We managed to “finish” most of the packing by last night. DD even had some extra room in his teeny carry-on! I was pretty relieved that I was allowed to bring a medium-sized suitcase, though it’s smaller than what I packed for our 2 week trip to Paris and Spain in 2009. I did also manage to squeeze in an extra bag for omiyage, though… and DD’s carry-on means that we may be able to check another piece of luggage if we needed to procure it on the trip… This may not look like much for 3 weeks, but we’ll be hopping around and traveling on trains quite a bit, staying 2 days in Takayama, 1 night in Shirakawa-go and 1 night in Kanazawa. The forecast for those places in Gifu call for snow. In Osaka and Kyoto it seems a tad warmer – similar to our high 40s/50s during the day; colder at night where the temps are forecast to drop into the 30s. Part of me now wonders whether I’ve brought enough to keep me warm.

And while we wish we could say that we’re bringing the puppy, she’s just there for cuteness. We’re heading down to LA today, where she’ll be staying with my parents, grandma and grandpa.