Winding down the trip

I'm finally nearing the end of my lengthy sojourn to greater Palm Springs. I'll start heading back toward home either tomorrow night or midday Sunday, I think, depending on what things are like with Dad tomorrow and how well-rested I feel; by the time I get home, I'll have been away from my cats for a month. I don't know if that's worse for me or for them.

Dad went in to get new imaging on his brain done early this morning. I'd intended to go along, but I couldn't manage to stay awake at 5:00am, having by then only gotten a couple hours' sleep at best. No matter, though, Marty says he was relegated to the waiting room the whole time anyway and was basically just taxi service. Whatever the results from that imaging tell the doctors I suppose I'll find out in due course, but right now we know zippo; it's like the old days when you took pictures on film and had to wait a few days for it to be developed, I guess (I'm sure the doctors have the pictures immediately, but they need to be parsed, evaluated, whathaveyou before they share).

Most of what I wanted to accomplish with this trip I have, and I'd like to think Marty got to have a bit of a break with me here. I'm wiped out, though. And I feel flabby, having done near-zero physical activity for basically a month now. And I'm tired of being the blood bank for the neighborhood mosquito population.

Hopefully Dad will sleep well overnight. That has not been the case over the past few days, and as I've said before, his level of cogency seems directly proportional to how well-rested he is. I'm kind of resigned to the probability that when I leave, he won't have been aware of how long I was here or remember much of anything about my visit. That's OK, though. It's been worthwhile to him inasmuch as it could be.

I belatedly realized I have tickets to tomorrow night's penultimate Mariners game; I've put them on StubHub, but thanks to the team's crappy finish to the season I may not get anything for them. I've already priced them at a loss. Anyone seeing this wants to go, text me and if they haven't sold by time I hear from you I'll send them along.

Now I'm pondering which route to take for my return drive. Going back the way I came is the old reliable, fewer miles and more interesting scenically speaking than just sticking to the Interstates. I've done it already, though, repeatedly. I mean, I've done the Interstate option as well—it's maybe faster by an hour even though it's more miles—but dull. Going up the coast is better, but that would mean adding another day and maybe 1½ more tanks of gas, so I won't be doing that. I'll probably just go back the way I came, US 395 and some state highways until north Oregon, then I-5.

I'm glad I came down and stayed this long, but I am ready to be home.