Disneyland and Bumps in the Road-

No travel adventure is without mishap. Little problems, bumps in the road. Our Disneyland adventure of last week is no exception. For me it was shaving and acid reflux.

These did not occur together, or as the result of the same particular event. I will begin with the shaving event. To save space I opted for an inexpensive battery driven electric razor. I had used it before, and it worked fine. Not an outstanding shave, but adequate. Cheap to operate, and I already owned it. So, rather than my larger plug-in razor I took the cheapo.

The first morning we are there, getting ready, I showered and then tried to shave. It began fine, but after completing the right side of my face and working the area below my lower lip and beginning to work on the left side of my face I noticed a problem. Two fine lines of blood just below my lip, about a half inch long.

I pulled the razor away, looked at it, and could see no problem. However, on examining my little wounds I also saw a red line down the left side of my face from temple to jaw. I looked more closely at the razor head, and finally found the problem. The screen had shifted and exposed a bit of the edge. A fine, sharp edge.

So, cleaning up the blood and stanching the flow, I finished my ablutions and we made our way into the park. The rend on the cheek remained clear and visible for our entire visit. On a more suitable face it may have appeared dashing. Somehow, I suspect I missed that by a significant degree.

That first night I had a bit of acid reflux as a consequence of sleeping flat. I generally use a wedge pillow, along with another pillow, to elevate my head and avoid acid problems. I am using prescription medications to minimize the issue, and these generally work for me. However, I lacked a wedge pillow for my journey. They just don't pack well.

The second night was really bad. I slept poorly, and kept trying to stack up things to sleep on. I finally pulled some wedge shaped cushions from the couch in the room. I tried several configurations, and finally stuffed them under the mattress. Ahhh! That worked! It was like turning off an acid faucet.

The next two nights were much better, using this configuration.

Of course, there were some issues with feet. I broke my left foot about nine months ago, and still have some stiffness and discomfort. The right foot was badly damage many years ago, but over the years has been surprisingly serviceable. Lately a bone spur on the left heal has contributed to increasing levels of discomfort.

I had been using postal workers shoes in my work as a correctional officer for a number of years. These are the shoes I took on our journey. Not pretty, but then neither am I. They really made a difference. That, and taking frequent breaks just to sit and enjoy the parks. Rest the feet. Contemplate those rental scooters.

I figure I could condition my feet and drop some of the weight that makes them work harder by more frequent walks in the Disneyland Resort Parks. Unfortunately, four days was all we could schedule, and about all we could afford. Which brings us to the biggest bump in the road.

Having to go home.