The Journey from Orem, Utah, USA to Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China - Part1 (in salt Lake City)

All,

I figure that many of you would be very interested to know how Tim and Maria are progressing on their way to China.

The preparation really started yesterday and continued on until 5:45am this morning when we got into the cars and headed up to the airport like Tim's latest update illustrate.

After a short drive to the airport, we loaded up all the luggages on a skycap's cart and rolled it to the International check in counter.

They helped us load and unload bags (not a small task) while Tim and Maria talked to the check in agent to get everything sorted.

I was extremely surprised how streamlined everything was while Whitney, Tim, Maria and I stood at the check in counter getting every bag labeled and readied for X-ray inspection. Tori was not agitated at all, she was even falling asleep in her chair while all this was going on.

Tim and Maria were joined by a cameraman from Fox13 as they arrived at the airport. He captured the entire check in process and went with them to security.

In order to actually make it through security in one piece, Delta had dispatched a person to help them with that. Very thoughtfully, he arrived with a TSA agent. Together they made sure that all the paperwork was in order. Tim managed to answer all their questions correctly and in no time they were on their way.

That's when Tim and Maria said goodbye to Whitney and I. They faded in the crowd heading to security as we walked out of the door.

Grandpa was not waiting for us outside anymore... He had been told by airport security to move the cars many times and had to drift all the way to the far end of the terminal. He whistled at us as they were about to tow our cars... Nothing at all considering what Tim, Maria and Tori are embarking into.

We had 2 very brief phone conversations with Tim after that.

1) He said that getting through security was quite easy and his tone of voice seem to indicate that as well. They were heading to the gate.

2) The second phone call was a bit less relaxed as they had proceeded to board the aircraft and that apparently presented some challenges. Nevertheless Tim said that they were all aboard and getting situated.

I am certain that everyone reading this is joining me to wish them the best of luck through this first leg of the trip from SLC to IAD (Washington Dulles International).

Yours,
-Guy