WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE DON’T HAVE A PANDEMIC PLAN!!!!!

We hope this blog finds you happy and healthy. As I may have mentioned in previous blogs, we are planners; we plan everything! We planned and prepared for years before we entered the world of full-time RVing. When we took off from New York, we felt prepared for anything that we might encounter on the road. Well… seven months into our journey, we found ourselves in the middle of a Pandemic! No… we did not have a Pandemic Plan, but we do now!

Bart and I were staying at a very nice park in Verde Valley Arizona, right near Sedona, when it became apparent that life as we had been living it was going to come to an abrupt halt and we, along with the rest of the country, we’re going to have to react and adapt accordingly. 

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As I said, it was a very nice park, but the internet was nonexistent and the cell service was spotty at best. Not to mention we were in the midst of an extremely cold and rainy spell! These factors combined made staying there out of the question. We needed reliable internet service in order to make a new plan, find out what reservations had been cancelled, and to make new reservations, as well as to develop a new plan. Our first priority was the same as it was with most Americans, to do our part in helping to mitigate the spread of the virus by practicing social distancing. We immediately canceled all of our upcoming tourism plans, including Grand Canyon (I type this with a tear in my eye), Tucson, Tombstone, San Antonio, as well as a much anticipated beach boondocking excursion. We left Verde Valley a week and a half early and returned to Mesa, where we had good internet and cell service. We spent our time there developing a new plan…a plan void of sight seeing! We also focused on getting stocked up with supplies such as food, and the new gold, toilet paper! When Gus had no more storage space left and we felt comfortable that we had about four weeks of supplies on hand, we were ready to implement our new plan.

We were not alone, as many fellow full-time RVers were involved in similar actions. While some fellow full-timers were okay where they were and simply extended their stay, others were embarking on relocation journeys that involved long driving days to get to their destination. We fell into the category of those that needed to relocate, but we were unable to drive long days. Three hours of drive time is a long day for Bart. Our newly planned trip which resulted in a six-day journey covering twelve hundred miles. We planned out the driving route and booked campgrounds all along the way. We also called campgrounds from the road to confirm that they were still open and we were all set. Even with all this preparation and diligence, we had one scare in Marathon, Texas, when a sheriff knocked on our door. He informed us that a few hours ago the town had approved a plan that stated any non – resident who had not been in town since March tenth could not stay! All hotels and motels had to close immediately. Fortunately, we explained our situation, and that we were only here for one night and we would not be going anywhere. We pointed out that we hadn’t even unhooked the car from Gus; he agreed to let us stay until the next morning. We were very thankful that he did, and we departed promptly at 8:45. A brief note on the small town of Marathon, Texas… It has the most beautiful night sky we had ever seen. The campground we were at had two Observatory stations and telescopes that unfortunately, because of the closings and social distancing, we could not take advantage of, but just sitting in our chairs outside of Gus and staring up still provided us with the most gorgeous sky we had ever seen.

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I would like to share how we traveled twelve hundred miles and maintained not only social distancing, but pretty much social isolation. First and foremost, we are self-contained in Gus. We were stocked up on supplies and we had prepared some of our favorite travel day foods; egg salad, chicken salad, meatloaf, lasagna, and of course, cookies! The only thing we would need to buy was diesel gas for Gus. When we would see a good gas station to stop at, Bart would fill us up. He paid at the pump and was cautious not to touch anything with bare hands. He would then come in to Gus and scrub his hands just to be on the safe side. When we needed a rest,or Bart needed a break, we found a rest area or road side pull off. I would walk Deek while Bart took a break from driving. 

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The RV parks we stopped at were all excellent at following the CDC guidelines. Registration was done in a manner that maintained six feet of separation, and did not involve touching items that could be contaminated. All pools, hot tubs, activity centers and any other gathering places were closed. We stayed at our campsite, except for when I would walk Deek, or when Bart and I would ride our electric bikes. I have always enjoyed walking Deek and taking bike rides, but with no pools, social activities, restaurants, breweries or sightseeing outings, I must admit walking and bike rides have quickly jumped to the top of my list of favorite activities! Nope… I stand corrected, video chatting with our family, especially our children and granddaughter Charley, is both Bart and my favorite thing to do these days!

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We arrived safely at our destination, and are hunkered down for the foreseeable future. Just thought we would give an update and share our unique isolation experience with you. We threw some pictures in from our trip, as you can see all taken from Gus or a secluded rest area. We will follow this blog up with a blog about our two months in Arizona.

STAY SAFE!

STAY HEALTHY!

STAY POSITIVE!

STAY COMPASSIONATE AND

BE KIND!

UNTIL NEXT TIME…