I’m heading out to Beijing today, returning after dad’s memorial service. Judy left on Monday, arriving safely. The only problem she had was the extreme crowds at immigration in Beijing. The annual “Chinese New Year Migration” has begun.

Beijing Airport Immigration lines when Judy arrived

I picked up Brad at his apartment in downtown Ft. Worth, not far from our new condo/home at 5:00 am. My flight departs at 7:40. We arrive at the airport without traffic issues at 5:35 am. As I get out, I realize I don’t have my backpack with my computer, passport, and every other essential item I have to have. I’m not sure where it is? It’s either in the condo, in the hallway near the elevator, or in the parking garage. We race back to Ft. Worth, and the backpack is on the cabinet in the condo. Now we get to race back to the airport. We made it back at 6:45. There was some traffic, but we used the new toll lanes on the airport freeway and breezed along. TSA-Pre helped speed through security and I make it to the gate in time to eat a little breakfast from Burger King.

The gate transition at Dulles airport in Washington wasn’t too long, and the wait was short for my group to board. The boarding is very slow. There were several notices about “overbooked”, and needing volunteers to catch a later flight. They were sorting out those issues when someone stopped at my seat with a matching boarding pass. A few minutes later I was being moved into Business Class. YEA!!! These are the “lie-flat” seats we always walk by as we head back to Economy. It was a restful flight. I could tell the difference when I got off the plane 14 hours later in Beijing.

It’s Friday evening in Beijing when we landed. Immigration is more crowded than I’ve ever seen it, but not as bad as Judy’s arrival. It took her an hour to complete processing. The taxi ride into town is long, but not unexpected on Friday night as the New Year approaches. Judy is home when I arrive. I unpack a little bit, but it’s not long before I’m “catching zzz’s”.