Well tomorrow's the day! I just called the Cab company to make arrangements for getting to the airport tomorrow. Hopefully this one is better than the one I used for last year's Alaska trip (though I probalby won't need air conditioning this time). I have a few last things to get into my stuffed bags (including the survival kit from Lin! and a picture of Jim for my nightstand). Also, need to arrange my purse and probably charge my phone and iPod. I'm sure I must have forgotten something! Other than that I'm ready to go. Tomorrow will be a long day though. Leave here about 9ish for a 12:00 flight to Atlanta then hang around there for about 6 hrs before my ~10 hr flight to Rio. With a 3 hr time difference I get ... read more

Mon 1/21/08 - Getting Ready Can't believe I'm just a few days away from leaving on this trip. Most of my packing is done though I'm sure I'll think of a few odds and ends in the next day or two before I leave. After much moving of things back and forth between suitcases I've given up trying to get the big suitcase down to 50 lbs and will just pay for the overage. I'm sure I won't end up using/wearing everything but would rather have a bit too much than need something later. This trip has been on my "list" for years (ok so my list is very long). My parents, sister, and brother-in-law took it a couple of years ago. We didn't have enough vacation time to take it back then. Of course I ... read more