A ROAD TRIP IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC!

Awww how I love a good road trip, this one though has been different. We have been able to push our speed because there is little to no traffic. Only semi’s and a few cars.

It was odd to drive past the malls and movie theaters to see the parking lots empty, closed up and everyone home supposedly. We have passed the time with very few words. Listening to a 15-episode podcast and music taking our mind off what we see around us in our rented minivan. I am sure our thoughts are the same, a lot of what if’s.

We have wavered between feeling like we are doing the right thing to feeling as though we are breaking the law. It’s not really my thing to be a rule breaker but here I am travelling in the worst moment in recent history. Should we be on the road? Was it the right thing to do? After all my parents needed to get back to their home where they feel safer, they didn’t want to fly and neither did we.

We came prepared, brought everything we might need. Plastic gloves for pumping gas and handling money. Hand sanitizer for the times there would be no soap and Clorox wipes for cleaning the hotel rooms and anything else worthy of our precious wipes. Toilet paper, paper towels and some food that doesn’t need any prep, just in case.

We cleaned the van top to bottom after we picked it up in Seattle. This van became our safe zone where no germ shall enter. We made sure every time we came into the van that we were sanitized. Every hotel room we stayed in we would clean before even touching a thing. Wiping down the light switches and doorknobs. I hope we were doing the right thing. I hope we had protected ourselves adequately.

As we drove down I-5, in California, it was eerie, all the overhead signs that usually would say traffic problems and delays I imagined, now said stay home, save lives, wash your hands. Every single one and there was a lot of them. All of the rest areas had a cleaning crew there and there were what seemed to me, brand new soap dispensers stuck on the wall, all filled. I did feel safer knowing everyone was washing their hands. Whether I was or not was another story. I felt safer, so I went with that.

We had brought a thermometer with us because fever seemed to be a factor in having the virus. Neither of us had any judgement over the other when we would ask “do I feel hot” or “will you take my temperature” we just did it for each other, no questions asked. We brought along our elderberry syrup we made before we left and took it faithfully every day.

Still the question, were we doing the right thing, wouldn’t a quick flight down and back been easier, better and less of a risk than being in a van for 6 days using public spaces? We won’t know for a couple of weeks if we are all ok. If the risk was worth the reward. One thing I know for sure this trip has been unforgettable.

Everywhere we have been its obvious that something huge is happening. The things that you take for granted are very different. The complimentary breakfasts at the hotels are not happening, desk clerks stand back when checking you in and hand sanitizer is everywhere. Drive through at the fast food restaurants are very long and most of them have someone standing out near the end taking orders for the window ahead. The thing I noticed the most was everyone was friendly; I got the feeling from everyone we met “we are all in this together” That was comforting to me.

In some ways this pandemic has divided us, there is no middle ground you either believe this is real or you don’t. I know a few non-believers and I hope they will be ok. When I wouldn’t share an elevator with someone because my mom was with me and she is in the danger age group, I was greeted with a grimace and felt I had to justify asking her to wait for the next one.

We have had to discuss what we would do if one of us got sick. What would we do? We decided that the healthy one would continue on and the other would stay and recover in the hotel, as hard as that would be. Guessing the hotel would have an opinion about that as well. I told my parents ahead of us coming to get them that we would still have to keep our distance, be careful and we couldn’t hug as we didn’t know if we had been exposed or if they had.

The night before we went to get them we re-cleaned the van, wiped it all down even sprayed it with Lysol. I was thankful we had a routine before we picked up my parents. It made it easier when we were with them.

We explained all of the options and possible outcomes prior to this trip so all of us knew the risks and including my parents in the decisions. This was scary for us all.

We are all home now and so far all healthy. We did about 3200 miles in 6 days. The two days after, we both felt as though we had been hit by a truck, muscle aches and really exhausted. No, we weren’t getting sick we told ourselves, we just did something extraordinary and our bodies needed some rest and downtime.

We ate way too much fast food for my taste. We went to Chick-fil-A (only because my dad wanted to try it), In and Out, Popeye’s, a local Mexican restaurant and Starbucks. One hotel had the breakfast in the morning and all the pools and hot tubs were closed. We only stayed at Hampton Inns because we love their beds! We took a cooler that we so we had our own food and a case of bottled water. Just in case, I am always prepared when it comes to food and water.

Overall, it was a good trip and we had that van going fast. We were in LA on Monday morning and there was no rush hour traffic. We were going 70 mph, now that was weird. I felt like I was in a movie. We cruised down I-5 going to Mesa and came back up through Utah and Idaho on the way home. It was a gorgeous drive and very few trucks or cars. Going around the Grand Canyon there is beautiful red rock, my dad wanted one. His souvenir from the trip. It was about as big as a soccer ball but flattened, that made the trip for him.

We are both working from home now too, doing our respective jobs without getting in each other’s way. Going for short walks around the block on our breaks and having dinner together. All of these things are new to us. We have our desk space set up in different places in the house, which helps to have away time. I am thankful that we can still work and three days in, I am busier than if I were in the office. What the heck? I had plans to organize the garage and go through some stuff in the basement. Next week.

For now, I am happy to be home. We check in daily to make sure none of us is sick. Thankfully, my parents and all our kids and grandkids are safe at home as well.

We didn’t stop long enough for many pictures but here are a few from along the way.

Be well and thanks, as always for reading.