Countdown has begun!

Nine days and counting now.
Flight, one night in a hotel and car rental all paid for by me! AND have money to spare for spending as well as making up for the time I'm off.
Oh and getting a new laptop.
Yeah.. well the case lid was separating from the hinge, and it got bad enough that I didn't want to open it. Called a local shop walking distance from me and was given a rough quote of $198. Compared to the $700 from the certified Apple shop Crywolf, I was willing to take my chances.
Well they call me and say it won't turn on.
What?
It was fine four days ago when I shut it down. I went in and sure enough the power button works, the charger cord is lit but nothing happened. Stunned, I give them the okay to delve into it to find out what's going on.
I felt like I took my pet in to get teeth cleaned and it turns out it has cancer.
IF it had happened when I had it, I wouldn't feel so sketchy.
Anyway, it turns out the motherboard went out, just like that. I still don't think it would happen like that but many people say it does.
They had a 13" Macbook Pro that was two years newer for $875, and if I traded in the old one I could get $100 off. Out the door $865, which is pretty good for a newer and faster machine.
I walk home with it, put it on my side table, open it up.. plug in the charger.. annnnd, wifi won't connect.  .... what?
I go through the manual settings, it acts like I've never set it up, no menu of networks in the area, nothing. Call the shop, walk back up there, show it to him and have to leave it overnight for their 'mac guy' to look at it.
Much gnashing of teeth. I need this laptop for my trip which was two weeks away at that point. They offer to drive it to me when it's fixed but I wouldn't be home due to work. They'll bring it the next morning.. fine.
Turned out that when they repaired and installed the new cd drive it shifted the wiring in teh case just enough that it unplugged it or something. All fixed no charge. Better not.
So the other thing is the fan comes on immediately when I open it, which the other one never did. It waited until it got too warm and then kicked in. Better than it not coming on at all.
Oh, well that happened next. On a Saturday. Greeeat, they're closed Sunday. I took it to work, the fan starts up and then shuts down.. does this a few times then turns off.
FML.
I get it home, open it up, same thing. Sporadic fan until I just close it for an hour. Open it and the fan comes on and stays on. Maybe it heard me threaten to take it back to the doctor so it stopped faking being sick.
It's been behaving ever since now so despite being warned that it heats up fast if I keep it on my lap, it's been fine. Better than the bigger one by far.
The screen is retina display so the colors are much sharper, the disk drive works too so I can watch movies again! So for the cost, I think I'm okay with this. (My friend CJ covered part of the cost which I am eternally and humbly grateful for).
Now.. on with vacation plans.
Everything is paid for, including a visit to the EMP museum. That's the music and popular arts museum up there which has some cool stuff. We were in fantastic luck though, they are the kick off location for a country wide tour of Star Wars and the Power of Costume! Which I think is the same collection we saw in L.A. about eight years ago. I am so stoked about this! Had to make a time reservation just like the other exhibit and it includes the rest of the museum that has a collection of Jimi Hendrix guitars and outfits, a display about fantasy games and art, computer game developing and a few other things. Totally cool stuff!
So we'll fly in on Thursday night (April 23), grab the rental car, get to the hotel and crash (not with the car.. flop on the beds, it'll likely be close to midnight by then ha!). Next morning, get breakfast, drive to the museum, wander through there for a few hours, then if we have time drive a short distance up to see the Fremont Bridge Troll.
That is a carving that is installed under one of their bridges of a troll. Kind of excited about that too.
The next highlight, other than seeing my friend Miki again on her farm with dozens of chickens and the lllamas and sheep... I wanted to visit the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden.
It sounds really pretty, and it being late April there should be plenty of plants in bloom!
I am so excited about this trip can hardly stand it! We'll be up there for six days, coming back on the following Wednesday morning-ish.
So with a new phone as well, I am going to be even more able to post regular updates with photos and a running travelogue hopefully. Now that I've learned my lesson on doing it while I'm there instead of when I get home. Might not even bring my 'old fashioned' digital camera, my phone takes better pictures.
So, in less than two weeks I should be posting on a daily basis on my trip.. Woooohoooo!