Knee Surgery - Update

OK...been nearly a week since my knee surgery. Not at all like my 2002 similar surgery. 2002 surgery was a non-event...immediately returned to work with minimal pain or swelling. This time, within 8 hours, knee pain was intense and knee swelled significantly. Today, 6 days after surgery, pain is still intense & only ice pack keeps swelling down. Do believe there is something else going on in there, which may have been missed. Will contact Surgeon today & have it checked out.

SAM is still waiting for a replacement part for the rear-wheel drum brake system. Upgrade was delivered with a sleeve incorrectly machined. Should be coming thru the door in a day or two. In the meantime, am designing some changes/upgrades to SAM's tent system. Will install vents with velcro closing flaps ..to have good air circulation and to see what may be outside before opening up the tent in the mornings. Will apply color-coded tapes to speed finding tent-pole attachment points. Am also designing a rainwater catch system consisting of Spinnaker sailcloth mounted on SAM's tent poles, with poly tube leading to a water bottle mounted on SAM's front wheel assembly. This system can be used while walking or camping. Gee, maybe the Spinnaker could be rigged to provide propulsion in a broad-reach configuration.

Have coordinated with Delta Airlines and find to my surprise that with their expanded routes (they joined with a number of other airlines now under Delta), ample flights are available along our walking route for flights back to Bellingham to do routine administrative work needed to keep my Company up to snuff. That sure simplifies logistics.

Also, have received e-mail reply from Wyoming DOT that it is ALLOWED ...tho not encouraged..to walk I-80. If that is so, I may be able to avoid previously routed continental divide crossings at 9,000+ ft elevations...now, that would really be nice. Will confirm this new information. Following that experience, I will now contact each State DOT to clear our walk-route with them. Some states have virtually no walking guidelines while others have very detailed requirements/restrictions.

Then, there is the question of how to classify SAM. Is SAM a bicycle or something else...and do "walking" rules apply while pushing SAM. Better know the ground rules ...then again, maybe its best not to open Pandora's Box. For now, I treat SAM as a bicycle & walk in the bike lane or roadway berm going "with the traffic". After more than 500 miles of testing, cars/drivers seem to be content and very cooperative since SAM stays off the actual roadway most of the time.