Dadcation
The start of July 2021 saw another 5 flights cancelled, bringing the total Covid count to 37, but we found new ways to seek adventure, going camping in the rain in Alabama, beaching at Amelia Island in Florida, riding horses in California, and enjoying new experiences in our own neighborhood or backyard! Also, we added a new driver to our family.
Unlike every other family I know, we don’t really take “beach vacations.” Before our Little Raccoon Key weekend, we hadn’t taken a non-work-conference beach trip since we met family in Cape Cod in July 2011. Since we’ve had 27 Delta flights cancelled for The Sickness, however, short trips to the beach (or the mountains) seem to be the only getaways we can take. And so, we did just that over Memorial Day weekend–the beginning of what now appears to have been a brief opening of hotels and restaurants….
This weekend, I had a professional conference at Amelia Island, Florida, and I was talking late one evening with a friend’s husband who travels a lot, and he was saying he carries disinfectant wipes with him when he’s on the road, so that he can wipe down hotel remotes when he checks in for the week, since (he assures me) the hotels’ staff aren’t cleaning TV remote controls. I was puzzled by this ritual and pointed out that I never turn on my TV in hotel rooms, because…
For 10 days, the 5 of us are going to travel from Georgia to Delaware to Florida. Along the way, we’ll visit Richmond, Washington DC, Lewes (where we’ll stop in DE), and Amelia Island. The children will have been in 10 states (if the District of Columbia counts) when we return: AL, GA, FL, TN, VA, SC, NC, MD, DE, and “DC.” Here’s what the Odyssey looked like right before we pulled out of our garage: We’ve never used my “cargo shelf” on the minivan before (it usually…