Scenes from Beijing and Okinawa

Heavenly Temple in Beijing

We are having a great time visiting our son Tyler, his wife, April and their three children, Preston, Lincoln, and Louisa. Another son, Trace, came over to Okinawa from Seattle for a visit while we are here.




April and Tyler - she is expecting their fourth child in June



We have been catching up on each other's lives, seeing the sights, and unwinding from our mission routine.

Beijing. We spent an overnight layover in Beijing and managed to see a few things while we were there.

Kites flying high in Beijing

It was interesting to see Beijing and the progress the Chinese are making in modernizing their city. In our taxi trip to the central part of the city, we visited the Heavenly Temple and the Pearl Market.

It looks quite similar to other big metropolitan areas in the world. We didn't see any developing nation environments in the main part of Beijing or by the fancy new airport.

 

We arrived after visiting hours

The flowering trees on the grounds were beautiful

We then browsing at the Pearl Market - a giant department store that specializes in jewelry. We also ate a delicious fast food while we were there.

There were over thirty shops just like this one

And some like this one

 

Back in the air. Taiwan looked older and less modern than we expected. Of course we didn't see skyscrapers or modern buildings near the airport. The airport seems rather old from the outside but inside it was interesting. 

Floral display at Taiwan airport

We know. We spent 5 1/2 hours waiting for our flight to Okinawa.

View from Tyler's home on Okinawa

Arrival in Okinawa. We saw everyone at the airport except for Lincoln. Unbeknownst to us, he was hiding until we noticed his absence. Everyone pretended that he was forgotten at home and starting panic reactions. Then he popped out of his hiding place. We arrived on April 1st. The joke was on us.



Our welcoming committee

Trace filled us in with amazingly sparse detail on his social life and became much more conversant on his job and everything else. It was great to see him again.

We did a little shopping while Tyler and Trace were doing some scuba diving.



Two recently certified scuba divers - Tyler and Trace

Afterward we enjoyed some real cheesy pizza with April and Louisa.




Louisa and granddad having a conversation

The next day we visited Lincoln's school - it was authors' day and a few children were picked to read their stories to the class and the visitors. He was one of the featured writers.

We have a lot more to see and do in Okinawa while we are here.

Zanpa Point