Thursday

Well today was a little bit more laid back.  We headed out this morning to get our final paperwork completed and then headed to West Lake for a boat tour.  It has been very foggy today so it was hard to see far.  As Dennis mentioned it was very very hot.  We stopped at a Dairy Queen to eat lunch but discovered they only served ice cream, so we went next door to Papa John's and had pasta, then went back for ice cream. 

At Papa John's we met the talked to the first American's we've seen other than the families traveling with us.  They were here studying Chinese at the local university.  Hangzhou is considered a resort town for the Chinese and many vacation here, we've seen people from Japan, Germany, Italy, etc, but few Americans.  And very few people speak any English, in Beijing a lot of local people knew a little bit but that is not true here. 

I think Dennis has mentioned the traffic around here, but it bears mentioning again.  Keep in mind that this is a very busy city and we are right in the middle of it.  There are lots of buses, cars, bicycles, scooters, and pedestrians.  But no one really has the right of way, you just go and hope every one stops. It is crazy!  Many times I will be watching out of the van windows and we will be a few inches away from a bus, or there will be a motorcycle trying to go in a very small space between cars. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent being lazy in our room, then we went to dinner and are back in our room again.  Our flight from here leaves tomorrow evening, so we check out of our hotel around 2 and will do a little bit of sightseeing and shopping.

Chloe was much more comfortable with us today, she had been a bit clingy but that was not true today, she was very happy.  I believe the only time she cried today was when she was tired and when they were not serving her food fast enough.  She did not eat as much today, but she still has a very healthy appetite. 

Since tomorrow will be a travel day, we may not get to post.  We hope you are enjoying our journey, we appreciate all of your emails, texts, and comments, keep them coming.