Three days after Chinese New Year we hopped on the train and headed south and east toward Hualian. The train ride was four hours. Our first stop (err, after a quick lunch at McD’s) was the beautiful Far Glory Hotel.
Now if that doesn’t make you want to come to Taiwan, nothing will.
We had very yummy afternoon tea at the hotel–which made us regret our stop at McD’s–but for me the absolute best part about this day was getting to see the Pacific Ocean for the very first time. Positively stunning!
This is me, loving the Pacific Ocean. I mean, how blue is that?!?
Ellie and Xi-pan had their bucket and shovel and were ready to go play in the ocean.
Xi-pan’s father is from Hualian, and it was her parents who invited us to come, found us a place to stay and played tour guide and chauffeur for three days. THANK YOU LIN FAMILY!!!!
Xi-pan just wanted to hug Ellie.
Ellie just wanted to RUN!!
And run, and run, and run.
We originally planned to take the girls to the beach after leaving the hotel, but they both fell asleep in the car and we decided to head straight home instead. Ellie woke up about an hour later, still in the car, and the first words out of her mouth were, “Beach? Ocean?” Oh, sad little tears of disappointment.
But, as always, tomorrow was another day…
Yes this is a beautiful spot but not the reason for me coming to Taiwan. My agenda is much more important. I will be able to see the beautiful faces of my family. By the way, I really like Xi-pan’s jumper.
What beautiful pictures. They arrived just in time for me to share with my fourth grade class. We were discussing the continents and oceans. One of the facts about the Pacific Ocean was how blue it it. So it was nice and handy to have a picture to show them of the “blue ocean” and Kristie commenting with “how blue is that?” It was a fun way to bring a lesson to life in the classroom. It was also kinda fun to share stories and pictures with my students. They can’t believe that I have a son living so far away. They say,”Don’t you miss them?!!!” I respond with, “Yup, I sure do, but they are doing what God has called them to do.” Which also played in very nicely with our Bible lesson about Paul’s missionary journeys.