Traveling

We were driving south in California today but luckily our route didn't take us into smoke that much so I could barely smell it as we drove south from the SF Bay area. And it was really beautiful along the ocean some of the way south. I had tried to drive north but realized it was just going to be too many hours of smoke for me to want to navigate and I couldn't even visit Mt. Shasta going north because of the altitude and smoke combined there now earlier this week. So, when I hit full smoke in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley I realized no matter what I did I would have about 6 hours of driving through smoke or more (possibly as much as 9 or 10 heading north and I wasn't prepared to face that alone especially since my sprained right knee is still healing. So, when I had stop and go from an accident ahead of me for 1/2 an hour my knee acted up and I realized between the smoke and my knee, that even with using cruise control 80% or 90% of the time this just wasn't going to work for me. I had promised my kids to go to Portland and visit them this month but I guess I have to put it off for another month until my knee is better. Thought about flying but then realized I couldn't stand in line for security check that long and with summer there are so many people at SF Airport that this just wasn't going to work for me. I also could have asked for a wheelchair like my wife when she had a knee replacement  but that isn't me so I didn't do that. Also, if I'm in pain and discomfort from my knee and the heat and the smoke this isn't going to be fun for my kids to see me either because I can get ornery under those circumstances. So, I want everyone to have a great experience when I visit including me. That way I can still be seen as a great Dad all around and everyone will be happy to see me and I them.