The cat seems to think that if she can make herself small enough, she'll get to come along.
Today was a very busy day, but we're finally almost ready. This morning we drove to Wilsonville (for Fry's Electronics) to be sure we had the biggest selection of laptops, and it paid off - there were lots of good options. We settled on a lovely Lenovo (a.k.a. IBM) that is a pound heavier than the other one but it's better built and even faster. And everything works! Phew. It felt really good to have that resolved. Added bonus: breakfast at Burgerville.
The rest of the day was spent doing all those little last-minute tasks that somehow eat up the whole day, plus final packing. Late this afternoon I fully packed my bags for the first time, strapped them on my body, and walked up and down the stairs as a test. Then I removed some things from my bags. :) They are still heavier than I'd like, but there's only so much I can do when I have to carry a camera, three lenses, a tripod, a laptop, external hard drives... basically I packed all the electronics then tried to fit some clothes and granola bars around them!
Next post from the Netherlands! Hooray!