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How Wee Roll During COVID and Beyond?

Friday 5/22/2020

I am sitting in the quiet at the dinning room table.  I am bent over a large plate of salad with a big glob of re-fried beans and a couple handfuls of Fritos.

My cell phone rings. The display tells me the call is from Rhinelander, WI, but it doesn't identify the caller.  I decide to pick it up because my sister lives in Rhinelander.

Do you hear what I hear???  Available Now!

It is Karen from Housekeeping at Holiday Acres.  This is the resort where I had applied to be a "Towel Girl".  Guests of the resort would bring their dirty towels to the Towel Girl (me) and I would give them fresh towels.   A job as Towel Girl was supposed to be my part-time job this summer.  A time filler, a way to meet folks, a couple bucks in my pocket, I was looking forward to it.

But then the pandemic happened and everything is up in the air.

Karen said she just met with the managers of the resort.  They decided that they are not doing Towel Service due to COVID protocols.  She told me that Saturdays and Sundays they need staff for cleaning the cabins.  Would I be interested in that?

Yes, I would do that.  When does she need me?

She said when I get there to just come look her up and fill out an application.  Even if I arrive mid-July.

Cool, some motivation to get my Weeroll rolling!

Actually I already have a date set for trying out the Weeroll.









I had contacted Lois who had shared a room with me on a boat in the Netherlands a year ago.  We got along well and have since met up a few times.  I asked her if she would like to go camping with me.


She said, "Yes!"

She has a tent.  She named several campgrounds.  I guess I got lucky because the first place I looked up was Little Talbot Island State Park (which is by Jacksonville and quite popular) had three spots and I booked one for June 1st.

Immediately I let Debra know in case she would be ready to test out her new Weeroll too.  She tried to book a spot and all the spots were taken.  She won't be able to join me!  I hope we get another opportunity to try out our trailers together.

So I have a camping date for June 1st.  Cool.  Now I have a deadline for getting my Weeroll ready to go.

The curtains are done thanks to my friend, Cindy.  She made them out of old sheets and they turned out great!  I am very pleased.  Light and airy, and a hint of grandma...

Today I added some items and figured out some more ways to keep stuff from jumping around.








I installed a screen across the back door so I can get a nice cross breeze and look out at the stars from my bed if I feel safe leaving the doors open.

I have to tweek it because the bottom of the screen blows out when I close the shower curtain I hung in case I need some privacy.  I either need weights or I need to mount a steel bar to the threshold and then insert more magnets in the bottom hem of the screen.


Naming the Camper


What should I name it??  The gals in Sisters on the Fly name their trailers.  Debra called her first trailer Gator.  I think she is calling her Weeroll Itsy... or is it Bitsy?  Another Sister called her yellow and white trailer, Banana Split.

I was thinking Howwee Roll.  Howie is a male name, but it is better than some of the other stupid names that have come to me.

WOW Weeroll
Waywee Roll
Eye Roll
Trippin' House
Rollin' Home

The thing is, "WEEROLL" is in big block letters on the front of the trailer.

So why not just call it WeerollMy Weeroll?  I don't know, this decorating and naming stuff isn't where my talents lay ...

Yearning

I wonder if this symptom of wanting something, missing something, yearning for something is a symptom of social distancing?

I didn't put a name to the feeling, but then my sister mentioned she had some social time and some nature time and she still felt a yearning.  For what?

Sometimes I fill the yearning with food... and more food.

I reach out a bit to others, but not enough.

When George passed two years ago I told myself to reach out and hug someone every day.  I was doing pretty well with that until this pandemic.  No hugs... since mid March.  Wa wa wa... what a baby I am!

5/27/2020 Wednesday


Well I sat down and started making reservations for my trip to Wisconsin.  Yep, I am going.

Ok, I was the first to wonder why the snowbirds were returning home, they should just stay put!  But that was back when staying put was going on for only two weeks or a month.  Now it is time to figure out how to live and survive without spreading the disease.

If I have my house with me, what will be different?

I will be getting gas more.
I will probably be shopping for groceries more often (storage is smaller).
I will be sometimes using public restrooms more often.
And some campgrounds will not have no-touch check-in, so I will have to interact with them.
And then, there is always the risk, when anyone leaves their home, especially in a car, that there might be an accident or incident.

So, ya, it seems riskier to travel.  I will need to be extra careful disinfecting my hands and wearing a face mask.  And even so...

On the other-hand, I am 66 and not getting any younger.   My sister is about my age too.  We are  both in good shape, but that could change.

Though my back and hip problem that haunted me last year have really eased because of exercises and stretches I have been doing, I know that some day that pain or another pain will come.  I will someday be less able to hike and bike and drive and camp.

At first I just started to map my journey and find a campground every 300 - 600 miles.  That filled me with fear and dread.  I didn't want to get caught somewhere I didn't feel safe or worse, I felt super lonely and alone.

Then I remembered a few people I have biked with that invited me to contact them if ever I was traveling their way.  So then I started mapping my trip from friend to friend, trail to trail.  And guess what!  I will be meeting up with someone every place I stop to stay!

First I am doing a Sisters on the Fly event near Cheifland, FL along the Suwanee River.  Then from there I launch over to ride with a friend by Milford, Florida.  Then onto trike with Jean in Mississippi.

In Southern Illinios I will be riding the Tunnel Hill Trail with folks I found through a recumbent Trikes group on Facebook.  I will be there over the 4th of July.  No toilet facilities open, I will use a bucket and sponge bathe.

Near East Peoria, Illinois I ride with Peggy, whom I re-connected with at the trike rally early this year.

On to Madison, Wisconsin stay for several days and meet up with my friend Kathi, my son and his wife, and other friends.

Finally by mid July I will arrive in Rhinelander where the campground that I have a seasonal site at will not have open showers or bathrooms.  We will figure it out.  Anytime Fitness Gyms are opening, so maybe I will be able to use their showers...  Or not.  It's ok.

When I was a kid we visited my grandmother's farm.  We hauled water in buckets and heated some water on the stove.  Then we would bathe in a washtub.  I am experienced and blessed with clean water.

Great audio narration by Voice Actor Robin Seigerman


Other Happenings

Thanks to Jeremy and Mel that sent me this cute blouse for Mother's Day.  It is purple and matches my glasses and my new style.  Love it!

 One afternoon some birds came banging on my door.  I would shoo them away and then they would bang it again.  One time a little bird knocked himself out.  I watched while his eyes slowly became more alert.  I got tired of watching him and went inside.  Later he was gone.


COVID Continues to Infect


I am venturing out a bit more.  The Florida Governor and our county board is urging businesses to re-open if they can after being shut down for two months.  Some small businesses just aren't going to be able to make it.

Some restaurants seem to be packed (which isn't good if any of the staff or guests are infected and they don't know it).  But some restaurants are struggling with less customers than before.

I have not sat down in a restaurant yet.  There is a case where on restaurant customer was infected with COVID-19.  And that one customer managed to infect almost everyone at their table of 7 or so and half the people at the next table.   They even infected one person that was up-wind from them.  The conclusion is that poorly ventilated small spaces with prolonged exposure (1-2 hours in a restaurant) is where infections are transmitted.  Of course it is prisons, care homes, public transportation and hospitals that are also places where transmission is likely.  Hopefully most of us can stay out of those places.

Distance
Outdoors

That is how I try to do my visiting.

I went to Donna's again for a happy hour.  She was the one that told me if you can't hug a friend, hug a tree.  So when I left her screen porch, I made a point to hug her tree.  She took my picture and I look pretty happy hugging a tree.  I need to do that more often!

My granddaughter graduated from High School.  Due to COVID they didn't have an in-person ceremony.  Instead they had a video of the ceremony and the valedictorian and other speakers.  I got to thinking that I hope this is a tradition that they keep even if they have an in-person graduation ceremony in the future.  It was nice being able to attend while drinking coffee.  To cheer when my granddaughter's name was called.

When my son graduated he was only allowed to invite a few people to the ceremony.  With the video there is no limit on the size of the audience.  You can invite family and neighbors and extended family.  I like that.

I also like that after my granddaughter's name was called, I didn't have to sit through the endless list of names following hers.

Congratulations to graduates of 2020.  Abby I am proud of you!

Go Trippin' and Trikin' with us - Available Now.


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