And we keep rethinking and changing our minds. Actually there has been little else to do besides listen to reasoned and not so reasoned discussions about how to loosen the restrictions, when to loosen them which ones to loosen. Most of this in Zoom meetings followed up by endless discussions on Facebook. 

In the midst of this our daughter-in-law in Virginia posted a picture of a wonderful desert she had made and the description of the meal she had prepared caused me to post “That sound you hear is a large diesel engine warming up” the response from our son was “your site on our driveway is open” Pause for two days to let it sink in. 

Our next dinner conversation was “should we or shouldn’t we.? Can we or can’t we”? We thought about it and decided maybe by mid summer we could drive across the country to a safe haven in Virginia. Next call was to Dan to see if he really meant it and when would be a good time.  Two hours later he called back to remind us that their eldest was celebrating his 21st birthday on May 31. My first reaction was “no way” replaced by “why not.” 

Initial plans are in place to leave Jojoba Hills on May 10 to get the coach serviced then drive across I 40 or some semblance thereof.  I have begun looking into places to stay every 300 to 400 miles along the route and it seems really doable. So set in jello is our plan to leave Jojoba Hills on May 10 to set up camp at Redlands Truck and RV Service so they can begin work at 7 AM on Monday. We should be able to get on the road by Tuesday.

We are not taking this lightly. We do understand we will be passing though areas that are having a bad time with the virus and places that don’t want to see “tourists” because their resources are strained. We plan to avoid being tourists and places like Gallup NM where they are closing local roads to prevent tourism are definitely off the list for a stop. The Interstate does pass through, we do not plan to exit. 

We will maintain separation even with family to prevent the virus from impacting any of us, to the extent possible. 

I worry what the country will look like a year from now.  Will all our communication rely on Zoom or what ever comes next that is better, slicker, easier to use? Will we be able to hug our friends in greeting? Has the handshake already become history? Will travel return to being routine? We have lots of credits for air travel and tours, how will we get to redeem them? There are so many places we still want to see and a few we would like to visit again. For now the big travel adventure is driving across the country on an Interstate. A crossing we have made most years since 2002.

I expect the next post will be “From the Road”