The Grand Drive – Last Push West

Before leaving Albuquerque, we headed to Piedras Marcades Canyon. I got a two mile hike in, discovering petroglyphs, while Thom got a checkup on the car. It was amazing to be a mile out into the desert. I couldn’t see or hear anything but nature for awhile. It was really cool to see the petroglyphs placed here by the Puebloans 500-700 years ago. Many are fading from the sun, wind, and rain, so it was good to see this piece of history before it’s gone.

Next up was the Petrified Forest National Park. This place blew my mind and far exceeded my expectations. It’s hard to imagine how the Grand Canyon could beat the multitude of views this park offered. We picnicked in the painted desert section of the park. For the second time today, I marveled at how the sun was beating down on me and felt delightfully warm, yet I wasn’t hot. I guess there’s something to that whole humidity thing being the problem.

We drove the 28 mile road through the park, stopping at overlooks and marveling at how each curve in the road seemed to bring about an entirely different landscape. Of special note was the Painted Desert, Newspaper Rock (where you could see hundreds of petroglyphs through binoculars), Blue Mesa, and the Crystal Forest. The drive was made even more fun by the Gold Rush Rally going on–we saw millions of dollars worth of sports cars including Corvettes, Lambos, Porsches, Ferraris, Mclarens, Ford GT, and maybe a Pagani Huarya. On the last leg of the park, we came upon a dust devil. I took a quick picture (which doesn’t do it justice) and then it traveled right over the car!

Continuing west, we were going right past Winslow AZ, so of course we had to pull off and take some pictures. Thom also made sure to get a pic of a “girl in a…Ford making eyes at me.” :)

We got checked into our Sky Dome at the Clear Sky Resort (coolest place ever) and then headed to the Grand Canyon South Rim for sunset and the annual Star Party. I had done some research and decided we wanted to go to Hopi Point for the sunset. We were going to have to find parking, get to one of the bus lines, and ride a bus over. However, in talking about our plans at the resort check-in, one of the guys gave us a code to get in the gate (so we could just drive to Hopi Point). We gathered picnic items and headed out to the canyon. I have to say, when we got out at our spot on the canyon, it was so beautiful that it was truly breathtaking. For an hour, we got to watch rain clouds go over parts of the canyon and we got to see various stellar moments of sunset (despite some heavy clouds). Since we drove, we got some pics of the Mustang at the canyon too…before heading off to enjoy the star presentations.

The Grand Drive – Land of Enchantment

Day 3 was a little different as we spent the whole day in New Mexico, discovering this mesmerizing Land of Enchantment. Since we ended yesterday with cold springs, we decided to start today with the Montezuma Hot Springs. We tried several of the springs and they were various levels of “hot tub temps”. But one of them, the Lobster Pot, was so hot that I could barely dip my toes in (120 degrees!) The warm mineral water felt amazing and it was surrounded by lush forest and a babbling brook. On the way out, we discovered a cool outcrop where I was able to walk out and enjoy yet another gorgeous view.

We left the springs and drove towards the mountains through the valley. We made our next stop at the National Scouting Museum at Philmont Scout Ranch. Working with Scouts has been a big part of my life for over 15 years, so this was a really cool stop for me. It was also meaningful since my dad went to Philmont; it was neat to see a place where he had a journey once upon a time.

After the scout museum, we embarked on the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, which loops around Wheeler Peak. We drove through Eagle Next, Angel Fire, Taos, and up to the Taos Ski Valley. Thise drive had it all–winding mountain roads, valleys, mountain lakes, and even some snow-capped mountains. It’s funny that the highest elevation I’ve been to (Clingman’s Dome at just over 6500 feet) is the same elevation as the valleys in the area. The highest we got was the Taos Ski Valley at 9200 feet (but the ski lift would’ve taken us up over 3000 more feet).

Our next stop was at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. It was quite windy standing on the bridge 650 feet above the river. Heights don’t normally phase me, but my stomach did some flips looking into the gorge.

I didn’t talk about our day 2 hotel, as it was just a good old standard Holiday Inn. However, we ended day 3 with a stay in Albuquerque at the Painted Lady Bed & Brew. This was an old saloon and brothel built in the 1880s. Our room, which used to be the front of the bar, still had the old floors (refinished) and was filled with old art and historical info. It is allegedly haunted, but the spirits didn’t bother us! There was the Ghostlight Saloon (converted bus) for Hoppy Hour and they had a beautiful courtyard with games, fire pit, and great spots to just relax. Really cool place!

The Grand Drive – Westward Bound

We survived the janky motel last night. The bed felt like it might have once taken quarters, as it was comically shaky. It had a weird aroma featuring a mixture of cigarettes from another era, pot, and bleach. The room coffee pot just boiled the water in the reservoir and leaked around the edges (only producing one of the four cups of water into coffee). The front office didn’t have coffee, but it did have coolers of live fish. Well, it seemed like they actually cleaned things and the toilet worked, so we’ll call it a win.

We headed out early with almost 650 miles ahead of us, departing AK and entering OK. Shortly after crossing the state line, we saw a disturbingly massive bank of dark clouds. Then my weather alert went off to warn us of a severe thunderstorm with straight-line winds, hail, and a chance of tornadoes. Luckily, we just had heavy rain, wind, and lightning but that was quite the storm for 8 in the morning. It was a good opportunity to sing the Oklahoma song lyrics, “Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain…”  

Although we’re only on day 2, we’ve sufficiently worn out all the cheesy road observations we tend to say. We’ve yelled “hey” at the hay bales and remarked “look at that ass” to the donkeys. We’ve pointed out the cows with either “ground beef” (for those laying down) or “click clack moo” (for those standing around in a huddle). We’ve even resorted to singing the Ren & Stimpy classic Log Song at the passing log trucks. I know–this really makes you want to be on a road trip with us. LOL

As we continued through OK, the sun came out and the clouds became friendly. It was at that moment that we understood the OK car tag design. The blue tag perfectly matched the baby blue sky. The white abstract bird image on the tag matched the wispy white clouds spotting the sky here and there. Try as I might, I didn’t find a bird-shaped cloud in the sky. OK was a beautiful state, and I loved seeing thousands of windmills throughout the landscape. (I tried to get an “up close” picture, and the windmill seemed so close in life but looks comically far away in the picture.) We also saw the largest cross I’ve ever seen.

Before leaving OK, we headed over to part of Route 66 and went to the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City. In addition to the museum, they had a whole city block full of historical buildings that had been transplanted from places all along Route 66. It was cool to stroll through and fun to see families with kids running around imagining themselves in the pretend world. My kids would’ve loved this place when they were younger–I could almost envision little Lizzy running her brothers around to play school, pretend shop, visit the movie theater, etc. As a note, there seems to be hundreds of “official” Route 66 museums, and we even stumbled upon Mater at another location. 

Back on the road, we quickly came upon Texas. In addition to windmills, we occasionally saw these weird tire mountains. It looked like someone had made huge strawberry plant mounds (with the white plastic covering) and then buried tires in them. Is this some sort of TX recycling??

Our next stop was Cadillac Ranch. We came prepared with our spray paint but, sadly, flooding from this morning made it impossible to reach the cars without stepping into water and, most assuredly, deep Texas mud. It was still a cool site to see, and we painted on the ground and some walls to be part of things. I also had a bracelet to retire, as it was falling apart. It was a match to one Lizzy and I got together in summer 2019, so I couldn’t just throw it away. Instead, Thom and I painted it with our green and purple paint and tied it on the fence where people left all sorts of mementos. It seemed fitting to leave it near the colorfully painted Crocs. :)

Approaching New Mexico, the landscape changed to absolutely nothing but road and nature as far as the eye could see (which was a pretty long way). There was prairie with growing ridgelines here and there on each side of the road. There weren’t even any windmills! This is what they mean by wide open spaces!

We had one final stop of the day–The Blue Hole. Apparently this dive locations is world-famous for its cave system at the bottom of the hole (going from 80 feet deep to nearly 200 feet deep). In addition to divers coming and going, there was a spot for cliff jumping in the hole and then plenty of room for swimming or snorkeling. It was beautiful, fun to snorkel, and extremely refreshing at a cool 61 degrees!

Let the Grand Drive Begin

On New Year’s Day, sitting around my mom’s table, the predictable question went around: “What’s everyone’s plans for 2023?” Thom quickly piped up and proclaimed that he was taking his woman to see the Grand Canyon. This was news to me, but thus the journey began.

I originally had a big “Out West” road trip planned for summer 2020. The kids and I were going to camp across the West for nearly a month, and Thom was going to meet us for part of it. As with many things in 2020, that trip fell apart. Since that time, the Galloway kids have scattered and it’s quite tricky to get us all in one place for a weekend, much less a month. So, I had mentally given up on this trip ever happening. Thom is full of surprises though and often seems to know my inner thoughts that even I don’t know. He decided to make it happen and stated it in front of others, knowing that would keep me from justifying any postponement of the trip (due to money, time, or not being able to do the trip with the kids).

Over the course of the last few months, we’ve gone from idea to loose planning to booking plans. Thom even got me a giant atlas for the planning (as he knows I love a good map). We added Pike’s Peak to the top goal along with the Grand Canyon. We knew we had a max 10 days available and just filled in the schedule with other cool spots to visit and scenic roads to drive.

Today took us from Kennesaw to Ozark, Arkansas (five states in one day!). The first stretch of road was filled with me doing my nails since I ran out of time before the trip but wanted to look my best on this long date. (Shout out to Stephanie Ann Jones and her Color Street Nails. There’s no way I could do my nails in the car otherwise.)

We had some scenic roads in North Georgia, raced a train in Alabama, and crossed the Tennessee River on the way to a new-to-me Buc-ee’s in Athens, AL. Buc-ee’s to Memphis was the Bee Line Highway, aptly named as it was a straight line between the two. There wasn’t much but corn fields and then this weird place in Mississippi called an Attendance Center (that looked like an old prison with a playground out front). Apparently that’s a school??

Our Memphis stop was at a place called Central BBQ. The decor was a fun picnic vibe but with lots of music art. They had Memphis soul music keeping things lively as well. We sampled each others meals and I can say the classic Memphis rubs were awesome; it was some of the most flavorful BBQ I’ve ever had.

We left lunch, passing the Memphis Pyramid and crossing the wide waters of the Mississippi River. (Side note-I failed to blog about my quick trip through the midwest in 2021. We went to the Memphis Pyramid and it was super fun.) We settled in for a few hours along I-40 with an episode of History of Rock Music in 500 Songs. While technically the episode was about the Byrds, there was a lot of discussion of jazz, bebop, and soul–seemed extra fitting for our Memphis visit.

Once we got out of Memphis, we finally escaped the haze coming from the Canadian fires, but quickly entered gloomy clouds and occasional rain. Despite the dreary weather, we pulled off I-40 just east of Clarksville (which randomly happens to be a nuclear evacuation route…good to know?). We also passed Ozone Burgers, which Thom aptly named the Stabbing Shack–it was a run-down building surrounded by these weird creepy trees that were black and had leafless branches reaching straight upward, so like something out of a horror movie (and we never saw trees like this again on the drive). Anyway… we took the Ozark Highlands Scenic Byway up into the Ozark Mountains and then cut west to take the Pig Tail Scenic Highway back south to I-40. We had no GPS signal and were warned with multiple signs that the road was “Very Crooked & Steep”, but that’s the kind of road we love. However, it was raining lightly most of the drive. While wet roads aren’t as much fun, we drove in and out of the clouds in the mountains and through lush forest regions…and we had the road to ourselves. It was a different experience that we expected, but it was still breathtakingly beautiful.

We ended the day in Ozark with dinner at the Hillbilly Hideout (weird location but great food) and a sufficient hotel. The sign says “Luxury Accommodation” but I think that was put up in the 60s. All in all, it was a long, good day. We moved about 700 miles in 14 hours (including all the stops). Time to hit the hay and start a new journey tomorrow!

The Pandemic’s New Normal

It’s kinda jaw-dropping to think back over the past few months. Things that were a year or two ago feel so far away and so foreign that it almost feels like another life–someone else’s life. It’s so odd to look back and see that I called Covid an epidemic in my last post. I was so hopeful for things to be over soon, yet we’ve now gone through two more huge waves with this thing, each one unimaginably larger and worse than the last. Similarly, it’s bizarre to know I last posted while on the cusp of shifting attitudes about life, the virus, and politics. The darkness I was starting to see didn’t scratch the surface of where it all went. As much as I thought I was going to write about life and experiences during the pandemic, I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I didn’t want to be fake and only talk about the positive, and I didn’t want to talk about all the darkness of this world.

I figured I’d be sitting down tonight to write all the details of things that have happened since I last wrote–both with myself and in the world around me. Now that I’m at the computer, that seems pointless and trite. Most everyone I know has experienced the full gamut of emotions and frustrations. Life seems to both be racing forward and leaving us behind as we tend to cling to what “should” be going on right now. In this new normal, milestones and moments aren’t happening as imagined. It feels like nothing will ever be “normal” again. Way too many people seem to be what used to be the fringe–selfish, thoughtless, mean, & heartless. We the people are allowing entertainers (people making money off “clicks” or “views”) to fill us with lies, and we’re ripping ourselves apart. All the while, the majority (I have to hope and believe that is still true) are trying to do the right things and are so saddened by the state of things in our country.

I hope and pray with all of my being that this time I’m writing on the cusp again–on the cusp of renewal, healing, and positivity everywhere. I’ve recently taken a (nearly) month-long break from all social media. It wasn’t to protest anyone or anything. It was to join my church in an annual “fasting” to remove something that tends to be important to me and replace it with some soul-nourishing time. I was all set to join my small group of ladies in fasting (everyone chose whatever they needed fasting from) and in studying the book of Proverbs together. Ironically, the app we were using had you connect with friends via Facebook and my friend request never connected for some reason. I wasn’t going to break my own promise even to “just” go on FB to try and figure it out. I decided to just go it alone.

I enjoy several social media platforms, mainly for the fun and connection with people I can’t see very often (including my college kids). In a time where I see very few people, this was an especially big sacrifice. I knew it would be hard, but I had no idea how hard it would actually be. I walked away on the evening of January 10th and was supposed to return on February 1st. Problem was, I didn’t quite finish the whole book, so I decided I wouldn’t get back on until the reading was done. There have been moments where I’ve wanted to give up. I’ve missed the connections (and the Bernie memes!) and at moments the reading left me frustrated. I’m stubborn though, so I doubled down.

From my reading, I learned to be patient with the repetitiveness of Proverbs. I’ve read the Bible through before, so none of it’s new, which makes it even harder to focus on and not gloss through. Some moments the reading was frustrating (like, did I just read the same chapter twice or are they just copying/pasting phrases all over the place?). Other moments the reading was annoying (like, I don’t need to know about the adulterous woman–that’s not me). But then I settled down. I started pondering a little deeper, like why are we harping on wisdom? (It has to be mentioned 50 or more times in those 31 little chapters.) Desiring wisdom seems like common sense to me, but then I apply that thought to the world around me and see that it clearly isn’t common sense. So I understand it’s harped on because it’s so essential. Even with the adulterous woman, I can see the comparison to so many other things where “persuasiveness can lead you astray”. (I might could write a whole political paper on that one phrase.) I got to the end and loved the “Wife of a Noble Character”. I relate to a few parts of her (not just because she wears purple). I wish I were more like her and it gives me a reminder to strive towards more. My reading reminded me of the importance of humility, grace, kindness, giving, and striving towards wisdom. Bigger than all that, I realized that Jesus’ words were there way back in the Old Testament, spelled out through so many of the sayings in Proverbs–Love your neighbor as yourself. It sounds so simple until you think about how much you love yourself. I move forward working to do better with that simple, yet incredibly difficult, ideal.

As to this crazy world we’re living in right now, I can’t predict what’s next. I hope that people will follow the words of our current President (whether they like him or not) and work towards coming together. Our country can do such great things when we come together. I hope that this virus subsides into something more manageable and less deadly. I hope that we get to see great innovations come out of this historic time period. I hope that our country makes strides towards a place where all are treated equally and anyone wanting to work a full time job can do so–and can live off of that wage. Lofty hopes, I know.

Me personally? I’m so blessed and thankful right now. We’re okay on the big life stuff. I would love to see Alex sing again in person, and I want him to make this summer’s trip to Norway. I would love to see Lizzy play again in person, and I’d like her to get some normal college class interactions. I would love to see Brandon play again in person, and I want to take him on a college tour trip, like I did with the others. I want to be able to go out to a normal dinner with my hubby. I want to go on a trip with my fam, whether it’s the west coast trip we had planned or something else. I want to see all my other family without all the complicated pandemic “feelings”. Most of all, I still want lots of warm hugs.

Love all of you that support my nonsense (and my sanity) by encouraging me to write!

A Day in the Life – Coronavirus Epidemic Edition

If you’re anything like me, you relate to things in terms of music. I hear my current situation in the feelz behind the words or theme of a song. Or a song title speaks to the current moment. Before you think I’m gonna get too deep, I’ll lay out some lyrics:

“I don’t know what the world may want, but some words of wisdom could comfort us; think I’ll leave that up to someone wiser”  –Cracker*  (for post-GenX kids, this was a band, not a racial slur, lol)

So if you’re reading this to get some wisdom and poetic insight into our current madness, this prolly isn’t your kind of post.

It’s easy to just assume everyone thinks/feels/deals the same as I do. That’s a human weakness. And while I try not to fall into that trap, I sometimes find myself surprised–no, shocked–by something someone says that blows up my perceptions. In light of that, I  don’t believe we all are experiencing the Covid pandemic exactly the same.  One of the highlights to the current situation is that I learn something new about people in my (wide) circle every single day.  I’ve enjoyed others’ stories so much that I thought I would keep sharing about mine.

Thom is newly managing a pretty large group of engineers and technicians in the IT field.  Trying to help a number of Atlanta-based businesses to suddenly put everyone onto completely virtual workstations has kept him busy. It has become mostly work from home, but it’s challenging and the days are long (and then sometimes the day keeps texting well into bedtime). He’s so tired that he bailed out of a D&D online game with friends & Brandon two weeks in a row (but he’s back with the gang tonight).  I’m keeping maybe one nostril above water right now. There are moments where I feel like I’m drowning under the pounding waves–each time I get my footing and feel like I can swim out, I get knocked over by a new wave. And each time I get knocked over, I get weaker and weaker.

Let me just say, I KNOW it could be so much worse. A million ways worse. We could be out of jobs. We could be working jobs in dangerous situations (like the angels that we call doctors, nurses, scientists, and all the others who are working to save as many lives as possible). We could be sick. We could be homeless. We could be utterly alone.  There are so many ways it could be worse that I can’t count them.

I have been through stuff in the last year that less than a handful of people know 100% of. I’ve clawed out of some of that stuff to some extent. But then for the last three months of the year I worked two jobs, one that I gave ridiculous notice to, out of some sort of respect and kindness that I believed was mutual. The other was a new job in a new environment with a completely different field of work than I’ve ever done. I can only believe it was my grit that got me the job, as it certainly wasn’t because of experience specific to the job. (Side note: Be careful what you say you’re “never” going to do because whatever your youthful self says will surely set what your older self will, in fact, be doing.) So, I was never going to do accounting (insert yawn here). My advisor at UGA (and my grandpa Jolly) wanted me to go into actuarial science. I thought that sounded like the most boring thing on the planet. (Sorry Thom, we could’ve been money rich!)  Funny thing is, I love what I’m doing. It fits in my desired job sweet spots: involved with decisions at a high level, small business, a wide-variety of tasks, and a schedule that is family-raising-friendly. Despite loving the job, it’s still overwhelming as I’m trying to dust off those accounting principles from 20+ years ago in business school.

So I got through the tornado of two jobs and the holidays and honestly, it allowed me to avoid dealing with the earlier life junk. Of course that’s never good but I believe you’ve sensed my mantra: will I never learn? Then I rolled into the post-Christmas and pre-winter break weirdly-fast time period. I wrote last week about that break and the cruise and my arrival on land with some sort of terrible virus. Well, what’s extra weird is the timing of all this for me personally.  I didn’t feel like normal until over two weeks later, and then I had a beautiful weekend in Athens celebrating my talented daughter and her peers from across the state. I had a wonderful time with some of my band mom peeps plus a concert and a meal alongside family, friends, and a wonderful lady new to my life (who reminds me, in spirit, of my grandma–fun, loving, and wise). We came home and had a few days of trying to catch up on everything that fell behind during the break, my illness, and the trip. But then I’m trying to find cleaning supplies for work and there’s all this talk of people hoarding supplies for this outbreak. And then I go to a conference with government folks and there are lots of last minute cancellations. And all anyone can talk about is the virus. And Rome is also out of typical cleaning supplies. So I decide to bail on a scout banquet where I was getting an award, and I decide to go to Lizzy’s first night of the musical, Chicago. I planned to go Saturday, but things felt weird, so I followed my bizarre instincts (and Thom went along with my “craziness”). By the time we got to the school, word was already out that school was shutting down Monday “until further notice” and that we would only get the one night of the musical.

The musical was fantastic, but then people were being awkward afterwards (avoiding hugs and handshakes). Everyone was lamenting that it was their one and only show and talking about how the next (and turns out last) school day was going to be weird. Somewhere on that drive home I felt like I slid behind the veil of life.  Ever since that night, I’ve had to ask myself, daily, Is this Real?!? If I ponder it too long, I start wondering if anything has been real since I came home from that cruise. Some days, it’s almost easy to imagine that I died that last feverish stormy night at sea. That means this is certainly not Heaven, so it must be Hell. Then I imagine that Hell would prolly be much worse, so maybe this is Hell on Earth. When my mind goes down this path, I either cry myself back up to ground level or I realize I’m sinking and start reminding myself of everything I have to be thankful for.

The trick about all this for me, and maybe others of you out there, is that right now I learn the hard way. I pull up to the bar of wallowing. Even though I know it’s worse for me, I purposely choose to enter the darkness and sit with Misery–she comforts me. Don’t get me wrong, I make the right choice sometimes; I go for a walk, put on music that’s light & bright, do some yoga stretches, work on a puzzle, rock on the porch at dusk, or do something else healthy.

Every day has seemed to carry more weird or scary news. Cobb schools were closed “until further notice” which seemed like something out of a dystopian novel. But most surrounding schools were closed for just two weeks, so it seemed like we had a timeline. We lamented several concerts and prom that would be missed in the last part of March, but it was (at first) unspoken as “see ya after spring break”.  Then, nearly every day still, there was something cancelled and marked off our calendars.  Things progressed to shelter-in-place for Cobb to then a more serious sounding SIP from Georgia. Every time someone talked about the time needed before this ends, in seemingly mere moments someone else would talk of longer. It went from two weeks (end of March) to mid-April, to end of April, to Mid-May. And now Brandon’s driver’s test for May 22nd is cancelled, so obviously the government thinks we’re still in the thick of things until the end of May. This is my 4th week of working/living exclusively at home–and we might need 7 more???  I mean, the logical part of me knows that Wuhan and other areas were shut down for about 11 weeks, but the ME part of me wants no part in those thoughts.

I’ve been throwing lots of mental tantrums lately. I don’t want Easter at home (I’ve ALWAYS been with my mom). I don’t want Lizzy’s 18th birthday, prom, concerts, celebrations, yearbook signing, honors night, baccalaureate, and graduation to all be unavoidably altered by this virus. I don’t want Brandon to miss concerts and celebrations, to delay his Eagle project, to miss MomoCon, to miss band leadership sessions, to have a strange 16th birthday, or to be delayed on his drivers’ test. I don’t want to go any longer without seeing my big ol’ crazy family. I don’t want to miss our west coast road trip. I don’t want to imagine summer without time in PTC, in Sky Valley, at the beach. I’m mentally like a child laying on the floor kicking her hands & feet, yelling, and turning red. Maybe, like that child, I just need a long bit of true rest–the kind of rest a toddler has after a busy day where they’re dead to the world and drooling. I am trying to take better care of myself, but there’s so much going on that it’s hard to do.

I haven’t been watching the news except very occasionally and briefly. It’s really weird not to have a traffic report every 10 minutes in Atlanta. I can’t absorb the numbers of this pandemic, as they seem to double every few days. It’s weird to hear that America is still/again (depending on your politics) #1…but that’s in number of cases and deaths among other countries of the world (including China, which seemed like a nightmare just seeing them on the news many weeks ago).  And, yes, I know that you can often make any numbers work in your favor, but it’s surreal to hear it even if there are errors in the numbers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are positive stories on the news (as everyone’s grasping at anything that brings a little hope), but I can’t wade through the cold dark waters right now.

I have been on social media more, as it’s one of the few ways to connect with people right now. Funny enough, most of the political garbage I had been seeing was mostly gone (at least until this week). People were doing those surveys that are bad for your privacy but good for getting to know someone.  Others were sharing resources–everything from “check out this free museum tour” to “here’s how to make your own disinfecting wipes” to “here are some homeschooling tips that might help”. Some were posting stories of kindness and moments of thankfulness.  Some were posting silly jokes and memes and not really mean, sarcastic, or political ones (again, before this week). This week I’ve seen a turn on my feeds. There’s more anger at the government (both on under-reacting and over-reacting). There’s more political/agenda type discussions. There’s more worry as increasing numbers of people lose their jobs in some manner. There’s more stress as some people are starting to run low on certain supplies that are in low supply (toilet paper being the funny yet important American staple that tops the lottery-winning level of acquisition skill needed). There’s confusion as we try to discern why it’s acceptable to have grocery aisles open (when stores could go to pick-up or delivery orders only), yet the local parks are closed. There’s frustration when all the different levels of government seem to contradict one another–almost daily. There is disgust from someone no matter where you fall in all this.  At first, we came together as people, much like right after 9/11. But it feels like that Americana fabric is starting to tear at itself once again. Heaping on the pile of unbelievable stuff, there seems to be a growing amount of rebellious talk, all in the name of hashtag freedom. Catchphrases are starting to circulate about “survival of the fittest” and “economy first” that really makes me wonder if I landed in Alice in Wonderland and took the red pill. I really hope we’re not jumping into Lord of the Flies. Heck, the literature analogies are making me wonder if I’m Thursday Next in a new Jasper Fforde book.  :)

On a more positive note, there are silver linings on all these clouds. One, quite literally, is that the seemingly incessant rain stopped.  Even though it brought the gosh-darn pollen, it also brought out the sunshine. If I sit on the porch with the sun shining in on my face, I can almost pretend I’m somewhere else in time. Another is that people feel more connected in a weird way. Technology (Zoom being the biggest impact) has been embraced in a way I’ve never seen before. I’m checking in on more  people than I did before (and more people are checking on me). It’s refreshing, and it’s something I hope continues after all this.  I do think I’ll appreciate a good many things more:  traveling, time with family, eating out at a restaurant, walking through the park, and hugs. While there’s much more to unpack in all this, I’ll leave it right there. I’m looking forward to the day when I can give you all some warm hugs.  <3

 

How I came to Know Coronavirus

I don’t remember the exact day I heard the term Coronavirus, but I certainly didn’t know it was soon to be largest phenomena I would witness in my lifetime. I do remember where I heard it…at work one day when I referenced my upcoming cruise with The Angels. The sweetest lady I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, and the joy of working with, told me I shouldn’t go on that cruise because I could catch Coronavirus. I didn’t know what she was talking about at first because when she’s catching up on the news, I’m busy with all the activities that come to a mom with busy teenagers. Not complaining or nothin’, that’s just where we both are in our lives. So I look up some news, see it’s all about China, and decide it doesn’t matter since I’m not going on a cruise that connects to China.

As the time for my cruise draws closer (set for President’s Day week), I hear a little more hear and there, and I hear the change from “not transmissible human-to-human” to “well, it looks like human transmission is possible”. But it’s still all about China.  So, meh.

Then I start hearing about some cruise ship floating around with infected people.  “Quarantine” and “Isolation” become words discussed in social groups now. Talk is swirling of other countries, other than China, having cases of Coronavirus. My sweet office lady is telling me daily not to go on the cruise. Other people are starting to say,  “Are you still going?”, “Make sure to wash your hands!”, and other panicky things…some in a joking manner and some in a serious manner.

*Side Note – I was also worried about this cruise because I’ve had increasing issues with motion sickness over the past five years. I went prepared with two kinds of motion sickness meds, pressure bands, ginger candy, and lots of hope. I’ve described lots of details about the actual cruise on my social media, so I won’t go into that here.

So fast forward toward the end of my cruise. I try making the most of this last sea-day (the least fave day for someone with motion sickness).  I sleep in a little, read my book and eat a leisurely breakfast while watching the sun tick across the line of the ocean. I go to the tucked away jewel on the top deck at the front of the ship (queue Titanic music here, LOL) where very few people are around, so it’s quiet and tranquil on an otherwise busy ship. I lay with the warm sun on my face and the wind whipping in my hair and I take solace in the sensory overload experience that somehow pushes down the motion sickness feelings temporarily. I go straight to the Lincoln Center meet & greet and stay for a beautiful chamber orchestra performance with a French theme. From there it’s tea time with my Angels, then a trip to the spa (heated stone lounge chairs with a view of the ocean–Heavenly!), then ready for another gala night dinner. After dinner, I dash down to enjoy another Lincoln Center chamber performance–this time Schumann. I’m leaving it a little early to meet the girls for the big evening entertainment, and when I get up I feel slightly weak. (I figure I’ve actually been pretty active this week, so maybe my lazy ass was tired.) As I get to the other end of the ship to meet my friends, I start coughing. (I chalk it up to allergies, as I have so many allergies that I’m used to a cough showing up somewhere on a trip away from home.) I start feeling out of it during the evening entertainment–so much so that I still don’t recall much about the performance; it was a variety act with several of the groups from earlier in the week (a dance troupe and a comedian, I think). We get up to go play group Scattergories, and I feel totally worn out. I sit with the group and play the game, but I feel like I’m in a fog. I head straight to bed feeling chilled and weak. I don’t sleep well as I can’t get warm enough and I can’t stop coughing (on top of the motion sickness being the worse at night). We get up early for the day I looked most forward to — a cabana and snorkeling in the Bahamas — and I feel like I was beat up all night. I try to eat breakfast but I don’t feel like eating and everything seems to make me cough. I tell the group I’m going to lay back down for awhile and then join them. I don’t lay there more than 15 minutes before I realize something is very wrong and I need to go to medical.

Well, medical is a joke. They’re open very limited hours (four hours total that day) and there seems to be one nurse and one doctor, and a waiting room with quite a few people. I tell them I’m certain I have a fever, and I’m coughing into my elbow the whole time. I ask if they have a mask and they say I’ll get one later if I’m deemed to need one. There’s no hand sanitizer at the counter or in the waiting area. There are lots of other things that are done wrong that I’m not going to get bogged down into. The doctor swabs me for the flu, turns around and does something on the counter, and turns back to me and says “You have the flu.”

Mind you, I was in there weak and running, as it turns out, a 103 temperature. I don’t realize until many days later that there’s no way she ran a flu test in that time.

I go through an ordeal for the last 24 hours of my cruise. At this moment, I cannot relive those hours. I know that sounds dramatic but it is what it is. I thought I was going to die on that boat that night. At the time I knew they were doing some of this quarantine stuff poorly. Now I know they were doing all of it wrong, as I’ve learned a lot about quarantines here lately.

By the strength of God, I was able to put on my purse and backpack, and roll a suitcase off that ship. Travel that day and next is a blur. My sweet friends got me through FL and into GA, but they had to stop overnight. Every rest stop and the hotel got me plenty of fearful and/or angry “looks” with my medical mask. I finally got home and I kept everyone (okay, everyone except Thom) at bay but talked a little about my trip. I went to bed early, and then I broke.

I was still fighting a fever and unbelievably weak and felt like I was looking out at life while in a black hole.  I felt the intensity of the ship rocking during a storm, even though my feet had been on land for days. I don’t know if it was the illness or the Tamiflu or the fact that they had given me cough medicine with Guaifenesin as one of the many ingredients (and that I’m allergic to). All I know is that I couldn’t stop rocking my body (trying to counteract the land motion sickness)…I couldn’t stop crying…I couldn’t get the darkness out of my mind and my body.

Despite having a flu shot and despite taking Tamiflu within about 14 hours of symptom onset, I wasn’t fever-free (without the help of meds) until Tuesday, and I started getting sick Thursday. That’s six days of really sick even though having the flu shot is supposed to minimize the duration of the flu (if it doesn’t protect you entirely). That’s six days of misery even with the Tamiflu (which is also supposed to shorten the duration also). It seems like this virus ran its course regardless of the vaccine and antiviral meds.

People started joking with me that I actually had Coronavirus. Then some people seemed serious once they heard how things went down. My roommate from the cruise came down sick two or three days after me, but then she tested negative for the flu. They treated her like it was the flu though, and she had the same weird oppressive depression as me. Well if I had the flu and she got it from me, then she should’ve had a positive flu test. And her timing of illness (and it being the same kind of illness) seems to point very strongly to her getting whatever it was from me. So, of course I’ll never know, but I have to wonder if I actually had Coronavirus. And thus becomes the moment when this thing become close and personal to me.

 

Travel America – Homeward Bound

I almost didn’t want to write about the end of our trip because that means it’s over. Yeah, I know how dumb that sounds since it’s obviously over. I just don’t do well with endings. Summer ended (for us) a week ago and school activities have ramped up, so I figure I’ll hang on just a little longer while sharing the last two days of our trip…as we were homeward bound.

 

We woke up one final morning in Connecticut to that crazy early 5am sunrise (I won’t miss that part). Everyone was sad to say goodbye, as the adults enjoyed renewed time together and all the kids enjoyed getting to really know one another. Deejay and the kids mentioned what we could do “next time” we visited, while the Galloways all pondered the thought that we weren’t sure we’d ever make it that way again. If we do, there are more sites to see and more Just Dance to play.  :)

We traveled through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. We payed lots more in tolls and listened to a wide variety of tunes (Prodigy, Phish, the Transformers soundtrack, Guster, Honors orchestra, Toad the Wet Sprocket, the Wreck-it Ralph soundtrack, Allstate high school chorus, and the Nightmare before Christmas soundtrack). Alexander spotted nuclear power plants, Brandon spotted soybeans, and I finally spotted corn. (The plants were tiny though—we were apparently north enough for late harvest seasons.) Elizabeth commented how funny it was that one “piece of land” was shared by Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia…made me think about the Michigan U.P.

We finally approached the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, and the highest toll yet. However, this $15 toll was well worth the view (far better than the industrial views in Jersey for a lovely $12 toll). For 18 miles, we traveled along an isolated corridor of bridges and tunnels. There were two mile-long tunnels, going as deep as 75 feet below the water’s surface. The bridges were so long that they didn’t even seem like bridges as you skimmed above the water. Besides the road, there was nothing in site besides a few passing cars, a lone cargo ship, a picturesque sail boat, and the setting sun. We rode along in near total silence, just soaking up the amazing wonder of it all.

 

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It was hard to reenter reality after that, but soon found our hotel for the night and wandered out for one more delicious seafood meal. The last overnight stay was probably my favorite. This hotel room was a little more spacious, yet we were all still together. Long after crawling into bed, we were all talking about the day and giggling over shadow puppets on the wall.

The last day was celebrated with one last round of hotel waffles and one last effort at packing the car. I suddenly realized that while we had lots of pictures from the trip, we didn’t have a single picture all together. Lizzy came to our rescue and took a good group selfie!

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We drove through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia…of course with lots of music (the Connells, the Cure, more Metallica, Jack Johnson, Delirium, and more Phish). We drove past a giant beach chair in Virginia and wondered about an 1800s cemetery in the medium of I-85. Our final meal stop was at the Beacon in South Carolina. We made the mistake of ordering things “aplenty” (with onion rings and fries)…needless to say, leftovers aplenty went home with us!

 

It really was a wonderful trip. Of course there was tons we didn’t do and see, but that’s life. We all felt like we experienced a lot of our country without being overly scheduled. We made the most of technology (Waze, Gas Buddy, Trip Advisor, Roadside America, and Guess-It), and we made the most of time together. Thom blessed me with the gift of driving, as I got to just enjoy the view much of the trip. I don’t think we’ll ever forget the big things—monuments and our country’s history. I know we won’t forget the little things—silly jokes, crazy selfies, whispers in the night, and even the silence of awe. If you haven’t gotten out and experienced our world in some way, I urge you to do so. Take your spouse, your kids, your dog, or just yourself and experience this amazing world. Whether you experience something new in your community or something cool in a different country, it will change you (for the better) if you let it.

Travel America – New York City

It was the beginning of the “lasts” on this road trip, as this was the last big city we would visit. While we didn’t prepare detailed plans for NYC like we did for DC or Philly, we were still very excited about the visit. We originally thought we’d take the train from Connecticut into the city, as that’s certainly an option. However, it was way more expensive then we planned, so Thom and Deejay worked on an alternate plan. They found a way to get on the Statue Cruise from New Jersey. They also discovered that we could get on in New Jersey and get off in New York (after the tour), but we’d have to find another way back to Jersey…but there were lots of affordable water taxis that would meet our needs. So, we got up early that morning and drove to the big city. We had a harrowing moment (again) when we drove straight towards Manhattan and Thom got panicky for a few minutes, but many fast lefts and rights in traffic put us on the George Washington bridge over to Jersey. I think this was the first double decker bridge we had gone over, and we ended up on the lower level (which was cool but not as scenic).

 

Parking was relatively easy at Liberty State Park, and the ticket line was short, but there was about an hour-long line to go through security and get on the ferry. (We later talked to people that boarded in New York and found out that their wait was twice as long.) The kids enjoyed the ferry ride to Ellis Island, and it was a fun moment to recall the crazy ferry ride we took at Patriot’s Point years ago when a hurricane was out at sea…this ferry ride was extremely calm in comparison!

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Our first stop on the cruise was Ellis Island, also known as the Island of Hope and Tears. I expected more history on the building, how the island was chosen, and the people who first ran operations at the island. However, the majority of information was centered around immigration—both the stories of places/situations that people were emigrating from as well as the stories of the people once they arrived. It really made us think about our history, as we read about the freedoms and opportunities that drew people in from around the world while also seeing the hard life and poor treatment that many received while getting here and once arriving. It was also striking to see how many of our freedoms weren’t applied to all people.


After our Ellis Island tour, it was time to line up for the ride to Liberty Island. The line wasn’t too long, but we did have to wait about 30 minutes for another ferry to arrive and unload. It was really cool to circle all around Lady Liberty in the boat before landing on Liberty Island. We enjoyed our stroll around the island, taking pictures in front of the statue, and watching all the people around us. It was interesting to see how many groups were there with flags from other countries in their pictures, celebrating their heritage and their American life simultaneously. We weren’t able to go up in the statue at all, a side effect of “going with the flow” and not having set plans in advance. We discovered that, for this time of year, you need to make reservations three months in advance to walk up to the pedestal; you need to make reservations nine months in advance to walk up to the crown. Ah well, it was still cool to see it up close and remarkable to see how very tall the statue is (since it seems dwarfed against the New York skyline and all the skyscrapers).

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We also saw the Liberty Bike, covered in copper, which was created to commemorate the 125th anniversary back in 2011. Before departing the island, the kids all bought a souvenir…they had all been waiting for something here and did a great job hanging onto (most of) their money during the prior week. Then we were back in line (for over an hour) to get on the ferry—this time to Battery Park in New York. On the plus side, we passed the time having a quick “lunch” of hot dogs and soft pretzels.

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Once we got to Battery Park, we walked towards the 9/11 Memorial. It was funny that the kids thought (and Thom hoped) that this area was right off the ferry. Seeing the city from the water, everything looked close, but this area was actually six or so blocks away. It was stunning to see how they had replaced the building footprints with amazing, huge reflecting pools. There were 30-foot waterfalls all around the square, cascading into the reflecting pool and pouring into deep voids. It was mesmerizing and saddening. The shining spot was the rebuilt towers and the lone surviving tree.

 
As we headed out of the city and towards the water taxis (ie, ferries), everyone discovered they were hungry. We didn’t believe a dinner in the financial district would be very affordable, and no one wanted another hot dog (mainly because the street vendors were cleaning their carts and the smell of cleaning products and hot grease from the day was less than appetizing). We decided to push dinner back until we got to the car, and instead stopped at a smoothie stand. I bought one to share, but the kids all decided to buy their own after tasting how amazing it was. Thom & I got to enjoy ours while watching the kids make decisions on how much to tip. We also got a culture lesson as one of the smoothie truck workers left, pulled out a mat, and went through the motion of prayer right there next to the road. Smoothies in hand, we hopped on a ferry and enjoyed the late day ride on the water.

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Dinner was later than planned because we dared not look for food until safely past any chance of driving into NYC. We all agreed on Mexican food and located a well-rated place in New Jersey–El Bandido. The food was great, the place was packed, and the service was shockingly fast. While the entrees were a little pricey (compared to normal restaurant Mexican combination platters), they slapped down free mini cheese quesadillas and a loaded nacho chip for each person, in addition to the chips and salsa. The party atmosphere filled with loud music precluded any conversation, but we just enjoyed the experience. It was especially funny when the mariachi musician (one guy with a guitar and an ipod playing the other parts) came to our table, stood across from Elizabeth, and sang La Cucaracha (btw, she hates all bugs, but especially roaches). As the meal finished up and we got the bill, we were about to get up from the table when they delivered a complimentary dessert…some sort of cross between bananas foster and sopapillas. It was a crazy (and delicious) way to end the night.

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Reflections: Brandon really liked the Statue of Liberty, and enjoyed the immigrant stories of how happy they were to see the statue. Alexander liked hanging out with Deejay and his kids; he also loved the ferry ride back in the evening. Elizabeth enjoyed looking through all the immigrant artifacts in the Ellis Island museum, and loved the Mexican place with all the freebies. Thom found the most meaning in the 9/11 memorial since it’s something that’s been part of our lifetime.

Travel America -Venture Northward

You can imagine our surprise when we woke up to howling wind and temps in the 40s. It was the last day of school for the CT kids, so we decided to drive around and venture northward a little more. Brandon was still angling for a trip to Maine (for authentic lobster), so we pondered driving through Massachusetts into southern Maine, and back through the southern sections of New Hampshire and Vermont. We thought about visiting Salem and/or investigating more American history in Boston with Paul Revere, the Boston Tea Party, etc. In the search, we noticed Plymouth MA and decided to go there first and wing the rest of the plans.
The drive through eastern CT and into MA was beautiful, hilly countryside. As you can imagine, we filled the time with music (REM, Indigo Girls, Imagine Dragons, Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, and Front Line Assembly). However, we kept the sunroof closed since it was too chilly outside.
Plymouth was a quaint, classic New England kind of town. The water was stunning and the anchored yachts were impressive. We strolled down the boardwalk to read about Plymouth Rock and then got to see it. I nearly laughed out loud as I was expecting something like this…

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…but instead I saw this…

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Yes, the information said it was probably at least three times larger (Zoolander anyone?) at the time of the Mayflower landing (if it really landed at the Rock, which seems debatable at best since the rock wasn’t mentioned in historical accounts until 100 years after the landing). Even three times larger would be nowhere near the picture I had in my mind. So, we moved on to see the Mayflower. I wasn’t surprised that it was a replica, but the kids somehow expected the original ship to still be sitting there in the water. I guess we all had our surprises that day, but enjoyed the experience nonetheless.

 
We ended up having an awesome lunch at the Lobster Shack, right there on the water (but inside because it was so windy and cool). On the way back to the car, we stopped at the Visitor’s Center (one of the best things you can do in any touristy town) and had a delightful time talking to the elderly couple running the center. They told us lots about the area and played a memory game with the kids. We had one final surprise before we got back to the car…one little shop was purportedly selling Harry Potter’s famous butterbeer. Of course the boys had to buy some (so the tourist trap worked).

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There were other things to do there, but we felt complete with the experience. We decided that the lunch lobster came out of the same water as our proposed Maine spot an hour north and collectively decided against the driving loop that would put us back at Deejay’s pretty late. Instead, we drove back along the coast and through Ocean Spray and past cranberry bogs. Then we kept going through Rhode Island…my new dream home state. (How could it not be? It’s known as the ocean state!) It really was beautiful, driving over more stunning bridges than I could count (but there were, of course, tolls).

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We got back to CT in time to celebrate the last day of school with a cookout and playtime in the yard with the kids. And since we didn’t make it to Vermont, we did the next best thing and went to Ben & Jerry’s for dessert.  :)

 

Reflections: Thom had fun messing with some other Plymouth tourists, telling them “welcome to Georgia” after he took a picture for them; he also loved going over the scenic bridges. Elizabeth enjoyed the Visitor Center games (probably because she was better at it than her brothers), and appreciated the delicious cookout complete with grilled asparagus. Alexander had a foodie day, unable to decide whether the stuffed shrimp at lunch was better than the scrumptious scoop at Ben & Jerry’s. Brandon was, of course, excited to have real lobster (there’s no convincing him that other restaurant lobster is real)…but he was also tickled to imagine our forefathers (or relatives) passing down a lie about Plymouth Rock (and, as he said, that’s not something you learn in school).