In China !!!

We have arrived at the 'ends of the earth'! At least it seems that way to me, since to travel here, we could have gone east from NC or west from NC and it would have been the exact same distance. I am sure some of you adventurous people would have chosen to go east, fly into Moscow and arrive in Urumqi, China from there, but being a fearful person, who always chooses the safest path, we flew west. Or rather, I thought we were flying west. This time, rather than flying west across America and then hugging the coast of Canada and Alaska before turning south (did you know that you never fly straight across the ocean? I didn't. Jerry says there is some rule about how far you can be from land.) we flew due north, across Hudson Bay and over the North Pole before heading south over Siberia and Mongolia. The flight was unevenful, unless you count the fact that our frequent flyer miles put me in Business class, which meant my chair turned into a bed and gave massages ! Even the cheap seats get to choose from hundreds of movies to watch, so I caught up on a few I had missed. We spent the night at the exquisite Shanghai Hilton , which Jerry says cost us less honors points than a night at a Hampton at home.
The five and a half hour flight to Urumqi on a smaller jet, in those squishy seats, wasn't as much fun. We were the only Westerners and they tried hard to accomodate us by making the annoucements in English, some of which we actually understood. After it was over, Jerry said there was some amazing scenery and at one time we were flying through a mountain pass, but I don't like to know about those things, particularily since there is a probability we will be leaving here on another plane (did I mention that xanax is my flying friend?)

The hotel in Urumqi is more than slightly less exquisite than the Hilton. Just so Scotty and Nikki don't have all the fun, they decorated their lobby for Christmas with Disney characters (well actually only the Seven Dwarfs. Must be the Chinese version of elves) ! There is also a manger with red bells (and Only red bells) laying inside.

Shopping here is a blast !
We bought a new suitcase to replace the one destroyed on the plane (never travel without duct tape ) two scarves and a cute leather Armani purse for me to carry our pasports in- or rather a 15 dollar purse with an Italian name on it. smile.
Here is a Santa with a new twist - he is holding a metal detector, waving it over people as they enter the store. Here in the ends of the earth they do things a little differently, but the food is fabulous!

We don't meet Jed until the 26th, so hopefully we will have our days and nights turned around by then. Blessings to you all! catherine