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Message: [QUOTE="diggerfoot, post: 4031752, member: 1673"] Thanks, and blessings to you for taking care of your Mom. We averaged 20 miles per day during summer and 14 miles per day during winter, when there was less light. This was early in Cindy’s cognitive decline so our public pretense for uprooting our lives was to give talks about the virtues of kindness and community across the country. That led to a lot of rest days and explains our miles per day average. There was no physical decline at this point, ten years ago. I currently am posting a retrospective on my Humanity Hiker blog of that journey ten years ago. The original posts did not acknowledge Cindy’s affliction as the reason for the journey. The current retrospective posts brings that into focus. From my experiences I suggest there are four stages of decline. First comes behavioral decline, preceding cognitive decline and often manifesting itself in the handling of stress. Think Pat Summit. Next comes cognitive decline, then physical decline, as the brain’s continual degradation starts to erode muscle control. After physical decline comes emotional decline, as the perceptual and reactionary signs of any zest for life fade away. These phases of decline overlap, as one continues after the next one starts. [/QUOTE]