5 days

...until I leave for Pakistan. Yes, this trip snuck up on me, too. :-) I finally have delved into the "Lonely Planet" guide, and I am just overwhelmed with the many travel options. Currently, my first choice is to drive up the KKH (Karakoram Highway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karakoram_Highway), which follows the Indus River part of the way, to the Karakoram mountain range and national park. This area shares a border with China and is home to five seriously high mountains, including K2 at 8611 meters. This is the perfect season to travel there, so Big Jim is just checking with the Colonel to see whether we will need any sort of special permission or military escort, etc. But for now, I must remain fully grounded and keep my head out of the clouds just a little while longer. Have at least put together a pretrip "to do" list and even managed to cross off one item already (confirmed dog reservation at kennel). Dusted off the slow cooker, which is handling all food prep for the next few days. Not sure whether I will have much time for regular posting during the remainder of the week, but I will do my best. And I will be posting from Pakistan, thanks to Big Jim's ADSL line. :-) Hasta pronto, mylifeinspain Oh, almost forgot...in a followup to yesterday's rant, I found out where some of our homeland security dollars have been spent---armed dolphins! Read the story here: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1577753,00.html