So sorry about your dogs but I totally understand. We have 2 chocolate labs (male and female) and the female is pretty independent but the male is constantly laying on her and is cuddled up to her as I type this and I always think that he won't make it if something would happen to her. We also have a 14 year old Italian Greyhound and I have been trying to prepare myself because I know the inevitable may be here sooner rather than later.

Great report and I can't wait to read more. We also had an incident at the airport. We grabbed the wrong bag and didn't realize it until we were out of customs and immigration. It was the same exact green bag as ours and even had a lime green luggage tag on it. We did end up making the swap with the owners of the bag but it was a stressful way to start off the trip. Definitely won't make that mistake again, lesson learned.