24 hours and counting!

Both Trip Case and Delta messaged me that it was time to Check In!  Of course you can't really check in when flying internationally until you show your passport to the counter agent.  But, yes, the time is here.  24 hours ago, I wasn't sure I would make it.  Skeeter was missing in action.  Thanks to nice people who found the runaway and turned her in at the pound she is home safe and sound.  Maybe she will behave for a while now!

I am packed and actually, although I thought my luggage would be underweight, I am right on target.  Don't know what I would take out if i had to.  But as it is I can wear gym shoes instead of my boots on the plane.  I have a few snack bars for in flight, but didn't load up with my usual stash of granola bars because we can't have them in the Yurks - the wild animals apparently also like Special K with Red Berries!

The weight that was added was quite a bit because my tablet is not an I-Pad but more substantial like a net book. It is a crossover,  a tablet with a detachable keyboard.  It runs office 2013 so I should be able to astonish you with future posts. Also nine batteries for one camera and three chargers, six for the other and two chargers.  Then there is the flashlight and the back up flashlight for midnight walks, and the ubiquitous baggie of liquids.  Our carry on would be so much lighter and more pleasant if we could trust that our checked bag would actually arrive at our destination at the same time that we do!  I remember flying with only a book to tote through the airport and that was tucked into a cute little clutch bag that matched my high heels.  No mile long concourse to run through and endless moving stairs, and walkways, and trams!

I could use my famed 'suitcase jacket' for the international flights but I packed for the long haul with many small flights and long drives.  I will use the jacket ploy on the return probably.  Then a carry on is lighter anyway because medicines and toiletries, batteries and guidebooks can ride in the belly of the plane.  If they don't make it you are only minutes from your favorite drugstore or shopping center once you arrive home.

But at the start of the trip I feel like pack mule and it never seems to change.  No matter the length of the journey and I have gone as many as 3o nights, it is one checked bag and one carry on.  And the literal LUGgage that is slung across my back always seems heavier than it should be!

I am so happy that I can start off on this adventure with my mind at rest.  I had planned to stay up late tonight so I would be sleepy for our 7:12pm flight tomorrow.  But thanks to a little troublemaker giving me a long sleepless night after a long hard working day and followed by the emotional weight of thinking I had lost my best friend, I think I will be turning in early!