while I unpacked. The room is pretty small so we have to find a place for everything or it can get out of control fast. Blah. Grumpy tonight. Going to have some melatonin gummies and hit the sack. Our guide let us know between the holiday (New Years) and her friend’s wedding, she was leaving for the week and we are on our own. Her colleague will come get us for our medical appointment Wednesday. Sooo. Cool. The adventure continues.