Sat. Jan 18, 2014: Change of plans

Today we were preparing to work in the park - the afternoon shift - when we got a call from Auburn that Mike's mom had taken a turn for the worse.  We gathered some clothes, food and other things for a road trip, contacted the park rangers to let them know about our family emergency ( the skilled nursing facility told us they did not expect mom to make it through the day), and headed north to Auburn.  Driving the Jeep from 2:15 - 11:30 took us to Elk Grove where we had a flat tire while stopping for gas.  We called road service for a tire change and drove the donut tire slowly on the highway until we got kicked off to the side roads by an unsympathetic cop at 1:45, just 15 minutes short of our destination at Auburn Ravine Terrace.  We saw mom for a few minutes - she was sleeping and not responsive - then checked in to the Holiday Inn nearby to get some sleep.