completely unexpected bonus

when garrett and i were first getting our airline tickets for our return leg to portland, i argued that we should get back to portland as soon as possible and said we should take some ridiculously early flight back. we tossed around a few travel scenarios and agreed on the later flight time out of jfk (2:30pm flight out).
fast forward about two months:
we are 10 days out from leaving on our big trip and i am talking to my mom. she says she just got an email from my big sister karen asking about some social security thing. apparently, my mom is eligible to get my dad's social security benefits since even though they were divorced at the time of his death, they were married at least 15 years. but she has to go to the social security office in new york to "interview" for the benefits. since karen is the executor of my dad's estate, she got the letter confirming the interview with social security. anyhoo... as my mom is talking about this, a big huge glaring light bulb starts to flash on top of my head. and i start jumping up and down, asking her when she's going to be in new york. well, as you have probably guessed by the title of this post (i.e. bonus), she and i are going to be in new york at the same time!!!! yes, completely unexpectedly, i get to see my mom on september 23 for a nice breakfast where i get to meet her beau (the elusive dr. chen) and she gets to meet garrett. what a total bonus!
and i owe garrett a big huge helping of gratitude for talking me out of that early flight. it would have been one of the biggest bummers of all time if we didn't have time to see my mom while we were so close to each other in nyc. i haven't seen my mom for a happy occasion in over a year. i'd love to see her when we're both our usual smiling-selves.

reminder list

things remaining to do/buy before we leave:
1. i need one giant backpack
2. good earplugs
3. a bigger memory card for my camera
4. i need to send a toiletry kit to paris
5. a d/c adapter
6. some sort of travel wallet
7. make train reservations

flights 'n hostels

03/09/06 (better get used to this date format)

UA Flight #228 PDX -> IAD (Dulles) 10:35pm - 6:29am
UA Flight #7302 IAD -> JFK 8:15am - 9:39am
AA Flight #44 JFK -> CDG 5:55pm - 7:25am

Arrive in Paris 05/09/06, stay at the Little Palace Hotel.

07/09/06
Take the train to the Therme Vals.

09/09/06
Take the train to Nimes, France. Stay at the Nimotel.

11/09/06
Take the train to Barcelona, Spain. Stay at the Hostal Central.

19/09/06
Take the train to San Sebastian, Spain. Stay at the Adore Plaza.

21/09/06
Take the train back to Paris. Stay at the Le Montclair Montmartre.

22/09/06

AA Flight #121 CDG -> JFK 5:50pm - 8:00pm

23/09/06

UA Flight #7310 JFK -> IAD 2:30pm - 3:58pm
UA Flight #251 IAD -> PDX 5:45pm - 8:15pm

leaving in less than two weeks

garrett and i are leaving for europe in less than two weeks! check out our itinerary here.