The elephant in the Campground...

Well, I don't think I can continue with this blog without addressing the white elephant in the campground, so here goes.

Coronavirus.

No one has asked us any questions, and I again offer to all of you to please feel free to ask us whatever questions you have either through a comment on a post, by email, text, or the chat feature this application has. I'm sure everyone has discussed with their families, housemates neighbors, friends and coworkers what contingency plans you are making in the event of this virus impacting your daily living. We are no different. We are living in a community of travelers. Some have a home to return to, some are pulling their permanent residences around behind them. So we've gotten many opinions about our trip from the locals, which we accept graciously and then discuss privately so we can be best prepared.

Over the last 24 hours, the stores in the area have begun to be affected by the fear of this virus. Yesterday, we stopped into Publix for a quick couple of things and found there was a serious shortage of food available. Not only were they out of all things paper related, no big surprise, but now meat was not being restocked. A kind woman doing her regular groceries gave us the last available pound of hamburg (in case you are wondering, we paid almost $8 for 1 1/3 pounds of 80/20 hamburg. OUTRAGEOUS price.) We decided to do some real shopping while we were there, just in case.

Normally, we carry just enough food for a week or so, depending upon where we will be and what the food availability is (Are we boondocking in the middle of nowhere? Are we close to society and can pick things up as we need them?). This leg of the trip we pre-shopped to avoid the hiked up prices of a tourist destination. We had planned on shopping on our way to the next stop.

So anyway, we bought some groceries at ridiculous prices yesterday. We came home, assessed our food inventory, and decided we should probably get more meat, in case that shortage continued. This morning, I went over to Cape Coral and shopped at the Winn Dixie. The store was well stocked (except paper products and antibacterial cleaners), and I was able to get the stockpile of food we need, "just in case."

So, what is our plan? I'm sure you are wondering. We are watching the news and staying informed. For the time being, we are keeping to the plan we made a week or two ago. We intend to follow the route we mapped out, for the time being. Our next stop is at a boondocking location, which allows us to be away from the public for about a week. We feel good about that.

There are only 2 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the county we have been in for the last 2 weeks. The infected couple are in their late seventies, and are not in the town we are currently in or have visited. The only large event we have attended with a possible risk of exposure was the Strawberry Festival in Plant City on March 5th. So, if we did come in contact with the infection, we will know shortly. But as of this moment, we are feeling fantastic. No symptoms, no worries. No one around us in the park is feeling ill either (that we know of). The park cancelled all of the activities planned for the rest of March (bummer, today was supposed to be the St. Patrick's day parade and pool party...). Most of the travelers around us are of the same mindset we are. They are continuing their journey unless they become ill.

The next month of our plans has already been slightly affected. Six Flags over Texas is closed until April, so we are working on the logistics of picking up our season passes. The free walking tours in New Orleans are suspended until April, so we'll have to figure something out for our visit there. The virus map showed that as a safe place to visit as of yesterday. We'll keep watching though. Texas is a big state, we had lots of plans there, but the world keeps changing by the day, so we'll see what happens as we get closer. So far, none of the places we have booked to stay are closing.

Our main hope is that we can make it out west to the BLM lands where it is all dispersed camping, and we won't be too close to anyone anyhow. We are hoping that interstate travel is not suspended before we can escape Florida. We have had enough of Florida and do not want to get stuck here! This is not where we would ever want to live, as pretty as it can be.

We are washing our hands regularly and often. I am dispensing hand sanitizer after every visit we have in public. We are staying out of congested areas and eating at home until this settles down. If one of us does get sick, we will follow the CDC suggestions. Likely, we will scoot to a boondocking location where we can avoid infecting anyone else and use the fresh air and sunshine to help us recover quickly. No, I'm not crazy. This form of treatment was popular during the 1918 influenza pandemic as well. We do have Callie's nebulizer with us, so we can treat any asthma complications we think we can handle on our own. We will seek medical treatment if needed. We're not totally hippie-dippy guys!

If you have an extra minute, read this interesting article... https://medium.com/@ra.hobday/coronavirus-and-the-sun-a-lesson-from-the-1918-influenza-pandemic-509151dc8065

To summarize, we are staying informed and we are not freaking out. We are prepared, but we are not going to stop living. We understand this virus can be more a lot worse than the common influenza, but we refuse to live in paralyzed fear. We are young, (relatively) healthy, and we will get through this. You, me, and the rest of the world will get through this.

So stay healthy friends. Check in with your loved ones. Let go of any grudges you may be holding and live each day to it's fullest. Say your prayers and for goodness sake, wash your hands!

Stay tuned and please stay healthy.

Val