On the Road Again 02-03-15

I haven't been to see my friends Mary and Joe in San Juan Bautista since August - what with one thing or the other.  Joe is in a rehab facility for the next two weeks, so I might not see him.  But Mary and I are chattering away.  Funny we talk on the phone and via e-mail, but there is always so much to say when one sees a friend face-to-face.

 

I drove up this afternoon and thought I might arrive before dark (the road up the mountain to Mary's is winding, and very, very dark), but as I drove over the Grapevine I developed a nose bleed!  I thought it was just a passing thing, but I soaked several hands full of tissues and had to get off the road.  The Pyramid Lake exit was next, so I used their lovely, clean bathroom facilities to clean up a bit.  I did the usual things, squeeze the nose, lay back in the seat and hold the nose, apply ice (although a block of blue ice was probably not  terribly effective), and finally packed the nostril with a tissue plug.  It seemed to stop bleeding so I ventured back out  on the highway.  The plug on top of all my other efforts worked and it didn't bleed but a little bit after that.  It is one of those "what would you do?" things.  The first requirement is to get off the road because you can't stanch a nosebleed and pay attention to driving at the same time, much less keep the blood off your clothes.   The problem is caused by a deviated septum, so I guess  it is time to have my nose cauterized again.  It's been a dozen years at least since the last time I had this problem.   

 

It was terribly hazy all the way up I-5 so I couldn't take any pictures, I tried a few, but they were mostly just white.  But as the sun set it cleared a bit, so here are some sundown shots.

Just after the sun dropped below the mountains to the west.

 

As it dropped lower it lit up the clouds.

 

Even to the east of the highway there were pink clouds.

 

And then a hazy full moon with a star to the right and highway lights below.

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