Gear

"Lay out everything you need to take, divide it in half and take twice as much money". Just one of the many pieces of advice offered to us in the last few months.

Our list (and it all went pretty easily into two adult and two kid backpacks):
Clothes (one pant, one short, undies, socks, 2 short sleeve, shirts, hat, long sleeve shirt)
sandals, tennies, camera, video camera, power and pc cords, too many books (Lonely Planet Guide to Thailand, Asia Travel Health, Thailand map, Bangkok map, Lonely Planet Guide to Laos, Thai phrase book), toiletries, medicines, toilet paper, backpack lock, padlock, ultraviolet water purifier, power adapter (Asia is 220v), coloring books, pencils, notebooks, wipes, mosquito bed net, silk sleeping bags.

The funny part is that it seems like we take a lot more stuff when we go somewhere just for the weekend.

Leaving Lucy

Last night we left Lucy with her second family while we are gone. Every Sunday evening we have "Soup Night" with good friends, either at their house, or our house. This Sunday we ate at their house. So we figured it was a good time to leave her. She was happily chewing on a bone when we left.

On Saturday we bought her a new dog tag with all of their information. Her tag usually reads, "Lucy Larson", now it reads, "Lucy Larson-Reynolds". Oddly enough, that is our friend's name, Susan Larson Reynolds.

These are pictures of the view where she will be staying, and her dog brother, Tick. Tick is as big as a horse if you are a toddler.

Who are the mystery ladies that were at WINCO talking about our leaving? My Aunt Helen was standing in line when she heard two women discussing our leaving. She interrupted them to ask, "Who are you talking about?" It was me. If the mystery women identify themselves by commenting below, they will be the proud winners of a Thai souvenir.

Hello Kitty Airlines

One week from tomorrow will be my last day with you all. I'll miss you so much. And I'll be thinking of you all everywhere I go.

We will drive to San Francisco on Halloween day. While you are trick-or-treating (or not) in Medford, Jacksonville, etc., we'll be in a San Francisco neighborhood with Phoebe and Ty, getting airplane snacks made entirely of sugar.

Our flight leaves San Francisco at midnight on the first of November. We will arrive in Taipei, Taiwan on November 2nd at 6:00am, Taipei time, after 13 or 14 hours on a plane. Eva Air is our airline of choice. After a short layover, we leave for Bangkok, Thailand. To avoid the insanity of a city of nearly nine million, we will catch another flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is also a large city, but a little more manageable. We will stay there just long enough to get our bearings. We will stay in the Lai Thai Guesthouse.