Traveling Granny Geek - to Shanghai, China

(This picture is from our room on the 50th floor of the JW Marriott Hotel)

OK, lets get this point made first. My extent of traveling is very limited as a home grown Oregonian Grandma. If I hadn't gotten divorced I probably would never even have flown in a plane. So I had no idea what I was in for on my travels to China. I actually stressed the most on my way up to the Portland Oregon Airport. So there I was on the freeway, right on time to be there 2 hours before my flight, just like they want you to be. Well, wouldn't you know that a convoy of 2000 motorcycles escorting trucks with the new Vietnam Memorial was on it's way to Portland at the same time! Thankfully I was about 5 minutes ahead of it all and only got slowed down by the massiveness of their gathering. Then when I got to the airport I panicked because it's been so long since I have flown by myself and everything had changed. When I pulled into the long term parking there was just a machine that said "credit card or ticket". I didn't have a clue what to do but stuck my credit card in and it gave it back and lifted the gate. I guess it was the right thing to do but with very little sleep the last 2 nights I felt very uncomfortable and ignorant not knowing if what I did was right or did I just broadcast my Visa number!
I parked and right then the airport shuttle bus showed up so I was fumbling and panicking that I was going to forget something. I was about to cry, thinking I was just too old to be doing all this. But I made it into the airport and checked my luggage. Of course at security I forgot to take my baby leatherman out of my purse so I had to go back out and mail it to myself and then go through security again! I did make it on the flight ok and relaxed. It wasn't a bad flight to Tokyo, just too long in a sitting position. The flight from Tokyo to Shanghai was on time so all looked ok. Then when we were all loaded to leave the captain came on to say that due to thunderstorms we were delayed for about half an hour. We finally took off about an hour later but the thunderstorms were still there and the plane was rocking and rolling and jumping and bumping and I actually saw lightning up there. At this point of travel I was more tired than afraid. That leg of the trip seemed much worse than the flight to Tokyo. I've got to give kudos to Northwest Airlines though, they really did feed us well. We got drinks and pretzels right out of Portland, then about a couple hours later we had a really good dinner and then a few hours after that we got ice cream sandwiches and then about 2 hours before Tokyo we got breakfast. That was weird because due to the time changes it was only 4:30 pm when we landed in Tokyo. Then on the connecting flight, after the turbulence calmed down, they fed us dinner again! So much for losing weight. I would highly recommend Northwest Airlines for long trips. The plane was very nice and the business class had pods that literally laid down and had stereo systems in the headrest area. It was all very cool. (of course I wasn't in the business class - bummer!)
So Craig was waiting for me at the airport and after about an hour waiting to get my luggage we went to get a taxi. That was the scarriest ride of my life and I was glad I was half asleep, otherwise I would probably have had a heart attack. Craig thinks the guy was in a hurry to get back to the airport to get another fare. I'm pretty sure Craig was freaked out too since he was looking for our seatbelts, which weren't there. Our hotel was about 45 minutes away and this guy was literally driving between 90 - 100 miles per hour, (yes, it was MPH), weaving in between cars and trucks, hitting the brakes when he couldn't go around. At first I thought it was just the way taxi drivers drove, but then I noticed we were flying by all the other taxi's too. I was getting mad and very afraid so when he hit the breaks for the ump-teenth time I put my foot in the back of his seat to give him a little push and kind of yelled, slow down please. Although the taxi drivers supposedly don't know English he did seem to slow down a little, although when we were cutting through the intersections by our hotel he slammed the breaks again and yelled at another taxi driver who got in his way.
I'm not sure I'll get in another taxi while I'm here.
I did venture down to the bottom of our hotel today, the JW Marriott, which is gorgeous and so classy, and I got a Starbuck frapaccino and vegetable pie (quiche). (Hey Sis, I'll be sending you pictures of all the Starbuck stuff in Chinese!)

Now I'm just going to play on my computer and workout at the health spa and hot tub and wait for Craig to get back so we can go look around. I know, it sounds like a rough job, but somebody's got to do it...