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TRAVEL PLANS DELAYED: We've been temporarily grounded. In order for Murphy to fly to France, we are required to obain a pet passport from the USDA no more than 10 days before our arrival. So we carefully got his exam and vaccines completed, paid the fees, had the vet send the documentation electronically to the USDA with a prepaid overnight envelope (as required) and waited for the passport to arrive. Thanks to government turmoil, the passport has not yet been received -- and there is, of course, no way to contact the agency for a status update. So instead of starting our big adventure, we spent the day cancelling and rescheduling flights, car rentals, airport assistance, and hotels. FUN FACT: if we don't receive the passport in the next 3 days, we will have to begin the 10 day process all over again, including having to cancel/reschedule all the travel arrangements yet again.

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