Thursday. To bed by ten, awake at six, up to have breakfast and then pack. I must admit I wasn't looking forward to the trip, but set out with the pillow my sister had given to me to protect the small of the back and - my! my! - it worked! Seven hours later and no pain. I hadn't driven thirty minutes, coming out of Oakland last Friday, before it kicked in and talked to me in nasty tones for the rest of the trip.

A long drive to Weed, thinking I'd liked the room at the Comfort Inn, had liked the breakfast they provided before setting out on the road and so that was it. Weed. An end to my staying in Dunsmuir? Had dinner at the same barbecue and Indian food place, the barbecued chicken I tried this time not really up to snuff. Maybe a reason to rationalize trying Dunsmuir if I drive this way again.

If you drive it again?

I suspect I might, now that I've introduced that pillow to my back.