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On the road again:
Greetings from San Angelo State Park in central Texas
Recently, Cyndy and I were in New Orleans, having been there in the several days before that city and so many other cities and institutions around the nation and world began to shut down.
I had intended to write about the highlights of NOLA, also known as The Big Easy. But, I’ve now decided to save that for another day. Instead …
Today's Story ...
is about how Cyndy and I are doing in this era dominated by COVID-19 as well as providing some coping and wellness tips we’ve picked up in recent days.
We’re doing well, enjoying each other, maintaining good spirits, cooking all meals in our trailer, dancing next to the picnic table on our campsites.
For entertainment, we read or play cards and bike or hike trails alone. Cyndy keeps up with Facebook. I’ve had more writing time.
We are grateful for our musician friends who are hosting online concerts and for ministers who are now streaming their Sunday services.
We are grateful for more frequent telephone and text conversations with our kids and Cyndy’s mother and siblings.
We are asymptomatic. But we’ve decided that if either or both of us contracts the virus, we will hole up somewhere and stick it out together.
We also believe that we will remain healthy. Self-isolation and physical distancing is pretty easy. We simply don’t encounter many people.
And we’re practicing the COVID-19 protocols, especially using hand sanitizer while and after shopping.
When buying gasoline, we don’t touch the pump handle but protect our hands with a little plastic baggie that dog owners use to pick up their doggie’s pooh.
Tip #1: You can buy these at a dollar store. Sixty baggies for a buck.
I have been dealing with sinus congestion and a persistent cough for several weeks, prior to the advent of COVID-19.
So, yesterday, I had an online medical consultation with a physician who diagnosed me as having seasonal allergies. He prescribed an antibiotic and an OTC allergy relief medicine. Already, I feel much better.
Tip #2: If you have a health concern, call your primary care physician or local hospital and ask for an online medical visit. You might have to download an app if you want to use your smartphone or tablet.
In my case, I called my physician’s office in Kalamazoo. The receptionist referred me to the online service through the local Bronson Hospital.
Using my laptop, I went online and got “in line” to chat with one of about 20 physicians who were “taking patients” at that time. These people live throughout the country; the one I chose happened to practice in Texas.
I was the ninth person in line and waited 90 minutes for my “appointment.” Yes, that’s some period of time, but I also didn’t have to leave our trailer.
For me, the consultation occurred at our dining room table. No exposure to other sick folks. And the diagnosis and treatment were automatically transmitted to my physician’s office.
We’ve not been able to find toilet paper and paper towels in six or seven stores. But we have enough to get us through the next several weeks.
That, in part, is due to having visited friends who live near Austen for two days last weekend. They buy bamboo paper products via bulk mail order and gave a couple of rolls to us. We bless them.
Camping in their driveway was strange, especially considering that, last year when we visited them, they took us dancing at a Texas honky-tonk bar. This year, we exchanged virtual hugs and conversation from a distance.
We’re okay with self-isolation. In fact, we feel fortunate because we have more variety on the road than we would have being stationary in our previous abodes: our apartment in Kalamazoo or Cyndy’s condo in Ann Arbor.
Here, nature and the opportunity to walk in solitude are literally right outside our door.
Today, we walked three miles in San Angelo State Park and met only two people on the trail. We greeted each other from a distance.
Yesterday, we went to historic
Fort Concho in San Angelo. It has 28 buildings (barracks, officers’ quarters, stable, mess hall, et al) spread over 40 acres.
Once home to platoons of "buffalo soldiers" in the 1800s, that public facility currently allows only ten people on their premises at any time. We saw only a family of four and they were more than 200 yards away.
San Angelo State Park is huge: Nearly 8,000 acres in two sections with 124 campsites and dozens of miles of equestrian, biking, and hiking trails.
The campsites are spaced out more than in any park I’ve ever seen, at least 100 feet apart. The occupancy here is maybe 20 percent. We have no immediate neighbors. So it’s very easy to be self-isolated.
Our campsite is near the top of a hill, providing us with a gorgeous view of an expansive meadow, a reservoir lake beyond that, sunrises, and sunsets. Western meadowlarks and other songbirds thrill us with their sweet warbling.
We did talk with two other campers two days ago. They stood on one side of a two-lane road and we stood on the other side.
The woman spoke of having cracked skin on her hands due to frequent handwashing. So I offered to her—and you …
Tip #3: Use a product called Amlactin to keep your skin moist. If your skin is cracked, your first application or two might sting, but it’s well worth it. Also, avoid any skin cream that’s alcohol-based; alcohol is a drying agent.
We’ve had to change our plans and route due to COVID-19. A chili cook off and music festival in west Texas was cancelled. We had reservations for state park campgrounds in New Mexico that are now closed due to orders from that state’s governor.
Closing state parks doesn’t make sense to us. These are wide-open spaces where people—locals or travelers—can get away and practice self-isolation in the peaceful solitude of nature.
At the Texas state parks we’ve been in, the rangers are on site but out of sight. Some use a self-check-in process to minimize contact with park guests.
Our next major destination is the home of Cyndy’s brother, John, who lives south of Tucson, Arizona, where we hope to arrive on April 6.
Like I said, we had planned on camping in New Mexico between here and there, but we will now be at two additional campgrounds in Texas, the last one being near El Paso. We will then beeline across NM to Kartchner Caverns State Park in Arizona and then on to John’s place.
After that, we have no definitive plans. Depending on COVID-19 and our own sense of self-protection, we might stay with John for an indeterminate number of days or we might follow our desires to self-isolate in the national parks and monuments of southern Utah (Zion, Bryce, Bears Ears, et al) … if they’re open.
Above all, we wish you well. We hope you find comfort in more frequent phone conversations with your loved ones or whatever turns your fancy.
And we hope that you are getting out in nature wherever you are. The great out-of-doors is not closed.
Thanks for reading my stories.
See Cyndy’s really, really cool photos, including some from this state park and Fort Concho—but not Walgreen’s or Dollar Tree—at
her Facebook Mobile Uploads page.
God blesses everyone ... no exceptions.
Robert (Bob) Weir
