October 14, 2011 - Day 1 Beijing

We awoke on time, showered, had a western breakfast and then met Mr. Stone.  He was right on time.  The adventure was beginning...we were finally in China!  We ha waited such a long time to land on the 7th continent!

As we raced into downtown Beijing, Mr. Stone began to tell us about Beijing and China.  His English is excellent and he is a very nice man.  We liked him immediately.Soon we arrived at Tienanmen  Square.  As we walked, he talked.  It soon became obvious that we intended go take pictures of everything!  We were totally blown away that we seemed to be the only American tourists in the square!  It was filled with mostly Chinese tourists from other parts of China.




National Day in China had been earlier in the month and the square was still decorated in flowers from the event. We then crossed under the street through a tunnel and paraded in front of fountains and Chairman Mao.  His picture had been recently replaced and was looking fine.  We could have stood  in line to see his body, but elected to skip that part.  The Chinese were flocking at the chance; especially the older people.

From there we headed into the Forbidden City.  WOW!  I don't think Mr. Stone had ever seen any two people take quite so many pictures.  John LOVED the dragons and proceeded to shoot every last one of them...at least we think he did!  Mr. Stone told us stories of the Forbidden City and the emperors who lived there.  The dragon represents the emperor.   The phoenix represents the empress.  In the pecking order, the emperor comes first, then the dragon, then the empress, then the phoenix, then the clouds and then the earth.  The paintings and stone carvings all showed this in detail.  The Chinese  meticulously take care of the Forbidden City and each year they re-paint sections so that it looks like it did in the time.

All the emperors, their wives and concubines,and eunuchs lived in the forbidden city. Commoners were not allowed.

After the Forbidden City, it was time for our first meal.  Cheri ordered a lamb cumin and John ordered a shrimp dish.  Cheri's came first and it was delicious.  John nibbled and waited.  When his came, we both looked at it and decided that it wasn't going to be eaten....it was small shrimp in shell....no way to eat it with out taking off the shells and they were too small to shell.  Oh well.  There was enough for two with Cheri's meal and the rice!

Then it was on to Temple Heaven.  The clouds had moved in by then, so we wandered through and shot some images, but were getting tired by then.  The best part of Temple Heaven was seeing the retired people.  Women retire at 55 and men at 60.  After that it is common for them to hang out with their friends playing cards, mahjong or Chinese Chess.  One old gent was playing a traditional wood wind instrument.  We loved that part!

We headed to our hotel.  It was a Marriott and boy were the beds good!  We decided to walk out and find a place to eat.  As we left the hotel it began to rain, so we decided on the place right across the street. It wasn't fancy, but they spoke English, the menu had pictures, and the price was right!  Cheri thought poor John was going to starve as he was learning to eat rice with his chop sticks, one piece at a time!  Some how he managed!  We were both bushed and hit the hay as soon as we got back!

China - Oct 12, 2011 - Getting There

We left Boston headed for Chicago and ultimately Beijing at 5:30 PM on October 12th.   The flight was fine.  American Airlines yet again confirmed it has the worst seats in the industry.  Thank goodness they were free!!

We arrived!  It was after midnight on the 14th of October.

Luckily, we found an Currency exchange window, as our ability to take a cab depended on it!  We got our cash, 6.29¥ to 1$ and we were off to CITIC airport hotel.  A comfy place to spend he first night to be sure.  Cheri slept most of the night.  John woke a few times and then slept.  Great beds and pillows.

Alaska - Day 6 - July 3, 2011

Rick, Jeff, Tina and Dave

Awoke to another gorgeous sunny day.  Cheri had wanted to get up early and go out with Dave one last time.  She had all her gear ready to go before bed, but neglected to change the alarm...so it went off at 7.  That left  hour before breakfast.  So we ran out and saw a few bears.

The plan was to fly out at 10.  For some reason the people coming in in the flight were late so our plane arrived late.  What a bonus!  We got an extra hour with Dave, Tina and the bears!!

We were sad to leave paradise, but feeling satisfied that we had many superb bear encounters.

We arrived in Anchorage, rented a car, gave Jeff a ride to his hotel, found an extra bag to get all our gear home, had a bite of lunch, and struck off for points south.  Well we didn't get too far on Highway 1 when the traffic backed up for miles.  We never did work out thwart the issues was; whether it was simply holiday travel o the 3rd of July or something more serious.  So we turned around and headed north.  As we got near Eagle River the skies darkened and the rain came.  So, being resourceful, we spotted a movie theater and went to see Larry Crowne.  We both very much enjoyed that!

After the movie we went south again, this time the roads were clear.  We drove for about an hour until we needed to return to drop off the rental car.a fun day.

Then the flight saga began!  We were scheduled to take off at 11:45PM via Phoenix.  A silly route to be sure.  I had tried to get us rebooked through Philly, but they were full.  So we stuck with the original plan, had dinner at Humpty's and sat in the boarding lounge.  The crew finally shows around 10:55 and we heard the first signs of trouble...there was a pesky battery that wasn't charging.  Long sorry short...we were finally rebooked on an alternate Phoenix flight leaving at 2:45AM and we'd lost our first class seats.  At least we scored emergency row!  Of course with all the fooling around they boarded late and we were preparing to miss the flight in Phoenix. 

So we landed with 15 minutes to get to our next gate.  We thought our luck was turning as the next gate was quite close, we got there and learned they had out us on the next flight, but we we able to get on this one.  Great!  Home by 6!

The plane took off and about 45 minutes into the flight the stewardess let us know that we were heading back to Phoenix!  A sensor in the air conditioning  unit was acting up and it was a pressure sensor.  So we headed back to Phoenix after burning off some excess gas.  They finally fixed the sensor and we took off about 15 minutes before the other plane was scheduled to go!  So we are now scheduled in at 8 PM.

At least the flight crew on this new flight is very good!  The one on the anchorage Phoenix flight was miserable indeed.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

Alaska - Day 5 - July 2, 2011

Dave with a razor clam and Jeff cleaning

Dave, Jeff, David, Joanne, Rick

Work up this morning to a misty, grey day.  It's OK with us!  We've been running every second since we arrived.  So this morning we've decided to stay in, work on images and hope for better weather this afternoon.  When the tide comes back in, we are hoping to go to Puffin island. 

The rain continued through the day and we found ourselves being lazy, reviewing the great haul of images and napping.  It was a nice despite the minimal bear encounters. 

We went over to the main lodge and enjoyed the company of the owners and staff.  Us and 2 others were the only ones in residence, so it was a jovial atmosphere.

After dinner we did hike across the field and visit with Mom and the twin blond cubs for a few minutes.
Enjoy!
Cheri & John

Alaska - Day 4- July 1, 2011

Pretty slow start and middle,but oh what a night!!  We scored huge, first, with the cool Mom and blond twin 2 year old's.  We literally stayed with them for miles.  We caught up with them in the meadows near a stream where the kids were boxing and playing in water.  Mom was in the act too!  Then she started moving them toward the beach.  They were moving so fast that we couldn't keep up on foot, so we jumped in the chariot and caught back up with them near the beach. The family of 7 was there too.  They got to witness the treat!

We followed the bears down to the beach where they ran and ran.  We hopped back in the 4 wheeler with our trusty  chariot behind and followed them along the beach.  Thankfully we all had hip waders on...me, John, Dave and his wife Tina.  We were able to ford a fast running stream and shoot them playing in the water.  Mom was even trying to catch fish again!  Some spectacular photos were captured!  The bears then were on the move again and another group was near, so we let them have the bears and went looking for more.

We crossed the stream and chanced upon the Mom with 3 1-year old cubs.  How much fun they were!  Fighting and aging in the golden hour!!  We shot until well after 9:30 PM in gorgeous light!

Yes. We filled our cards again! Looks like new 32 G cards are going to be purchased.  And yes, Marius, it's a new record for gigabytes!!  Got to bed after 11 PM because it took that long to download all the cards.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John