Travel is so Different Now

Yesterday, I drove about 630 miles (a little over 1000 km) through mostly high covid country.

Arizona and Imperial county have crazy numbers of Covid infections. I wasn't concerned about the driving part, but about the gasing up and restroom situation - a bit harder for a woman to handle than a guy with the puritan attitudes about nakedness in this country. And there are no bushes to hide behind either in this kind of landscape 😉.

I was prepared with masks, gloves, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, and such. And I limited my stops to uncrowded rest stops. Count yourself lucky if you don't have to go very often 🤪

There is that fine line about staying hydrated and alert and having to use restrooms which are considered a problematic area where infections can be spread.

I left at 4 am in the morning and my first stop was close to the border to Arizona. That particular rest stop has no flush toilets that are usually gross but are a better choice in this situation. And the doors were open for fresh air to get in.

The second stop was still very early in the morning. It was a traumatic stop for me since I found a woman on the floor in one of the stalls. I don't know if she was alive or not. I am not trained in first aid and went to find help. When I left, first responders arrived.

My next stop was past Phoenix. I pulled off in a rich neighborhood since judging from the infection numbers I have been following in San Diego, the richer the neighborhood, the fewer Covid infections.

I filled my tank and even though I really had to go, I was not going to walk into the convenience store to use the facilities. I searched on my phone for the next rest stop - 26 miles away. I figured I can do that!

If you aren't from the US and are wondering about my obsessions with going to the bathroom - for one, I have to go a lot 🤪 and in the US, you can get arrested if you just go on the side of the road for indecent exposure and it can land you on a sex - offender registry. Crazy but true.

The next rest stop was more crowded than I really felt comfortable with but the restroom was empty and I was in and out as fast as possible. I had a bucket in the car for emergencies but was at a point where I had to go and not too many side roads in this area. to top it off, there was a wildfire going on too.

Travel is different now and I am thinking about how I could have done better in the protection department. I think wearing a loose coat when going in and dropping it in a laundry bag after each stop will be added... We (my husband and I) are driving back on Monday and I think I will take a bunch of his T-shirts to put this plan into action.

The reverse trip puts us into populated areas later in the day - meaning more people, more risks.

This thing is going to be with us for a long time, I think. So far, my strategy has been to mostly stay home. But if I want to see my husband, I will have to make the Arizona trip and figure out the best way to do that...

On the bright side, the country is so beautiful!