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One night in Bangkok

Up at 0430 wide awake (430 pm to us) and more coherent this morning. We head back to the airport to get our luggage and our parents! Forgot to mention, they were " held prisoner" in the airport due to visa issues which will be resolved today. One hour flight to Laos and we will talk to you guys soon. This is the bar/restaurant last night and also the view from our hotel window on the outskirts of Bangkok. We imagine this is how all of Bangkok was before it turned into the "concrete jungle".

Well......we've made it to Bangkok

It's about 12 noon US time on the 10th of February. We left on the 9th, I think. We have pretty much seamlessly made it to here. It's all a matter of perspective, you see. We were told that our bags (all 20000 of them, lol) would be checked all the way to Laos but for various reasons we had to pick them up and put them in storage for the night in Bangkok at the airport. All flights left on time, all flights arrived on time, and we made all connections which is pretty amazing, really. We agree, however that we'd rather swim back than fly on another 14.5 hour flight. The man next to us had whooping cough, or TB, etc. There was a screaming child in front of us, the man behind us was the only one on the whole flight that kept his reading light on for the whole time, and 14 hours on a plane when you can't sleep seems like 24. None of us even knows if we've slept at all. It sounds like we're complaining but we're really not. Just glad to be here safely. We're now in our one night Bangkok hotel. We will attempt to download a picture of us sitting at the restaraunt. Sorry if this is incoherent but we are delerious right now. We'll be in touch!!!!!!!!! Well the picture doesn't seem to be working from this computer. Good night!!

Luggage, luggage, and more luggage

Well, it's still hard to comprehend but the time is finally here! We have brought ourselves and our rented Ford (Found On Roadside Dead) Expedition to Ted and Chan's house to spend the night. Chan prepared an out of this world Laotian style meal for us, which we enjoyed in the company of Seng's brother, fiance, and precious niece Miah (who is in the picture)! As you can see and as described in a previous post, we have quite a bit of luggage to take with us!!! International travel standards allow each person to take two "free" checked bags up to 50lbs. Believe us when we say we are maximizing our allowances. All of this, including the bags are going to the people of Laos and our personal belonging will be in carry ons. We are excited about the prospect of having only one small bag! Good night to all. Our flight leaves at 0845.

Congratulations Kate and Clark!!!!!!!!

Today we traveled to GA and had the honor of being some of the first to meet the newest addition to the family tree, "Ty William Johnson". He is perfect! This is our nephew on Roger's side. He is a whopping 9lbs

1 oz!!!!!! 22 inches! Wow. We were thrilled to be able to be there and feel lucky that this
could occur prior to our departure! Congratulations Kate and Clark on a 3rd healthy and beautiful child!!

Tomorrow we go to Charlotte with our rented Ford Expedition (to carry 4 people, 8 suitcases and 4 carry ons) and spend the night so that we may have a short ride to the airport Monday morning. It's getting close!!!

Itinerary continued

On Feb 21st we will cross the border from Laos into Thailand at Chong Mek and continue on to Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubon_Ratchathani_Province where we will catch a late flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Mai. In Chiang Mai, we will be staying at this hotel for 3-4 days http://www.maninarakorn.com/ while making the best of our short time there.

On around February 24th, we plan to rent a car with GPS(yes, it's available) and travel to the area of Chiang Rai, Thailand http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/7153/crai.htm. If we arrive there safely after driving ourselves in a right sided car on the left side of the road, our schedule is extremely fluid but do plan to spend a night at Phu chi fa so that we may get up early in the morning to see this http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomdocs/3181609643/ spectacle. We have also learned that there are some more relatives in a nearby city called Wiang Kaen that we may go see or meet in Chiang Rai. We will spend 2-3 days in the Chiang Rai region.

On Approx Feb 27th, we plan to drive south to the city of Sukhothai, Thailand http://travelhappy.info/thailand/sukhothai-thailand/, the 1st capital of Siam and spend a day taking in the historical park there.

On February 28th, we will catch a plane from the nearby city of Phitsanulok and fly to Bangkok where we will enjoy our last four days while staying at this hotel http://navalairiverresort.com/ on the river.

On March 4th we'll begin the LONG journey back and will arrive in Charlotte on the 5th. Many will notice that we have omitted the BEAUTIFUL southern Thailand islands and beaches from our itinerary. As tempting as it is, we cannot justify at this time, going halfway around the world to lay on a beach but are jealous of those that have done so! We are finding that there is SO much to do in these countries that 6 months or even a year wouldn't be enough but we hope to make the best of the 3 and a half weeks we are so fortunate to have!