Loose Ends

We're leaving in under a week and feel like we've got a million loose ends to tie.  Today we spent a couple hours at LAX airport.  First stop was the USDA office to get them to stamp Emmy's paperwork.  Since Maxine has been handling this, I'm not sure whether the USDA was approving Emmy leaving, or pre-approving Emmy coming back.  Or, staging things so that the French immigration people will let her in...

We also started packing last night.  Not packing in the sense of putting everything in the suitcase so you can head to the airport, but instead pulling out the things we've been contemplating bringing, to see if it will all fit.  It's difficult to envision exactly what we'll need since the trip spans Fall and Winter.  Especially since it also covers Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And, it's winter of the sort that we no longer have much experience with.  We're each allowed two 30" duffel bags and a backpack.  100 pounds in total!  Looks like stuff will fit.  That's the preliminary verdict so far.

Emmy will make the trip in her crate, in the hold of the plane.  Supposedly commercial airliners have a section of the hold that they can heat and illuminate where they keep the dogs (and cats, although why take a cat?...).  When we did a trip like this 8 years ago, our last dog Cassie, was small enough that we could bring her with us into the passenger compartment.  But, at 17 pounds, Emmy is a bit too big.  So, right now we're working out what to do about feeding her and giving her water.  Obviously, there's no way for her to relieve herself for the roughly 14 hours she'll be in the crate, so that adds to the quandry.  We're thinking of a clip on dog bowl with some treats (hoping that she doesn't eat them in the first 15 minutes and then stay hungry for hours).  As for water, the only real solution is what I call a "gerbil bottle". It's the hanging water bottle that we all had in gerbil or hamster cages growing up.  They've updated them and added a couple ball bearings to the spout, with the intention being that this keeps water from leaking out of the bottle.  It doesn't really work.  Any shaking (e.g. turbulence, a baggage person moving the crate) causes the ball bearings to move up and down and the water to come out.  So, we're experimenting with ice hoping to reduce how much water actually can come out.  Too much leakage and Emmy is laying on wet towels for 14 hours...

Again, I keep thinking of the million other things to do.  As an example, here are few.  

1. The first few weeks are likely to be our best weather.  But, they (especially the first few days) would tend to be the ones where we're the most lethargic (jet lag, change, etc.).  I'm trying to create a list of things to do the first week to motivate us to act.  E.g. Buy transit passes, buy SIM chips for phones and ipads, outdoor sightseeing priorities, etc.

2. Remaining Emmy prep.  We'd read a suggestion another traveller had made about taping a picture of you and your dog to the outside of her crate.  Helpful in the event the dog escapes.  Or there's some problem matching you to your dog.  Other things: zip tying the crate shut, that whole water bottle problem, etc.

3. We're planning on spending some time during this trip thinking about our future.  We re-watched the movie Bucket List last weekend.  Lots of food for thought.  So, I want to dig out various folders and exercises I've done over the years that will prompt thoughts on this topic.  I don't actually know where those folders are..

4. Christmas presents and things to make French Thanksgiving (yes, we are having a turkey dinner with our friends who live in Toulouse) more American.

Enough!  Time for me to get back to work!