I am writing from Florida, where I brought my new carry on and tote. I love it. Mine is a Samsonite Cityscapes spinner. I was walking it through the airport like a dog, beside of me. No problem!! Lightweight polycarbon, or something. It is adorable. Everyone comments on it. Love the pattern of NYC on the front. Please search it. Too cute. I do think the 8 wheeled cases are even easier but I fell for the Cityscape pattern. My Baggellini tote is huge and fit perfectly atop. Poor Sandy. Her tote was larger than her carry on. It kept tipping over and falling. She needs to upgrade her luggage, for sure.

Thanks Flamey for the video link, that was fun to watch and I will be sure to look for Furoshiki shops while in the Kyoto area. There was never a moment (this trip) when I didn't consider travel insurance. The last time I was scheduled to go to Japan (without travel insurance, I might add), I seriously broke my ankle (requiring surgery for pins and wire) an hour after I bought the tickets for my son and I. That was 6.5 weeks before the trip. If you've ever broken a bone you will know that 6.5 weeks is not enough time to fully recoup from a break that bad. I was totally bedridden the entire time with my broken ankle elevated to speed healing. A week after surgery, I broke my "good" foot on my crutches (yeah, yeah, I know...). I couldn't shop for our month-long visit to Japan until two days before departure and that was via wheelchair. Three days before departure I got a removeable cast up to my knee for my ankle that I had to wear another 4-5 weeks. My broken foot was fine by then but hurt alot. Trying to manuever around Japan was torture and two days into the trip I removed my cast, wrapped my ankle tightly, put on a pair of hightop hiking shoes and proceeded to see Japan. We stayed with friends in Tokyo and joined them on vacation to a small fishing village a day's trip away. By the time we got home a month later, my physical therapist said there was nothing more he could do for me that I hadn't already done by walking on the ankle while in Japan. The next year our son (then age 13) was to go back to our friends in Japan and spend another month. Again, no travel insurance. Five days before leaving, he frqactured his wrist rollerblading and we had to cancel his trip. Our travel agent and friends in Japan just couldn't believe it! DS went to Japan the following year without trauma to himself but our agent and host family were a little apprehensive. :-). I don't recall getting insurance for our trip to Antarctica and Bueno Aires two years ago because we went on even shorter notice than this trip and we were much younger then. LOL FYI Flamey, I bought the the Buenos Aires book you recommended when we talked a couple months ago and will read it while on the cruise. Jodi-

Hey Jude (I've always wanted to say that :-) On Monday May 17th we'll be leaving on a 13 day cruise from Los Angeles to Seattle, five ports in AK and then to Victoria/Vancouver, Canada where we fly home on May 30th. I suspect it will be light most most of the day. I know when I was in Antarctica during the summer, a photo I took at midnight came out exceptionally well because of the light levels. Course nothing but lichen grow in Antarctica so I didn't witness the long day/fast growing plant phenomenon. I will try to remember to take a photo of a few plants early in the day on one or more of our stops and then before we board the ship that night to test your theory. Coincidentally, just last weekend I was on a hike where the docent told us the Yucca plant grows equally fast during spring and summer months and were encouraged to take a photo of a Yucca at the beginning of the hike and later on the return trip. We never got close enough to a Yucca to measure the height early on, so that theory never got tested. My biggest fear of going to AK in the spring or summer is not the wild animals, but the mosquitoes which are supposed to be thick as soup in some areas. I do not deal well with skeeters. I am allergic to many of them and scar for months from their bites. Gosh, the first time I went to AK, I was challenged to find a boat from the TV show The Deadliest Catch, which I did. This challenge will be much easier if I can remember to bring a tape measure. :-) Jodi-

I've probably walked past this area a half a dozen times in the past and didn't see anything even remotely remarkable about it. Then again I was usually there in August when it was miserably hot and humid because of the monsoons. Jodi-