The Trip North!

 Week Nine

May 18 – 19, 2020

We had our car refrigerator all loaded and running and we had dropped off a few food items we were not taking with us to Marilyn and Steve the night before.  Since we did not go to bed until 10:30 PM we set the alarm at 5:30 AM but Jon woke up earlier. We ate our cold cereal breakfast and off we went in the dark.  This is the first time we left in the dark and I hope I did not forget to do something because I could not see as well.  We left at 6:05 AM. 

Jon had put together a list of the quarantine expectations and sent it to Rebecca.  He was just trying to make sure all of us were on the same page.  Unfortunately, I think it would have been better if he had done it earlier.  We texted Rebecca about it and she came back expressing the fact that Esme and Griffin have a wide family they are interacting with between Kevin and her house.  It made me feel like she was not thinking we should be going up.  I think Rebecca and I were probably both emotional.  Rebecca is really scared that especially Dad with his cardiac issues might get sick and she would not forgive herself.  So, what is the answer?    We did not want to spend the summer in the heat of Florida.  We felt we should come now just in case there is a surge as a result of so many states opening up.  We also felt we could help with the grandkids so when I thought she was saying we could have no contact with them I was wondering why we were coming up.

We have since calmed down and looking for the middle ground. Of course, we knew we would not be cuddling the kids!  We would be able to see them only from a distance.  We figured we could be in the back yard with them and go for walks and do things from a distance.  Yes, she did agree with all of it.  So, I do think we are on the same page but just need to make sure we do not get sick.

This is really a scary time for all of us and we just do not know what we should be doing.  It is not just the physical aspect of the disease but also the social emotional effect this is having on everyone.  Griffin is struggling and not wanting to do his schoolwork.  I wonder if it is because he has no control over his life.   He is a social child and had lots of play dates both at his house and at friends.  He also has lots of energy and with both of his parents working from home he has less opportunities to expend that energy.  How does a six-year-old amuse himself all day without his friends?

I have said all along my generation is really only dealing with being alone.  The next generation is dealing with working from home, while homeschooling their children.  The children are dealing with being cooped up inside without their friends and much less opportunity for physical activity because their parents are working and can not take them out.  None of this is normal for any of us and everyone is struggling.  We all want it to end but many of us are fearful about what will happen as we open and all mix together.      

Well back to our trip north.  We made and ate our peanut butter, jelly sandwich at a nature walking park.  It was a little off the road and we were by ourselves.  A family had left for the walk when we arrived, and they returned as we drove away.  We had a bag of snacks in the back seat and snacked several times.  We gassed up twice and every time we used the restroom.  At the beginning of the trip maybe half of the people were wearing masks.  By the afternoon somewhere in Virginia we stopped for gas at a convenience store/truck stop.  We were the only people in the whole place with a mask on! 

We got to our Marriott Courtyard Hotel at 8:45 PM. It had been a 14.5-hour drive and around 900 miles.  Jon went in to register and discovered it was cold outside.  It had also been raining off and on.  There were not very many people at the hotel.  The lobby was full of laundry the desk clerk was folding.  They had plastic divider up around the front desk.  We rode the elevator alone.  In the morning I went out of my room just as someone was getting into the elevator.  We looked at each other and I know our instinct was for him to hold the elevator but we both knew that was not possible now!

We took our small bag with cloths and toilet articles, our refrigerator and the bags of food we would need for dinner and breakfast.  We were both grateful we did not need to go get food for dinner.  We were exhausted!  We warmed up the left-over meatloaf and mashed potatoes and settled in with the TV watching a Netflix series we have been watching.

We were both awake around 5AM so we decided to get up and go.  We ate our cold cereal breakfast and were on the road just before 6 AM.  The drive-up Interstate 81 is beautiful with the Blue Ridge Mountains off to our right.  There were lots of trucks and construction all along the way.  I decided that morning I wanted a Dunkin Donut’s frozen coffee and possibly a takeout for lunch.  Going across Interstate 84 we stopped at a drive thru Wendy’s. 

We were in Pennsylvania at the time.  We noticed that things were pretty closed down.  The shopping areas had no cars in the parking lots.  We took our Wendy’s to a Rest Area at the same exit and ate at a picnic table we had sprayed down.  The restroom building had big signs saying you were not allowed in without a mask.  The people we saw outside also had masks on.  I did get my Dunkin frozen coffee before we got home.  We got to Melrose around 4:00PM. 

We were first greeted by Doby.  We could hug and cuddle him, so I did lots of that.  I am not sure how much he remembered me since he had not seen us since Christmas.  We unpacked our car, talked with Rebecca before she went to pick up Griffin.  When they were back Griffin knocked on our door and we talked from about 8 feet apart.  There is a small mud room between our houses so that provides the 8 feet if we both stay inside our door frames.  It was so much fun for me to watch Griffin’s facial expressions as he told us everything.  He was excited to see us.  We made ourselves an omelet and toast dinner and relaxed with TV.  We were both very tired.