Quarantine 2020

Spring 2020 was a time that no one would have been able to predict. By mid-March the Coronavirus, aka COVID-19, had spread from China throughout the rest of the world. I received a notice on March 12th that Vonage was closing offices as of March 16th and they are currently still closed. TruFusion closed the gym on March 17th and it just reopened yesterday, May 29th, with limited class sizes to ensure social distancing. I'm so glad things are getting back to normal, but I also wanted to do a blog post to remember this time (which hopefully there will never be another pandemic in my lifetime - so far over 100,000 lives have been lost due to COVID).

The quarantine time frame was rough for me, mostly because we received so much bad news (that had nothing to do with the quarantine) but I think not having a normal routine made it that much worse. 

I hiked every day that the gym was closed, alternating between either Squaw Peak, Pinnacle Peak or Gateway Loop - these hikes are what kept me sane. I tracked all my hikes and the count is: Squaw - 14 times, Pinnacle - 26 times, Gateway - 33 times and Soldiers Pass Trail in Sedona - 1 time. In total, I calculated that I hiked a total of 266.6 miles during quarantine - no wonder my hiking shoes are falling apart - they took a beating over the last 2.5 months!

We did some takeout and had picnics. We had bonfires in the backyard. I read books. We stayed home. We watched church online. We didn't have a schedule and didn't have anywhere to be. I did weekly family Google Hangouts. If I never hear the words "social distancing" again that is fine with me.

Following are some pictures I took to remember it all.

Spring is the best time for hikes in Phoenix - so many flowers blooming.

Uriah roasting a tiny marshmallow. He just wanted to light things on fire.

Kellyn came out and we hiked Pinnacle with the boys - they make it 1 and 1/4 miles out and back - I was pretty impressed with both of them.

Otis did what he always does - the quarantine didn't change much for him.

We got takeout from LGO every Sunday after watching church online and took breakfast to my parents and sat outside 6' apart.

Farm and Craft picnic at Civic Center in Old Town Scottsdale.

Otis enjoyed sitting on my lap while I worked...and resting his head on the desk.

Takeout from Isabella's - and cocktails to go in mason jars.

Signs at the hiking trails.

Another day of hiking with Kellyn and the boys at Gateway Loop Trail - they had more fun building rock piles than actually hiking.

A lot of grocery stores and restaurants had (and still have) signs on the ground to tell you where to stand.

Gina gave me a fun quarantine gift.

Views at Gateway Loop Trail.

Eating meals on the ground since restaurants where closed.

We did a puzzle - would have done more but I could not find puzzles that were available.

The below was going around on Facebook at the end of March - adding it here so I don't forget.

Just so I NEVER forget..... April 2 2020

-Gas price a mile from home was $2.49

-No toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel, no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer. Shelves are bare.

-Schools closed 3/13 for rest of year. Online learning begins.

-Social Distancing. Stay 6ft from each other

-Tape on the floors at grocery stores to remind people to stay 6ft away.

-Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors.

-Non-essential stores, and businesses mandated closed.

-Carryout or delivery only at restaurants.

-Parks, trails, entire cities locked up.

-Entire sports seasons cancelled.

-Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.

-Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.

-Churches closed, services online only

-No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 5 or more.

-Don't socialize with anyone outside of your home.

-Children playing outdoor but parks are closed.

-Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.

-Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill. -Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.

-Government closes the US border to all non-essential travel.

-Fines are established for breaking the rules.

-Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.

-Press conferences daily from the President. -Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.

-Government incentives to stay home.

-People wearing masks and gloves outside. Some are homemade.

-Essential service workers are terrified to go to work and afraid to go home to their families in fear they could infect them.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.

Why, you ask, do I write this status?

One day it will show up in my memory feed, and it will be a yearly reminder that life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted.

We have so much!

Be thankful. Be grateful.

Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone.

We are all one!

Copy and share.

#covid

Soldier Pass Trail

Since we were not in Indianapolis today, we decided to take a day trip up to Sedona and hike the Solider Pass Trail to the cave. 

We first came to the Devil's Kitchen Sinkhole. The most recent part of this fell in 1989, but I overheard a tour guide and he was pointing out what portion they expect to fall next.

The picture doesn't do the depth justice. You would be dead if you fell into this sinkhole.

We then came to the Seven Sacred Pools. These were not too impressive - maybe they would be better after a rainstorm.

The pictures online make it look like a stream was running right through where I am standing and filling each pool.

The views were gorgeous and it was a beautiful day.

This is the view from inside the cave. Pictures with people in them were difficult due to lighting.

This hole in the rock below shows the opening where I am sitting above from the outside of the cave.

Inside the cave.

Lighting was much better with no people.

All in all, was a decent hike. My phone told me it was 3.4 miles total. It is not a difficult trail, with the exception of about 1/4 of the mile from the top then it gets a bit strenuous. If I did this hike again, I would not go on a holiday weekend and I would go before sunrise to avoid people and hopefully get a little better lighting for pictures in the cave. But was still great to be outside with Dave enjoying God's beautiful creation.

After our hike we stopped at the Local Juicery, which is my favorite place for an after-hike snack. Today I had the Match Mylkshake (almond milk, matcha, banana, almond butter, coconut flakes, vegan protein, spinach and dates).

Disneyland for Owen's 3rd Birthday

At the end of January we went to Disneyland before Owen turned 3. We left on Wednesday morning, January 22nd, and made the drive over to Anaheim. Stopped at In-N-Out on the way.

We arrived late afternoon to the Airbnb - it was a 15 minute walk to Disneyland so a great location. The garage had also been converted into a playroom, so that entertained the boys whenever we were at the house. We didn't go anywhere once we arrived - Kellyn planned and bought food for all the meals/snacks for the 4 days we were there. Dinner Wednesday night was grilled chicken, sweet potatoes, broccoli and homemade rolls.

Thursday was our day at Disneyland. We made it through the gates a few minutes before the park opened.

First ride of the day was Pirates of the Caribbean. This was Uriah's favorite ride from 2017 - although I don't know if he really remembered it or just "remembers" it from us talking about it so much.

Owen rode on my lap for Pirates and this made my day. He was also waving to all the pirates in the ride - it was so cute.

Waiting for the Jungle Cruise - Kellyn found them these cute matching sweatshirts at Gap.

While Kellyn, Coby and Uriah were riding Indiana Jones, dad and I took Owen through Tarzan's Treehouse.

He was having a fun time - if you can't tell by his huge smile.

Next up was Splash Mountain.

We did it twice in a row because Uriah loved it and there was no line.

We were pretty wet but fortunately it was early in the day so we dried out by the time it got cold at night.

When we came the last time, we did not spend much time in Fantasy Land. So this time we went there early...rode on Pinocchio, 

Peter Pan, 

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, 

Dumbo, 

and the boys all did the Mad Hatter Tea Party.

Kellyn and I walked back to get the stroller, and Captain Hook almost ran over Kellyn. So, I said that deserved a picture with them.

We did the Storybook Land Canal Boats and saw Elsa's Arendelle Castle.

We had fast passes for the Matterhorn - this was Uriah's favorite ride of the day - the Abominable snow man was trying to get him.

Uriah enjoyed it so much we fast passed it twice.

Slowed down a little for It's A Small World.

We also rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Autopia cars and then Space Mountain to end the day. Uriah did all the fast rides and had no complaints and was not scared on any of them. Owen passed out about 6:30pm and Grandpa set up camp and held him the rest of the night until close.

On Friday we had a lazy morning around the Airbnb, and then headed to Huntington Beach. It was nice and sunny and warm in Anaheim, but when we got to the water it was foggy and cold. Mom and I walked across the street to Bear Flag Fish Company and had lunch on the patio (with heaters) and then got tacos to go for everyone else. I walked dow to the beach for a few minutes, but it was so cold I decided to sit in the warm car with mom.

We weren't cold enough at the beach so we went to get a Freeze from Pressed Juicery in Newport Beach. I wish they would open one of these in Arizona.

The Airbnb had a hot tub so we spent some time in that warming up after the beach.

Saturday morning we had Donald's Seaside Breakfast to celebrate Owen's birthday.

It was at the Paradise Pier Hotel and Donald Duck greeted you when you arrived.

The characters at the breakfast were Donald, Daisy, Minnie and Stitch. The breakfast was not too busy so each character probably came by our table a half a dozen times. Uriah could also go say hi to the characters anytime he wanted to.

They brought Owen a cupcake and sang a zippidy doo dah birthday song to him.

He was leery of the characters at the beginning, but warm-up to them after a little while.

Mom even got in on the character action.

After breakfast we walked back to the Airbnb and loaded up the cars to head back to Phoenix. Such a fun trip and precious memories that will never be forgotten.