The second knee goes on the table in two days! This time around we of course have a better idea of how it's going to be. But despite (or because of) that, tension is mounting. Dodie has called in all available grandchildren for moral support. And our friend Sandra has just returned from Germany, with Lebkuchen in hand, for sugar support.

Meanwhile, the right knee has continued to grow stronger. Dodie is cycling 30 minutes per day on the trainer. She says that now there is no pain and no instability. There still remains some loss of sensation on the surface skin, and some general tightness and clicking, but all those are slowly improving. So here, four months later, we could declare her fully ready to go back on the road, if it were not that in those two days she will be back at square one!

No pressure now, but we really can not allocate four months for this next recovery. Three months are all we've got. With three months, we could be back in Europe in April. But then we will have to leave by the end of May. That gives June/July/August (90 days) to be out of the Shengen zone, so we can come back for September/October/November. Even that kind of schedule bangs hard up against the cold weather. So there is nothing for it- Dodie needs to get on with this knee thing!