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 馃槈.
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 馃お
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 馃お 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!
And this is what the sky looked like when I arrived at my destination at 6300 ft elevation. Monsoon was in full force.