Hello Danang, maybe??? by Kathryn

So, we arrived at the airport in one piece after a flight where I for the first time thought I might die. We grabbed the stroller and hopped in a cab. We were all so thankful to be on our way to beach paradise. We arrived to the airport at midnight, it was raining and we all piled into what he thought was a gocart on a race track. He took corners without slowing down, he just drove straight instead of turning thru the corner. He at one point was driving from the right lane all the way to the other side of the road and Kristen and I thought he was falling asleep. She notified Chuck of our worry and Chuck pretended to look around often and make sure he was awake. Awww, we finally saw our resort, like an oasis in the distance, we made it, again in one peice... We hop out of the cab excited because this place was so nice. We got into the lobby (Which was completely silent and empty) and Kristen went up to the desk. She did not look happy. She got her you will give me this voice and kept talking to the receptionist. I walked closer to find out what was going on; for some reason they had us down to arrive there on Sunday, not Friday. So, she just asked for another room, really any room at this time would be ok. Just one room we would all share. Nothing, they were completely booked. The man was not helpful and basically said there was another hotel down the road. So, luckily several drunk people stumbled out of a cab jamming techno music and we jumped in and asked him to take us to the hotel just down the road. We formed a plan that Kristen would run in and make sure that they had a room before we got out and lost our cab. Kirsten was in there quite sometime and Chuck decided to go in a see what was the delay. All three kids were in the back seat arguing about being squashed and Cori was directing them at how to make it better. Then Kristen and Chuck came back and got in the cab. No luck, there was some sort of a conference going on and all of the hotels in the area were booked. While Kristen was inside the lady at the counter told Kristen that there were no 5 star hotels available and started checking the 4 star one, when Chuck walked in they offered to check the 3 star hotels. Great! They thought there was one just down the road. We were exhausted and would take anything, or so we thought. We arrived at that hotel and it was booked. Our taxi driver decided to take things into his own hands and started driving around to what seemed like houses, but maybe they were hotels? We stopped at several where he got out and knocked on a garage door/ locked gate to only find out they were full too. Then we came into another "neighborhood" Chuck was sitting in the front seat and said as we were driving on the streeet he saw several, SEVERAL very large rats, the size of small cats. We pulled into a drive way by a house, that reminded me of the tv show criminal minds and the taxi driver got out and started banging on the locked gate. (I think he was ready to get rid of us, it was 1am by now.) Chuck pointed to the very large rats scampering around the drive and wall, none of us were even going to open our door to step foot in this place. About that time a very scary looking lady came out. She was obviously woken up by his banging and did not seem happy. She came to MY back seat window and asked me what we needed. I didn't know what else to do so I asked her if they had a place to stay. She said no, but then very slowly gazed into the car taking a full look around and said yes, she had somewhere. Then we immediately made a unanimous decision without even speaking to each other to move on. Chuck said the cab fare was almost as much cash as he had already, so we needed to go somewhere close where we could get out and find an atm. We decided to go back to one of the really nice resorts and get some help or access to the computer. When we arrived at the Life Resort they welcomed us with open arms. They had lots of really comfy couches (where all the kids passed out) a restroom, an atm, and allowed Chuck and Kristen to use the computer. They were also calling all around to find us a hotel. (They were completely booked too) They found us a five star hotel near the airport. When we were getting ready to depart on another adventure at 2am, they gave us the nicest ice cold delicious smelling towels to freshen up and several bottles of water for our journey. The gave us their card and told us to call them is there was ANYTHING else we needed all night. After a 15 minute cab ride, which thankfully they all drive fast, because he turned up his radio very loud and the song, "Will I ever see you again" came on his cd player. Kristen's eyes got real big from the front seat as she looked back at us. Then it went into the chorus, which was saying will I ever see you again in heaven. It was blasting Christian music louder than I have ever heard christian music and the song was on repeat. We arrived at our hotel at 2:30am and even with three people per bed, were thankful to be there. This was a 5 star hotel that was so nice. It has a 70's swank style to it, but the first real "back home" style air conditioning. Chuck, Caitlin, and Chase slept in one room in one king bed and Kristen, Cori and I slept in another room in one king bed. We all slept so good until 10:30am! (We missed the complimentary breakfast but it was well worth it. And Kristen had to discreetly take an extra breakfast ticket off the counter anyways)

Kristen will be back to update you on the stay in Hoi An.