I survived my vacation

Well, I made it through Hearst Castle’s Tour 1, which took us around the lower levels of the grounds and through one of the guest cottages: 2/3 mile and 170 stairs. Beautiful landscaping, tons of ornate decorations, and great views of the coastline. No tripods or flash photography allowed, so most of my interior photos are not as sharp as I wish they were. My right knee throbbed the night after the tour, but after I got moving the next morning, the pain went away. (I really wanted to do Tour 2, which takes visitors to the main house, but the description was a little too intimidating: 3/4 mile and 404 stairs!) When we got back home, I was feeling so good that we decided to go to the OC Fair (actually, it’s called the OC Super Fair, but that’s definitely an exaggeration). We went on a Thursday so we could sample lots of fair foods for just $2 a taste. We indulged in sample sizes of funnel cake, pulled pork on half a roll, freshly cooked potato chips and onion rings, and frozen lemonade - lunch for 2 people for just $12, which we thought was a great deal. There seemed to be fewer participants at the fair overall: photography and fine arts entries were in a smaller hall, only four rabbits were on display (and not a single Flemish Giant), and we didn’t see as many livestock as in previous years. We didn’t go to the fair last year because I wasn’t feeling up to all that walking, so maybe participation has been declining slowly and it’s more noticeable to us since we skipped a year. I don’t know how far we walked, but my right knee let me know it wasn’t happy by swelling up. However, it recovered within about 24 hours.  Even with the day-after discomfort, I’m glad I attempted these once-daunting outings and survived quite well overall. It’s so good to know that I can do much more than I could 12 to 18 months ago.