Friday's coming...

By this time tomorrow, I'll be sitting in PDX waiting to board the first of three different planes that will eventually get me to Prague.

PDX to Washington-Dulles
Dulles to Frankfurt
Frankfurt to Prague

Total travel time is about 17 hours including layovers plus the 9-hour time difference means that, according to my watch, I'll be arriving in Prague about 26 hours after I leave Portland. I'm glad that the trip is broken into three flights - otherwise, I think my butt would be tired of sitting!

All the last-minute stuff today but over the past two days, I've had two acupuncture treatments and a Reiki session so I feel good! And I've got a trip to the chiropractor scheduled this morning! Thanks go out to all my "bodywork" people who have helped me get this body in shape, or relatively in shape, for this trip. I've had lots of help - Jowanna and the newest member of her "team", Kathryn, at New Harmony Health, Willie at Cascade Massage, Dr. Bob at Allen Chiropractic along with his awesome staff, the Triple W's, and then there's all my friends (my son is on that list, too) who've supported me through my latest adventure. It's because of all of you that I'm able to leave on this trip tomorrow!

Last night, Mark and Nick took me to Bullwinkles Family Fun Center down in Wilsonville for my birthday. We drove little cars around the track (although I had a dog of a car a couple of times...), drove the bumper boats, and played laser tag with some other people who were celebrating a birthday, too - teams were adults against kids and ADULTS WON! Wooo hooooo! Ok, so I didn't do very good; it was my first time and I don't think I shot at the right things all the time but we had fun. Ate lots of pizza and birthday cake, too. Yum!

Off to get some things done - later!

Three more days!

So my little Corgi must have gotten bored this morning - he dragged a mesh bag that I packed with all my meds and electronics and miscellaneous stuff out of the pack and munched a hole in the middle of the side of the bag and chewed a bunch of stuff up. I can always tell when he's eaten something he shouldn't have or chewed on something or done some other no-no since he runs outside when I open the front door and sits on the other side of the slider looking in. (If Dinah has joined him in the mayhem, she sits outside, too. But today, it was only Pancho.) He had that "oh no, she's home and I messed up" look on his face! It's actually pretty funny in retrospect....

He didn't eat anything too terribly important and nothing that couldn't be replaced and nothing that could hurt him. But what a little twerpy dog! ACK!

It's been hot today - maybe even 100 degrees! It was 99 yesterday and today was hotter yet. Fortunately, my house is air-conditioned or else I'd be one miserable person! Me and the rest of Clark County, that is. I figure it's just getting me ready for the 90+ weather in Prague!

I'm done with just about everything that I need to do on the trip-side of things. I still have to pay the bills and write something but other than that, I'm good to go. Anything I'm missing, I'm just gonna buy when I get there or do without for a few days.

I went to the endodontist today and I've got an abscessed tooth that needs a root canal. However, he didn't want to do it before my trip so I've got a bunch of antibiotics to take and I'll make sure I have the bottle of ibuprofen with me. He says the worst part is over and I'm going to believe him, since he's the guy who ought to know.

Gonna go pay some bills and see what else I can get done.

Later!

One week from today

Dobrou noc!

In one week, I will be well on my way to Prague - Woo hoo!

(It is with very mixed emotions that I say that...........)

I have a whole bunch of little things to get done this weekend - stop at Freddie's and get a couple of things, find a converter, get all the stuff, toiletries, clothes, shoes, and "stuff" together and fit it all into my two bags - my main carry-on and my personal item. I'm sure I will have no trouble getting everything together; it's jsut a matter of doing it.

Then there's all the little stuff like putting new litter in the cat boxes, watering all the plants, updating the list for whoever is going to be checking on the cats, bagging up the dog food, bagging up the vitamins and Chinese herbs, copying all the documents (passport, credit cards, etc.), making an emergency phone number list, printing off mailing labels for the post cards, etc. etc. etc.

Next week, I have to pick up prescriptions, see the acupuncturist, go to the endodontist for this infected abscess tooth in my mouth (I guess that's where a tooth would be, right?), make sure there's enough cat food, vacuum the floors, sweep the kitchen, do the laundry, fold the towels, wash the dishes, put stuff away, pick up after myself, etc. etc. etc.

Whew, I'm tired just writing it down and that's not all of it!

I've been reading the guidebooks again. I'm taking two - Rick Steves' Prague and Czech Republic and Thomas Cook Travellers guide to Prague. The Cook book (haha - cook book!) has some great walks in it. The Rick Steves' book has great ideas for being close to the ground. Oh yeah, got some geo-caches to print out and upload to the GPS. I ordered the unlock code for my phone so I can get a SIM card over there for the phone and called all my credit cards and banks (ok, so one of each, not really a whole bunch) to get PINs and notify them not to stop the charges coming from some crazy person in CR. Got all but one to cooperate. The lone card that I couldn't get past the automated PIN selector is just gonna have to stay home, I guess. Or I'll take it and not use it for cash advances, just for charging stuff. That's probably enough to use it for anyway.

I finally found a spare battery for my new camera. I ordered it from this place online and had it over-nighted to me - cost more for the shipping than for the battery! But it's definitely worth it to have the extra battery with me. Just in case, you know. I can see it now, there's the perfect shot and my new camera is dead! But now I'll have an extra battery - I really want to get out there and take some photos so I can see just how many I can take before the battery starts wearing down. I have about 1000 photos I can take on each 1G card and something like 10 minutes of video.

Ok, side story inserted here:

Isabelle's new MySpace page is here - check it out!

I guess I'll go put some laundry in right now and get a jump on tomorrow.

Ahoj!

Got a camera

I bought a new camera today. It's a Panasonic DMC-TZ1 in silver. I love it! It's small and lightweight but has a lot of great features. It has a 10x optical zoom with an internal stabalizer that's awesome! It has a movie mode and some other modes that I may even use. I'll get the battery all charged up and take some photos and post them. It even has a macro that I will definitely enjoy using.

I also got a shoulder bag at REI (after returning the one I bought the day before yesterday because it was too big) that I'll try out tomorrow - pack it up with the stuff I'm going to take and see if it's a keeper.

I got a few more little things that I needed to get, like some prescription stuff for "just in case", and some postcards for the postcard exchange geo-cache and now I just need to get everything together in one place so I can do a trial run with the bags.

Side story not related to Prague -

Nick and Mark brought over Nick's new puppy last night but I was really tired and didn't feel like I was able to even enjoy her for a moment. She's really cute and even has her own MySpace! She is really really cute! Adorable even! It seems like Mark's big dog, Jake, isn't quite sure what to do with her yet. She's 6-7 weeks old, I think Nick said (I was tired and don't remember), and just a cute little handful. Jake is a big clunky chocolate lab with a heart bigger than he is and I'll bet he's just worried about stepping on her! Anyway, I'll post the link to her page as soon as I get an invite to be her friend!

Ok, back to Prague.

Work has been pretty intense the past few weeks and I haven't really gotten a chance to get excited about the trip yet. I am just about at the point where I can say that I have everything I need and whatever I forget or don't get together, I'll buy when I get there. Just gotta go gotta go gotta go.....

On that note, I'm off to bed.

Later....

Underweight

Yee haw!

I packed up my pack last night with all the clothes I would be taking and added an extra pair of pants and my pack was only 10#! So I added in the "toiletries" bag and still only came to 12#!!

I guess my "paring down" and getting light-weight worked!

I am soooooo stoked!

I kept thinking I was going to be wearing the same pair of pants and one of two different t-shirts for the whole trip. Well, there ya go, that's what I get for thinking. Did I really have that thought or did it come from some place else? Oh wait, there's another blog for that question!

Leaves me some extra room for souveniers! Which I was going to have to ship home since I thought I wouldn't have any space. Again with the "thinking" thing....

I ordered a couple more shirts from my new favorite place - LL Bean. They have the best selection of "light-weight travel clothes" that I have found. At least for the price. Travelsmith is good, too, but almost double what LL Bean's are. LL Bean's are more "active" related - Travelsmith is "fashionable". Ok , so we know which one I'm going to naturally gravitate towards anyway...

Got my list of internet cafes in Prague. Got my list of places I want to visit.

I'm rambling now.

Gotta go - got a parade to walk in this morning!

Sunday...

Well, I'm beginning to feel like it's coming together.

Got a bunch of the small stuff I needed at Freddie's yesterday.

I want to put all my stuff together and see how it fits in the backpack. I was hoping that my day pack would come from LL Bean today but it didn't. I have to take apart the guide books that I want to take since the whole books are going to weigh more than I want to allow for weight. But I think I've got a good handle on the weight thing - 17# in my main carry-on and maybe 8-10# in my "personal item", which is basically a "purse". I'm taking the day bag as my "personal item". I'll have the books, electronics and chargers, medications and "toiletries" in that bag as well. In the big backpack will be the clothes and other pair of shoes.

I actually started getting excited last night! The stuff is coming together and the emails from the Czech Republic have been fun! I still want to get some cache pages printed off and other minor things like that but I could even get that information once I get there. I located the ATM at the airport and transportation from the airport to the hotel is right outside the airport door. I even found a photo of what the vans look like!

I'd still like my website to be updated with at least some information on the main page that links to my blog. But if that doesn't happen, oh well. Life is good!

So I'm going to go lay out my clothes and see if I can pack the backpack....

More later!

Two weeks from tomorrow

Woo hoooo!

Got my "last minute" list all going and tomorrow I see how much of it I can get done. Last minutes things to buy - still no rain jacket suitable (their weather is similar to ours - sunny one day, pouring water from the sky the next), waiting on a day pack, got to pick up some small goodies to take, work on the blog stuff, see if I can get an updated website before I go, get some photos taken of all the stuff spread out all over everywhere and then uploaded, etc., etc., etc.......

Oh yeah, got to get a list of addresses together so I can mail everyone a post card or two. Maybe I'll mail one to me, too. Gotta download the GPS coordinates for the caches, print out the pages, set up a couple travel bugs to take with me, find my journal so I have something to write in. Gotta cut up some KT tapes to take with me before I find scissors ouver there to cut my own.

Made some contacts to some Czechs and we'll see if I get any bites on the bait. That would be a hoot, wouldn't it? Caching and drinking beer with the locals. Now that I could do!

Let's see, one pair of pants, 5-6 shirts, some underwear and socks.....oh yeah, gotta get another pair of Chacos. Some shorts to sleep in and maybe a t-shirt, too, but more likely just the shirt I wore that day, since mostly the shirts are t-shirts! A lightweight longsleeved shirt for a lightweight jacket, although, when it's not raining, it's been 90 degrees during the day so I can't imagine needing much of a jacket. And if I need more, I guess I'll buy something! Bummer! Shopping!

Wow, I discovered shopping. Shopping! Who would have ever thought it? Not big on malls, yet, but I like cruising the little shops around. Hoot hoot!!

Late, gonna hit the pillow -

Later - - - - -

Back to Prague

So I'm back to just going to Prague. Straight to Prague...do not pass go...do not collect $200.

The other details just weren't coming together. Mark is going to watch the dogs and Nick is going to check on and feed the cats. Hey - maybe Ted will come stay for a day or two!

I've got all my stuff together and will do a trial pack job to see how it weighs in and all fits. Still want to have space for some souveniers and stuff - oh yeah, gotta get a Tyvek envelope or two to take with me so I can send some stuff back by mail before I leave.

I'm looking forward to spending some quality time in the Czech Republic!

Four weeks and counting

Four weeks from today, I'll be in the air on my way to Prague. It's about 8 at night right now, which means I'll be somewhere between the States and the Continent on the long flight. I should be able to sleep a little bit, even.

I still have to find some more light-weight clothes - I'd like to have one more pair of pants. I made my final orders to LL Bean and Travelsmith last night, so soon I'll have some t-shirts and another button-up shirt to take. My eye-shade and sleeping pillow arrived from Magellans today and it'd probably be a good idea to do a test-blow-up of the pillow and maybe even try it out. Those U-shaped things just look so awkward to actually sleep with.


The last-minute things appear to be moving along smoothly. If I can get a later return flight, I will need to extend my travel insurance. I need to find someone to watch the dogs and the cat-sitter appears to be not available either. But I know everything will work out perfect!