You really can’t make this shit up….Today, tornadoes stormed through the southern portion of our route home taking lives and leveling buildings. Fortunately, we were forewarned and were able to postpone our departure a few days. They are now predicting a window of nice weather, so tomorrow we will leave Texas and zip across the lower portion of Tornado Alley. It will take us a couple of days to get north and east into the foothills and woods of the Appalachians. While this is a minor inconvenience for us, our thoughts go out to the people effected by the recent storms, as if COVID-19 wasn’t enough for people to deal with!😖
Over the past few days, reports are emerging that the virus is peaking, the panic is beginning to drop off some, and the issue of “state to state” travel here in the south has calmed down, a bit. After a month plus on lockdown, camping and hoteling, it is time to begin our 1900 mile final push back to Vermont.
We checked all of the Wee Rover’s fluids, filled our fuel tanks, and loaded her with more than 2 weeks of water and food. The last time we prepared like this was when we headed up the Dempster Highway to the Arctic Ocean 2 years ago!
Our plan is to make it to Vermont only having to stop for fuel. We have our face masks, rubber gloves, bleach wash and hand sanitizer prepared for those stops. All campgrounds are closed, and we do not want to go to motels, so our route will hopefully hop from National Forest to Nation Forest where we can wild camp far from others. This plan, we hope, wil not only protect us, but if we happen to be carriers, protect others who are most vulnerable.
Ironically, while working our way north through Mexico we often talked about the final push north through the states. How nice it would be to mosey from state park to state park, camping and relaxing after our 2 year trip. Funny how everything changed for all of us in such a short time. Now we are planning a route, where we will sneak from hidden spot to hidden spot.
Refrigerator filled to the brim.Clothes bin commandeered to hold extra food supplies.Water tamks all topped up. We are all packed and ready to go.Puppy says, ‘Let’s go already!!’
Eating, while sheltering in place at a hotel, has been a bit of a challenge for us. We are the type of people who enjoy cooking most of our own food. We eat fairly healthy and rather simply at home and while traveling, not that we don’t each have our vices, but we won’t go there🙄.
Puppy on the other hand, the little scamp that he is, has totally enjoyed living in the land of microwavable frozen food and takeout.
If this was the game of Clue, and it was The Case of the Disappearing Waistline, we could say Puppy did it, in the hotel, with my credit card😕.
What do you do for exercise when you are sheltering in place in a hotel in suburbia and all the communities nearby are gated? Why you walk around parking lots…and around…and around…and around…
Caution: the following pictures and video are extremely boring, please do not view them while standing, drinking or operating heavy machinery. We are not responsible for any spilled milk or forehead goose eggs that occur because you fall asleep checking them out🙀.
Tidbit: All kidding aside, we are grateful for a roof over our heads, food to eat and the health of family and friends during this challenging time. We wish you and yours the same.
We crossed from Mexico intoTexas, just as the news broke of closing the border, and everything else, because of COVID-19, and just as the virus panic buying was starting. Walmart had one jar of peanut butter left, meat counters were bare and toilet paper was nowhere to be found (something all of us have seen by now).
We have been sheltering in place for about a month now. The first weeks spent camping in open, but deserted campgrounds and the last few weeks holed up in a hotel as the restrictions have become more stringent.
Our days are spent going for walks, reading, doing puzzles, playing cards, and watching sitcom marathons. We are going on 4 weeks holed up in Texas, waiting for things to peak along our route home, and for it to warm up in Vermont! We are grateful for a roof, food and our health…but after living outside, we are starting to go a bit bat shit crazy, or crazier😁
Deserted, hot and stormy camping?I have lost count of how many puzzles we have done.Puppy has developed some really bad eating habits!
