home again, home again

All seems well. Jan and I have safely returned from a 2300-mile road trip through CA and NV. We started in snow in Eastern Nevada--true story at the beginning of June!--and ended up in the 105-degree temps of Las Vegas about 10 days later.  We had close calls--lane changes abruptly because a barrel loomed up in front of us while at freeway speed in rush hour in Reno--during which I swerved and a school bus alongside me swerved concurrently to get away from me. But neither of us went far enough to involve either one of us or anyone else. We had one more of these in the trip. We were also present when the EMTs started rappelling down a cliff to approach a car that had recently (and fatally it turns out) driven over just before we arrived. It was deep and steep enough that we couldn't see the car from the road. This was east of the northeast entrance to Yosemite--a lone female. This was a scary road as was Highway 1 from Carmel to San Simeon--large drop offs and no guard rails on both in some places. Advanced age and resulting poorer depth perception made us more cautious than we would have been even a few years ago. A second go at Cirque de Soleil's LOVE tribute to the Beatles at The Mirage in Las Vegas was as enticing as the first a few years ago.

I only had one moment of total inability. My knees simply wouldn't hold me on a steep downward,  cemented slope to an NPS overlook in Yosemite. Other than that, I covered Hearst's Castle's steps fairly well and managed the village walks in Carmel. But I am a full two weeks out of shape as my exer-cycle ride proved this morning and my trumpet practice has proved this past couple days. Long stints in the car are truly bad for whatever it is that afflicts my joints. But other indicators still suggest health. Negatively, I think that the recession of the neuropathy in my lower legs and feet and to some extent, my hands, has ceased. Still, we'll see.