You know that Great Wall? Well, It’s pretty…Great!

(ok…I stole that line from Kirk…couldn’t help it) – and as always…hit up the pics..they are the most fun part of this and I know it

OK…the one thing about having…literally 48 hours in Beijing is that you CAN NOT waste a minute.

Mary Ann and Stewart were meeting their ship on Saturday morning so we had all of Thursday and Friday to get as much done as possible.  Corey and I had Saturday to pick up any “misses” 

We met Doyle in the lobby promptly at 9. 

WHAT A FIND.  I am not kidding..A lovelier person has NOT been put on this planet. 

We were whisked into a Van for our first stop…and here it is

THE GREAT WALL @ MUTIANYU (and by the way…I’m sitting outside with no computer internet access so used my phone for the spelling…I love that…information on the fly!)

We pull into the parking lot and it is COLD…well…I thought it was.  It was also windy.  The weather forecast really had me pondering switching our plans and doing The Wall on Friday.  I had been hoping for a clear day.  I didn’t do it…the view was NOT great…but all things happen for a reason.

Here is Mair and Corey.  Stewart was off buying a hat b/c of the wind…

Because we are so stinking healthy (eh) and b/c we could…we decided to forego the two different ways you could ride UP to the wall.  Doyle liked this idea…so off we go.  We were working to get our 10,000 steps every day…and, surprisingly, it was HARD to get!

You can see the wall behind us…we were almost there!

And then…we were !!

ON THE WALL!

OK  Trip can end…well, not really.

SO…you EVER see that ESPN commercial with ALL the Steelers fans and their Terrible Towels?

YAY MAIR

But wait…if you have seen my FB post…you know that NOT only were we there, but we met six kids FROM Pittsburgh that we let borrow The Towel to for THEIR moment.  They were stoked…and even if they weren’t they were nice enough to humor us!!!

Steeler Nation.  One country can not contain us.

So, we trekked and trekked.  Sections 8 to 14.  Some places were SUPER steep.  

Corey…40 pounds lighter!

Here are some snaps of Doyle with us.

Doyle was great because he was present when you wanted him to be…and then would fade back to let us have our moments.

Here’s Mair and Stew.  I had bought a frame for a "Great Wall” pic back in November and Corey had the presence of mind to get a great shot!

We were just a little tempted to go all the way to 21…but, if you walk up you need to walk back…and it WAS steep at the last point (I had been warned, Thanks Diane!)…so we will leave that for the next time!

Here’s what I mean about the view.  Our day was pretty gloomy. 

Corey says he liked it that way though…because it added to the mystery and the fortitude of it all.  I guess he’s right! (see that 3rd picture…that’s what I mean about steep!)

Can you even imagine being an army trying to approach let alone scale this thing!  It IS a true wonder!

We took the sky buckets back down the hill and did a little shopping.  Stewart wanted a shirt…Mair and I got a couple stitchings (more things for the wall!)…Everything started @ 600 RMB.  We bartered… I’m sure we paid WAY too much…but hey…whatever!

We had MUCH more day to our day to come!  Next stop…SHOPPING…and better yet…BUYING!