will be away from 22 month old - wean prior?

Hi everyone,
I'm an occasional poster, frequent reader. I should thank you all in
advance for providing such an invaluable resource for nursing mothers.
DD and I share a wonderful nursing relationship. When we recently moved
to Panama, we successfully weaned DD out of the family bed, and cut the
nursing sessions down to 2x a day; before bedtime, and before naptime.
At bedtime she nurses for 5-10 minutes and DH puts her to sleep. I lay
down with her at naptime and let her nurse herself to sleep. She LOVES
nursing, and cutting her back was very challenging. She will still ask
to nurse on other occasions - often when she wakes up from nap or
bedtime, which leads to major temper tantrums when I refuse. I think
she would still nurse all day long if I let her.

Since January, I've known that I will be going to California, without
DD. I'm in a wedding, and the expense is too great to take the whole
family, and the travel time will be 10+ hours - just too much for her.
While DH is excited for his alone time with her, I'm so nervous and
feeling incredibly guilty. My trip is the reason why we started the
weaning process, but now I feel stuck with these last 2 sessions. I
don't think either DD or I are ready to stop nursing.

So finally, I get to the question. I will be in California for 4
nights/5 days. Do I wean her from these last sessions before I go?
Will it be harder for her if I just leave without weaning? Should I
anticipate that the Wednesday night before I leave will be our last
nurse together? Aside from weaning, does anyone have suggestions how
to prepare her for my absence? Thanks so much for any advice, I'm
really feeling conflicted.

Karen
Mama to Amelia 7/04