Traveling Through The Pandemic - Stage 1

They say genius is akin to madness. In all fairness, even my Besties debate on which side of the spectrum I fall on any particular day. I am here to tell you that travel, during a pandemic and national crisis IS indeed possible. Mad Hatter days and down the Rabbit Hole we go.

 I felt like Alice, curious to eschew the  media"news" and see for myself what is really going on in this Wonderland version of the US of A.  The "U" being severely tested and openly debatable.

Stage 1: Drive across America, alone. Transport of choice; Ford car. Tough, powerful, reliable and parts obtainable. Logic laced into the madcap. I would be in control of my immediate environment. Avoid any Queen of Hearts along the way. Keeping my head in more ways than one.

Armed with hand sanitizers, disposable gloves, masks and inspiring road music I was ready to "rock-n-roll". And, yes, because it Is "Murica  and proverbial  shit is hitting the fan Everywhere, saved a seat space for my friend, Glock. With very mixed emotions, I left Portland, Oregon and seven years of my life in the rear view mirror. Bye bye previous, predictable life and hello to whatever this "new" normal was. I hit the gas pedal with a desire to face it "head on"and define my own freedom.

 I mapped my way across the upper states of Montana, Wyoming and S. Dakota avoiding the virus clusters of the coastal, lower states. There seems to be some kind of correlations between beaches and the virus. Go figure... My goal, cross from the relative"safety" of Oregon to a state dripping on the map in coronavirus Red. Florida. The wide open spaces offered temporary virus-less zones.

To keep it interesting, virus aside, I was also traveling with now famous/infamous Oregon plates through some of the most conservative and politically Red states in America. Virus Red, Political Red. Weird...Portland, Oregon was not only on the national conservative target list but now the world no longer needs Seattle as a reference point to find it. From PotLand to ProtestLand.   Portland is a "love it" or "leave it"kind of place. I mostly loved it even as I left it. Very Left-ist. All puns intended.

When traveling through a pandemic and a national uprising, don't plan a holiday road trip. Call it, "educational". Many highway rest stops were closed. Tragically, coffee was NOT to be found after Montana (that is a Real crisis in my world) and the gas stations became a game of "where's Wally" and a lot of Universe begging with"Oh, Shit PLEASSSE" on finding the next one.. I  found the lack of coffee harder on my soul than the thought of an empty gas tank. Personal priorities..

One can sit by the road with a good cup of coffee and contemplate the silent life of no petrol. I had even brought my own favorite cup. :( But NO Coffee, unbearable!) Dudes, in charge of the highways, you need to fix this asap! Slipping into Montana was a brief flashback to University days. 20 years later, the same Missoula exit was still recognizable while the city itself had a facelift. The Top Hat and Rumour were no longer student dives but parading as trendy and gentrified. I felt like muttering "I knew you when!" Sawdust and cigarette butts remnants of a dodgy past.

Over the hump to Rapid City, South Dakota was a pleasant surprise. At some stage I whizzed in and out of Wyoming. I know there were cows...Lots of cows.. South Dakota was my first tourist stop.The Black Hills were gorgeous and I made it to Mt. Rushmore before the politically Mad Hatter history censors had a chance to try and destroy it. The effort might have been amusing. Nah.  Crazy Horse has a more ephemeral feeling. It speaks for the Native Americans  through it's unfinished, sharp edges. This is the story we are not hearing amidst the blaring "Black Lives Matter".  Bluntly put, what happened to their story? Like it or not, ALL lives matter here. Especially the Native Americans. Simply put, they came first and as usual, seem to coming last in any social injustice movements.  Oooooh. Am going to say it again- All Lives Matter. To hell with political correctness. Am going with social justice inclusivity instead. Let's all play together.

Driving into the eruptions of Kansas City, Atlanta and Louisville showed me one thing. This was out of control and destructive and increasingly- exclusive. Racism is racism and violence is Never a solution. Destroying cities is not solving anything.  Tearing down statues prevents historical conversations and art. What is next? Book burning and torching the museums? Don't like it, destroy it. Dear Children, that is Censorship in any color. Where does it stop? Inner cities once teeming with cafe life and businesses are resembling third world country war zones.  Can they be restored? At what cost?  Logic has done a White Rabbit runner and is Very Late to the party.

Driving across America, I saw a nation failing and imploding without the voice of reason.  Tennessee gave me a 60 mile police car escort. Noting his presence, I put Big Blue on auto-control, just 5 miles over the speed limit. Yep, sure enough he pulled me over.  Sigh, Oregon plates. I smiled and opened my window. " Hello Officer, what's up?"  A growled "license and registration" before marching off to his car, documents in hand.  Anybody else wonder why they sit there for an average of 15 minutes when we all know it takes less than 5 for the computers to spit out all our private information?  Keeping a smile plastered on as he returned, he informed me I was "driving too slow" and he was giving me a "warning". LOL, No comment. Onward Ho.

Hotels were a bit of a questionable agenda item. Camp in the car ( Hurrah SLE Ford with Plenty of room) or, hotel room (with Shower and Bed). Any long distance traveler knows the answer to that one. SHOWER and Beeeeedddddd. Picked the Hampton Inn Suites as my chain of choice. Except for one, was not too bad on virus precautions.  Wiped everything down with my own wipes anyway. Car to room, back to car.  Good ole Big Blue. I LOVE that car and that car Loved the viral road. Cruising and eating up the miles like a hungry wolf.

Cities aside, the trip was a blur of endless and boring highway miles.  My fellow road travelers were endless convoys of trucks and motorhomes, very few cars. With the crash of petrol prices and Covid,  I could see that the hotels would suffer even as Americans took to the summer roads. Foolishly, room prices are going Up vs down with amenities cut to the bone. Wrong business approach Peeps. You can't make up for lost revenue by becoming pirates. That just chases away the passing ships.

6 days of traveling and I was looking forward to a coffee at last.. Big Blue and I had made it through protests, 3209 miles and our first goal was in sight. Break time before Stage 2.  Stay tuned and keep breathing... Put the damn mask on, pretend it's Halloween and have some fun.