We left Phnom Penh at 11:00 PM on Thursday night.  I walked Caesar for about an hour and a half all around the airport, so when it was time to leave he was exhausted.  He stayed happily in his carrier under the seat for the entire 5 hour flight.  He has never stayed in his carrier for more than 10 minutes without crying and having to be comforted by having me put my hand inside and petting him.   He was awesome.  Definitely an answered prayer.

This is a dreadful site, knowing how far you have to go.

Patient waiting to check in and get our trip started.

We make it to Seoul, Korea with 2-3 hour lay over.  We walk the airport for 2 hours, and Caesar gets a snack and some water.  They were at least 20 people who came up to Caesar to pet him.

Our next flight left around 10:00 AM and was a 13 hour flight.  That was the real test for him.  After an hour under the seat, he got anxious and started crying.  This happened on our trip to Cambodia, and it made everything miserable trying to constantly comfort him.  Korean Air doesn’t allow you to put the dog in your lap, even while staying in the carrier, so bending over for hours petting him to calm him down is exhausting.

While on the way to Cambodia, we had a single flight attendant who was vert strict with that rule. So for this flight, I tried anyway and I put Caesar in my lap and cover us both in a blanket. This was not very comfortable, but definitely more bearable than bending over for hours at a time with my hand in the carrier to comfort him.  We do this for almost the entire flight – 12 hours. Even while landing, he’s in my lap.  Such a huge relief when we finally get to Washington, but the flight was fine and a huge improvement.  He did great again.

The ENTIRE reason for staying in Cambodia for a month was for paper work for Caesar to enter the US.  Rabies shots, 28 day waiting period, export permits, import permits, several other vaccinations.  We get to the US and….

NO ONE LOOKED AT ANY PAPERWORK FOR CAESAR. NOTHING!

Thanks to Delta, while re-checking in our bags, I was told that the fee for Caesar did not cover our last leg of the flight.  I will handled this later with Delta, but YES it should cover the entire trip, as it did before.  At this time we have spent almost an hour and a half going through passport controls with huge lines and “Customs” (that another story), and our flight leaves in a few minutes.  Instead of paying another fee, and going back onto a plane with an un-walked, anxious Caesar, I decide I’m done.  At this point, we have been in airports or airplanes for 30+ hours.  I rent a car for an 11 hour drive home.

Two hour plane ride vs 12 hour car ride.  Sounds like a bad choice, but it was such a huge relief to not go back on a plane.  We had FREEDOM now!  

I got on airport WIFI (I had no US Cellphone plan) and sent Phaedra and email. I knew she was about to leave for Atlanta to pick us up.  I checked out cameras at the house, and saw she was still home. Through the camera, I told her to “Check your email”. Caesar and I went to get a rental car, and started the easiest 12 hour drive ever.

Freedom is greater than speed

Home

Here is Caesar seeing Annika for the first time in a month, and barking at me.  I’m sure he is just saying thanks for all the things I did for him!

We opened Christmas presents around 1:00 AM on January 10, and we were all home.