Three weeks from leaving ...

... and what do we do?  PACK.

OK .... I admit that we are VERY EXCITED.  But in my own defense, the last time I packed a month in advance ended up being the right thing to do.  That was back in 2008 before our trip to Ireland.  As it turned out, my Mother became ill and I was in Portland until the day before we left for Ireland, and I was SO GRATEFUL that I was already packed.  I am certainly not expecting anything to happen this time, but who knows?  Life is a little crazy these days, and now we are ready and available to be of service to our friends, family, and clients before we leave for 32 days.

So ... we had a really fun day being very conscious to NOT OVERPACK.  And at the end of the day, I think we succeeded, even though this picture may not look like it ...

 

Funny ... we take this SAME PICTURE before every trip we take!

 



So we have three weeks left before we leave and being THE EFFICIENCY EXPERTS that we are, it is a challenge for us to leave with  anything undone.  I know, I know .... it is NEVER DONE, but we both so want to leave with at least FEELING that all is in order. 

But then The Universe has a wonderful sense of humor .... look what showed up in the mail today ...

 



FEDERAL JURY SUMMONS?  That's a first for EITHER one of us.  Sorry .... but I will be long gone on March 12th.

Celsius vs Fahrenheit

I have always been a little stifled by figuring out what a Celsius temperature means in Fahrenheit.  Having to look up the math equation every time I've travelled to a place that uses Celsius, I STILL get frustrated with doing the math in my head.  I mean really .... can you do the following quickly in your head when figuring from Celsius to Fahrenheit?

Multiple Celsius temp by 9, then divide by 5, then add 32

 

If you can, then you are much smarter than me!

 

So I did a little research again today, and found this handy chart that will AT LEAST get me in the ball park ...

So ... even though I won't know the EXACT Fahrenheit comparison when looking at the weather forecast, at least now I know that I want to create 25-30 degrees Celsius with little rain.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather/


But with El Nino .... who knows what will happen.

Or ... easier still, I can just depend on www.weather.com which shows the temps as Fahrenheit ...

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/l/NZXX0006:1:NZ

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/l/Moorea-Maiao+French+Polynesia+FPXX7874


Of course, SINCE I WILL NOT OVERPACK, I won't have that many clothes to choose from anyway.

Less than 5 weeks and counting!



A Lay of The Lands

 

 

 Just so I can get my bearings straight.

 

Except for a trip to Australia in 1997,

I have never been to this part of the world.

 

Our LONG journey will start in Tucson at 6PM on a SUNDAY,

and take us from

 

Tucson to Phoenix

Phoenix to LA

LA to Papeete, Tahiti

Papeete to Auckland, New Zealand on the North Island

 

and finally from

Auckland to Christchurch, New Zealand on the South Island

 

We will arrive at 5PM on a TUESDAY.

 

Crossing over that International Date Line

always messes with my head!

 

But I have figured out that it will be

27 hours of travel time,

so when we land (ON TIME!),

 it will be 9PM on MONDAY in Tucson. 

 

I can already imagine how WONDERFUL

it will be to lie down after

ALL THAT FLYING!