We made it home safe and sound! Yesterday was a very long day. We left the hotel in Taipei at 6:45, walked to the Taipei main train station and then took the AirPort Express train to the airport.

Our flights were rescheduled because of the typhoon. The only seats we could get in Premium Economy were middle seats and not together. But we were able to get bulk head seats in Comfort Economy on both the flight from Taipei to Seattle and the flight from Seattle to San Francisco. So that wasn’t too bad.

In San Francisco we took BART to Lafayette. Allison picked us up. Our truck was at their house. After a brief rest to visit, we drove home to Reno.

All that travel took about 24 hours. And because of the international date line it was all on Tuesday. It was a great trip and it’s great to be home!

Yesterday was Taiwan Retrocession Day. Because it fell on Sunday here, it is being celebrated today. Google says that Retrocession Day commemorates the retrocession of Taiwan and Penghu from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945.

Duke wanted to check out the local McDonalds. So he used up most of his Taiwan coins and had a hamburger. Although the bun is brown he said it tasted like a normal bun.

For dinner we had a fabulous 7 course Chinese meal in the hotel Chinese restaurant.

If all goes according to plan we will start the long journey home tomorrow morning.

Well, the typhoon is definitely finished here in Taipei. I don’t think there was much if any rain today. When we went out walking people were bringing out the stands, tables and sun umbrellas that had been stowed for the storm. We went to our favorite breakfast spot for brunch. Everyone seemed to be out on this Sunday morning. We had to take a number and wait for a table.

We went to a Japanese Restaurant called Hatsu for meat on the grill for dinner.

The biggest winds, here in Taipei from the Typhoon, were Friday night. During the day Saturday the Typhoon was downgraded and is now just a big storm. It is moving north. It rained all day. Although it is still windy we can no longer hear the wind howling outside our hotel window.

We went to the bakery and to the convenience store, across the street, to get food for breakfast and lunch and had dinner in the hotel bar.

The only damage I’ve seen from the Typhoon is a sign that must have been blown down.

We have tickets to fly home on Tuesday although at this point our seats have been downgraded and we are no longer in premium economy. I’m really hoping we can change that before Tuesday.

If you haven’t read about Typhoon Champi you can go to the New York Times and search on Typhoon or Taiwan and read all about it. Our plane home was scheduled for tomorrow morning. But in the last 24 hours, as the typhoon has gotten closer, the flight has been delayed three times. And then, about an hour ago, they cancelled the flight altogether. Now we have a new flight scheduled for next Tuesday and we’ve booked three more nights at this hotel.

Taipei was pretty much shut down today. Apparently Taiwan has Typhoon days the way we have snow days. We walked to our favorite breakfast spot this morning but it was locked up tight.

There is a wonderful bakery across from the hotel. We picked up some goodies there and took them back to the room where we were have a birds-eye view of the wind and the rain. Luckily we have a very comfortable large room.

I had plenty of time today to finish editing our Vietnam YouTube video. If you are interested you can watch it here.

10 Days in Vietnam | Da Nang, Hanoi & Ha Long Bay (With Prices)
https://youtu.be/JxrU1txWqLo