The plan for this weekend had been to go up to Yuba City to see Kevin’s family. However, with Kevin’s eyes still playing up, he’s not fit to drive. So I had to drive instead. This is not good. I do actually quite enjoy driving, though I’d prefer two wheels to four. However, I don’t drive very much, and I know that my reactions are not good. Also Kevin’s minivan handles like an arthritic elephant who is the worse for wear on rum. I wasn’t looking forward to driving it on busy Bay Area freeways, and if I had pranged it we’d be in serious financial difficulty.

So the compromise plan we came up with was as follows: we would get the train from Fremont to Sacramento (it helps that we live pretty much next door to the railway station) and rent a car from there onwards. The roads north of Sacramento are pretty empty, so there wasn’t much risk of my getting into trouble. And Hertz gave me a rather nice Hyundai Elantra that was surprisingly nippy and had way too much poke for the silly California speed limits.

Thus far the trip has gone very well. We’ve seen Kevin’s mom and grandfather, and a gang of feral kittens that had us ODing on cute. We got to use the hotel’s hot tub in peace. And now, I think, it is time for some serious sleep.