Saddling Up

This time last year we viewed the road trip back to Massachusetts with the same happy anticipation of pioneers crossing the salt flats of Utah. Would there be bathrooms? Would we want to go into the rest stops to use the bathrooms? Would the rest stops even be open? Was there enough Lysol spray in the world to survive a night in a hotel?

     As it turned out, the trip was pretty uneventful. We asked for a room unused the night before, no problem since so few people were traveling. Ditto with the roads; we sailed through areas usually clogged with cars. And armed with wipes, masks, and hand sanitizer in the car, we survived the rest stops.

     Yesterday we had our bagels and coffee on the beach to say goodbye till next year. Instead of writing this, I should be reading my Martha Grimes book so I can get it to the library later. Today we clean, clean, clean, assemble meals out of the flotsam and jetsam left in the fridge, do the last bits of laundry, empty cupboards, and pack the car. Mail re-routed, check. Cable put on hold, check. Tonight, we gather charging cords, put DampRid containers under sinks & in closet to trap any moisture the air conditioning doesn’t catch (mold), remove batteries from everything we can think of (corrosion), bring in all porch furniture (hurricanes), and put the bikes in the spare bedroom (rust).

     Tomorrow morning when we’re half asleep: turn off water heater & water, put plugs over the drains (bugs), and best of all, plastic wrap over the toilet bowls with lid then down and weighted (rats). Now having written that, it seems a miracle we survived the spring here.

Good news – we’re both chockful of vaccine and at this point venturing into a world crawling with plague is now second nature.