T minus 1! Always an exciting time just before you leave on a big trip. Going to New Zealand is always exciting for me and takes me back to when I was 19 and spent a year traveling all over the Pacific including hitchhiking around New Zealand for 3 months.

We got up early yesterday, packed up the car and headed out to Santa Barbara. It was a very uneventful drive and as always, Sadie was an amazing car traveler. We listened to a depressing but interesting book abut Deutsche Bank and Trump. Ugh.

We got to my sister’s house around 1:20 pm. I hoped out of the car and took Sadie up the More Mesa to stretch her legs and find a neutral place to introduce her to Tuukka, my sister’s new dog.

All in all, the dogs got along pretty well. I bit of lip lifting and one small tiff, but I think it will work out well for all involved. I suspect they will be fast friends by the time we get back.

The plan is to pick up a rental car at the SB airport tomorrow and then drive down to LA for our flight a 9 pm. We will probably head down early to make sure we don’t have any adventures like we did we were headed to Patagonia. These days, I don’t argue about what time to get to the airport after that trauma. (www.postcardsfrompatagonia.wordpress.com)

Let the adventure begin!