Last day - Shanghai

We still had our bikes from our gorgeous Christmas day and thought we would ride through the country, guided by Jessie. It was a grand adventure, but was not quite the glorious weather of the day before. It was chillier and misting quite a bit. We rode on streets, on little dirt paths through fields and gardens and had a delightful and warming lunch stop at an old house owned by Dutch people somewhere in the middle of don't know where! They had several homes they had modernized and were renting out to visitors. The lunch was beside a warm fire at a little table, the locals almost on top of us by the fire trying to keep warm, too. Back onto our adventure on the back roads.
Storey and I started out on a tandem, but she didn't seem to think I was as much fun to ride behind as Ridley, so Tanner graciously offered his bike to Storey and he and I rode the tandem. It was really fun and he took some pictures from behind!
Storey happy to be on her own.
And Storey, always the warm one, disrobing to her short sleeves. She had Chinese people pointing and staring the rest of the way home, because, of course, everyone else is in jackets and rain gear. The mist became a little more liquid as time went on. We decided to take the highway back to save a couple of kilometers and even more time. Loved every minute, though! We headed back to Guilin and the airport early the next morning, back to Shanghai.
Laurel and I went right away to get our hair washed and dried for $3.o0. This is the owner of the shop who rarely does hair. He saw Laurel's curly hair and took on the task of straightening it. I captured the process.

The glamorous end result! We got a few more wonderful days of exploring Shanghai in with the Walter's before they had to leave on New Year's Day. It was cold and wet, so we didn't do some of the outdoor things we had wished for, although the kids were REALLY happy to stay home, play games - particularly charades - and watch movies. Our New Year's Eve was a grand kids vs. parents charades event. Really fun.

Happy New Year, and good bye to the Walter's who made our Christmas so special.