Quarantine!

I thought about leaving this chapter empty ... after all, not much happened during those early days in March. Then April. Followed by May and June. But, now we are in October and we are planning our winter "on the road" so it is time to get back in the swing of things and let all of you know what kept us busy this Spring and Summer. First off, we really like the fact that we have an RV "home", when needed, at Chantilly Festival Farm & RV Campground in Floyd, Virginia. No frills except nice sites (with full hookups) and exceptional views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Plus, a 40 minute drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway puts us at the driveway of our son and his young family in Roanoke. When we arrived in early March, we were sheltering in place between our RV and the kids' house, anticipating the arrival of our new grandchild. We are so glad that we had this intimate relationship to share since I think those that didn't have family around must have gone crazy! And, right on schedule, Claire Allene Meier arrived at the end of March and we celebrated with big brother Ben and mom and dad for the next several weeks, going back and forth as needed.

We had so many

plans for Spring 2020 involving trips to New York, Kentucky, Alaska and South Dakota, followed by Summer in northwestern Wisconsin. All had to be cancelled and we were saddened that we wouldn't be able to see friends in Alaska for the first time since we left in 2018. We cancelled campground reservations (7 in all), train trips (from Roanoke to Grand Central Station in NYC), flights (to Juneau) and a rental car that we had reserved so we could drive the Needles Highway in South Dakota (Bill didn't want to do it with the over-sized truck). We also had to change dates of other reservations for summer since we would be arriving later than planned. Everything worked out and we certainly did enjoy our time in Roanoke (as we always do).

Things opened up a bit by early June and we planned a detour on our way to Wisconsin, going from Kentucky (where we stayed for 2 weeks to visit our oldest and his family) through Pennsylvania to spend time with our daughter and her family. Campgrounds were just starting to allow visitors again but without pools and playgrounds. Because of that, we found a place that had a lake so that young Max could enjoy some time playing while still social-distancing (will that be the "word" of 2020? I think so). We were surprised that the place was so full when we arrived in early June - lots of big rigs. That said, people were staying pretty much on their sites and, with the pools and playgrounds closed, we felt very safe and glad to be out in the fresh air once again. This particular campground had the added bonus of peacocks - one of Max's favorite things!

Finally on our way to our "summer home" in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, in mid-June, we again were glad that we had family to spend time with since staying safe was still our goal. We took drives to familiar places, got take-out from some of our favorite restaurants, and enjoyed campfires and happy hours with family. We always look forward to this part of our year since summer in northern Wisconsin is THE BEST.

We missed the people that we met in Florida who had quickly become good friends and we kept in touch through Zoom meetings and group texts. When we realized that we would be within hours of each other in early August, we quickly made plans to meet up in Wisconsin Dells for a long weekend of catching up. Since it was a "significant" birthday for one of the group, we went all-out with a dinner cruise on the beautiful Upper Dells and dinner out at the premier supper club in the state, Ishnala. In between forays into civilization were camp fires, laughs and cocktails (we had so enjoyed the "margarita machine" in Florida and it made several appearances here). Good friends are hard to beat - so lucky to have met these couples! An aside - I had forgotten how good it was to spend time with PEOPLE. While we all kept our distance as much as possible, we were confident that none of us had been close to anyone but family for months so we felt very safe in our bubble!

Then, it was back to Kentucky and Virginia to spend time with the kids. Beautiful weather traveled with us and, unlike last year, we were able to enjoy fall colors and a true taste of fall weather. During our summer, I planned for our winter - this time in Arizona from January through April, then heading east and recreating our South Dakota trip that was put on hold. This Fall, we will continue our stay through the holidays in Tennessee, near Pigeon Forge, which we hope will give us good weather and close proximity to family. Living the RV lifestyle gave us the isolation that was required but the flexibility to see family which was a godsend! I hope this chapter finds all of you healthy, happy and looking forward to better times ahead.