A Pleasant Surprise

I may have mentioned that Stewart and I are driving to Newark Airport so that our dogs can have a direct flight to India. This is probably more for my sanity than the dogs' comfort as my anxiety has been focused on them being stranded on the Tarmac in a place like Frankfurt. Anyway, our drive works out well as we are able to see some friends and family as well as take care of work stuff.

One of the biggest stressors I was having (now that I knew my our dogs weren't going to be left in a foreign country) was being able to ensure that they were going to indeed make it to India in the first place. Getting our dogs to India involves a sign off from a regular vet (who is knowledgeable in dogs moving overseas) and a sign off by a USDA certified vet (slightly difficult to find). Add to this that the sign off has to occur within 10 days of the flight but their records have to be provided to both India and the airline no later than 5 days before the flight. This gave us a 5 day window complicated by the fact that we would be in the midst of our travels so the work we had done to locate a USDA vet back in Podunkville in August was pointless. Luckily, we happened to be visiting Stewart's brother's family outside if Richmond during this time. He was great at finding us a knowledgeable vet who really knew her stuff. We also found the USDA vet .... apparently the only USDA vet in Virginia .... and this person was in Richmond so we were able to take care of everything today on our drive up to DC. Our dogs are going to India!

So why DC? Stewart had to be here for work. Key word: HAD. 30 minutes from our hotel, we found out that he no longer had to be here. It was too late to cancel our reservations without being charged so we're here for a few days enjoying a stress free mini vacation in our nation's capital. I'm pretty stoked about it. I used to live here several years ago and absolutely love the district and area. I can't wait to spend time with Stewart walking around the National Mall and visiting some of the Smithsonians (except the dead zoo ... aka Natural History). I just wish I knew where I packed the chargers for the cameras so we could take pictures.....