Monday and Tuesday, February 12th and 13th - Day 31 and 32 in transit from Hangzhou, China to SLC, Utah

Home at last!!

But WOW!! That sure was a LONG and EXHAUSTING trip... I guess the most important fact is that we made it home safely. Considering the travel time via automobile and airliner and our wait time at various airports our trip time was 44 hours in total. Tori did remarkably well during the entire journey but Maria and I were pretty much 'thrashed' by the time reached home. Maria, Tori and I went to bed about midnight Monday night and Maria and I slept until 1:00pm this afternoon. Tori slept pretty much all day today. I'm sure it will take us all a few days to get our day and night schedules back in line. Alright, I've included another exciting travel summary below for anyone interested and I'll begin providing updates again on our home (MST) time moving forward. This Deseret News article about Tori's return was in the Tuesday edition of the newspaper.

Thank you for your continued love, prayers and support,

Tim, Maria, Tori, Whitney and Brendan

Select 'read more' below for the complete Travel Time Journal

Travel Time Journal

Travel leg 1: Shanghai, Pudong Airport to Paris, France Charles De Gualle Airport

We pulled away from the Xiaoshan Hospital in Hangzhou which was our home for 30 days on Sunday, February 11th at 4:00pm. We travelled in the completely full van for 2.5 hours and arrived at the Shanghai airport at 6:30pm. Upon arrival we found the airport to be not crowded at all and had very few people actually which was great because we feared the massive crowds shown on the news. Despite that, Maria and Wendy had to take Tori on a separate elevator than the van driver I and even though she was first in line trying to push Tori onto the elevator a man tried to go right through Tori's legs and get on before them.... That was totally NOT acceptable so Maria gave him some well deserved and choice words in a good old English 'cuss out' fashion. He didn't understand a word she said but knew by her tone and if her looks could kill... Anyway, we were safe from the crowds because we were at the international terminal with very few flights going out and none coming in. We found out that we needed to wait a couple of hours before the airline agents were available for checkin so we had dinner and waited at the restaurant.

Just after 8:30pm we made it to the Air France checkin counter where I was immediately told that Tori's condition and flight information was NOT on the itinerary record... Are you kidding me?!?! After going through the exact same issue to GET TO CHINA and the assurances from the Air France gate agents then that Tori's condition is now included throughout her itinerary and we won't need to worry about it again?!?! Yeah right... Please people!!! Why do this make this so hard?!?! Do I have edit her record MYSELF to prevent this?!?! After telling me Tori couldn't fly once again I had them summon the manager's manager where I voiced my dismay and displeasure with this for the SECOND TIME!!! Our assistant Wendy was with us as well speaking in Chinese to them. Meanwhile, Maria was in the back room with Tori getting all of our bags searched and explaining the medically necessary items. So I handed them the 'golden ticket' (Tori's medical condition letter from her doctor) once again and they did their faxing and calling to Paris and about an hour and half later we finally had our boarding passes. I honestly don't know how much more we could have done to prevent this since we were ASSURED everything was set. Before leaving we were assured yet again that we would have no trouble with our connecting flight in Paris but just to make sure I took the manager's managers name at the counter.... I guess those reading this who are planning travel to China with disabled loved ones should get their complete itinerary record emailed or sent to them beforehand just to be sure.

So!!! It was another great way to start a trip but at least we DID have boarding passes once again. At this point though we had a personal assistant named Tao who worked us very quickly through the security and customs checks and into the Air France lounge. He also found us a private room so we could change Tori, give her medications and get ready for the plane. After going through all of the trouble at the checkin counter we were greatly pleased with the conversation and assistance Tao provided and we now have a personal guide if we ever make it back to Shanghai again. I also really liked it when he asked if I was Tori's brother :-) Thanks Tao!!!

We boarded first and implemented the 'pick up and carry' method on Tori once more and had plenty of time to get ourselves situated before general boarding began. Tori's wheelchair was boxed up and placed in the cargo hold. Thankfully, the eleven hour flight was uneventful and went very well as Maria and I traded off sleeping time while Tori was just about fully reclined in the business class seats watching movies quite calmly for almost the entire flight. We had some excellent, non Chinese food as well and Tori even enjoyed some of it especially the French cheese!!! :-)

Travel leg 2: Paris, France Charles De Gualle Airport to Los Angeles, California LA International Airport (LAX)

We landed in Paris at 5:20am and waited for everyone to depart the plane before we did so. We headed through customs and then through that wonderful Paris security check point we already know and love from our original flight... They proceeded to take some of our belongings again which we had JUST taken on the previous Air France flight but I didn't want to argue today about their worthless 'procedures' and asked then to just get us through and out of here... After answering questioning on Tori's medical supplies and waiting for the police to come and wand Tori we were finally and thankfully leaving. We had to walk a long way to our gate leaving point but there was a nice Air France lounge conveniently located near it. We used the private room within the lounge, relaxed, ate and I even had a shower while waiting. At 9:00am we left the lounge with two assistants who helped us onto a wheelchair accessible bus which then took us about five miles to our next gate and which had the two story tall Boeing 777 sitting with stairs leading to the door. This airport is a continual construction mess.... We couldn't carry Tori up all of those stairs she, Maria and I got a private ride on an elevator lift truck which placed us through the door in the front most galley. From there we used the 'pick up and carry' method with Tori again, gave them her wheelchair for storage and situated ourselves on the plane. All of our assistants for this phase of the trip were wonderful and we thanked them greatly for their help.

The plane took off and we were finally on our way to America!!! This flight lasted about thirteen hours total and this time Tori slept almost the entire flight. Maria and I slept on and off, watched movies and enjoyed more good eating. The plane was full but we received outstanding support and care for the duration of the flight.

Travel leg 3: Los Angeles, California LA International Airport (LAX) to Salt Lake City, Utah International Airport (SLC)

We landed in Los Angeles and were off the plane around 1:00pm Monday afternoon. We had to claim all of our checked in luggage at this point so we gathered all six bags quickly and easily then rechecked them in for our final delivery to SLC. We then went through another security check point where some more toothpaste, hair gel and a can of soda were taken from us even though all of it had just been with us from Shanghai to Paris, then from Paris to LA... Some global consistency with regards to carry on liquids and amounts sure would be nice. They also missed catching other toothpaste and soda in the same set of bags so we just continued with it ;-)

We then spent a few hours in the Delta Crown Room where I had another shower and some more waiting and attempting to relax. We used a conference room to get Tori all prepared and ready for her last, short flight to SLC which left at 5:40pm. We boarded early for that flight as well and decided to seat Tori in the aisle seat in row 1 once again since she could place her feet resting on a bag safely to the right of the bulkhead. I merely had to hold her legs up with my right leg during take off and landing. Thankfully the flight only lasted about an hour and twenty minutes because Tori was more agitated and quite ready to be DONE with airplanes... We definitely were as well...

We landed just before 8:30pm in SLC and were greeted in the baggage claim area by Brendan, Grandpa and Grandma Schmanski and Alan. It felt really good to get hugs from them all!!! :-) Alison and a photographer from the Deseret News were also there to speak with us a little about our trip. Here is the link to the article again that came out Tuesday morning.

From there we drove home and arrived at 10:00pm where Whitney, Crystal and Patricia were waiting. We were finally HOME AT LAST!!! :-)