I hope this will be the most boring post I write! I’m using it to make sure this actually works from my new iPad. This will get more interesting, I promise! We leave today for New Zealand and Australia via Seattle and Hawaii and return March 10 after a few days in Kauai.
Six weeks is a long time. Neither of us has ever taken a trip this long (unless you count David’s summers in the field during grad school). We already have a long list of places we want to return to - Iceland, Alaska, Croatia, Italy - and we doubt that we’ll ever get back to New Zealand, so we wanted to give ourselves time to see everything we could plus extra time to break up the travel to and fro. First leg: Philly to SeaTac. The flight leaves at 6:20 and the car is picking us up at 2:15.
This is the very clean refrigerator. Why, yes, we do have a lot of condiments. Not shown: the entire shelf of cocktail syrups in the door. The ham and cheese will go in the freezer before we leave. Everything else will be available for the housesitter. Not sure what he’ll do with the preserved lemons.
\Back right: the large suitcase with outdoor gear: Camelbacks, boots, wool socks, poles, hats, swimwear, Croakies, dry bags, and a few things I’m forgetting. Front right: large suitcase with clothes and full-size shampoo, conditioner, and other toiletries that can’t go in our carry-ons. Center: David’s daypack with various cables and chargers, his laptop, water bottle, earbuds, and snacks. Back left: David’s carryon luggage with clothes for Seattle and the other things that need to be in the carryon. Mirror: not my clothes for the plane.
My personal item, which will hold my iPad (newly acquired iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard. Not sure it’s really Magic, but whatever), camera, various cords and chargers, small-ish cross-body purse for daily use, snacks, water bottle, and the one physical book I’m bringing with us (Rick Atkinson’s “The British Are Coming” which I started on our road trip 18 months ago). I have also downloaded the Kobo app and purchased a bunch of mysteries, which I’m more likely to read. On the iPad, I downloaded the last four episodes of the third season of “Only Murders in the Building” and the most recent season of “Queer Eye.” My carry-on bag holding clothes for Seattle, etc, etc. And the clothes for the plane. Not shown: black sweater because planes require layers.
Tomorrow we have tickets to the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production of “Sleeping Beauty” with scenic design by Preston Singletary. We won’t have enough time to explore the amazing glass art in the area - we’ll have to go back (see?). On Sunday we finally get to warm weather in Honolulu. It’s just a layover, but it is overnight, and Waikiki Beach is only fifteen minutes from the airport….
More to come!
