Thank you one and all for your recommendations and kind thoughts. What a wonderful bunch you all are!

I went to sears online and found one that is really , less than 10 lbs, easy to use and has everything for sewing a straight stitch. Somne of the airlines will charge for extra weight.

I use it when traveling and at classes.

Hope mother is soon better and you have a safe trip.

I love my Janome Gem. Lightweight, smallish and does everything well.

I often take my big Janome 6600 though, if the retreat is more that a couple days. I have a Tutto carrying case on wheels which make it easy to cart.

Thanks again for all your help. I am leaving tomorrow. I finally decided to take my Brother SQ9000 and of course my converter and adapter. It does everything, and only weighs 9.9 lbs. I found a rolling carry on with handle at WM for $14 on clearance! The hard part is figuring out what fabrics to take. Hmm... need to make star blocks, house blocks, OBW stuff... I have set aside an assortment of tools to take too.

I hope I have room to bring some clothes! I don't plan on buying any fabrics there as they are very expensive. I do plan, however, on going to the thrift stores, to look for clothes that can be taken apart and used.

Thanks again for your outpouring of suggestions and good wishes for my mom. Gotta love the Power of the Group!

I hope your mom will be okay and we will keep you and her in our prayers.

Update: I had a great time visiting with my mom. I took my spare machine and all my stuff with me, but the first time I plugged the machine in with the transformer, it made a popping noise and then expired. I lugged it all the way home, only to learn that the repair would be more expensive than what I paid for it. Luckily I had purchased a 2 year Replacement Plan from Overstock.com. It was very easy, and I don't have to send the machine back. Nevertheless, it was a little work horse and it broke my heart to throw it away.