Family Trip Despite COVID
Despite the COVID panic going on, my husband and I chose to go off on a road trip to see family. Though we had initial plans to head up to Yellowstone after visiting with family, we decided to hatchet that part of the plan and just concentrate on family. Most of our family is thrilled to have us visit. Since the two of us will be moving in a year or two, we started loading up the truck with some of the stuff that needs to go back to our offspring -- purging, so to speak. So the back of our truck is filled with stuff again.
I will try to include some information about COVID-19 prevention in our daily reports.
DAY 1 - HOME to RICHFIELD, UT - 604 miles, 10+ hours
What a smooth first day this was! We were out the door right at our scheduled time, truck loaded and out the driveway. We headed out to I-15 and then north. It was still dark at this time and we could see that traffic was slightly heavier heading south (for whatever reason) than it seemed to be heading north.
Cajon Pass is usually full of construction and traffic. But we summited with ease this time, pulling over in Hesperia into a parking lot to grab something out of the back end of the truck. Our next stop was just past Barstow, for breakfast. We chose Peggy Sue's 50s Diner, because it would be open for breakfast and was not a chain. It was excellent! All staff were wearing masks and gloves, and they had social distancing in place in a fun way -- every other table was "Reserved for XXX" (XXX being the name of a 50s or 60s celebrity that is long gone, such as John Wayne, James Dean). The diner barstools were all closed off in the same manner. Loved the way they did that in keeping with the theme of the restaurant.
We kept barreling through after breakfast. Both rest areas between Yermo and the NV/CA state line were open, which is almost unheard of! We utilized the second one, and most people using the rest area were wearing masks. Moving on, we flowed through Las Vegas smoothly and noticed how much less traffic there was despite the fact that some of the Strip has officially opened.
Our next stop was for fuel on the Moapa Indian Reservation. I'd called up there ahead of time so that we wouldn't be surprised by a closure, but the reason for stopping there was to avoid urban areas as well as a much better price for fuel! Once again, most folks were wearing masks, though I only went into the building to use the facilities and went right back out.
One of my favorite areas on this leg of the trip was the Virgin River Gorge in the 29.5 miles of I-15 that goes through Arizona. However, some of it was under construction, which makes it less enjoyable. It was also starting to get later in the morning so the heat was setting in. We'd already turned on the AC between Primm (CA/NV state line) and Las Vegas.
Next stop was at the Kanarraville Rest Area, where it was a bit cooler and we took a few to really stretch our bodies. Then we went on in to Richfield.
For a number of years now, we've stayed at the Quality Inn there in Richfield whenever planning to stay overnight there. We had no issues with social distancing there or anywhere that day, really. The place was super clean. The staff was behind a partition and didn't wear masks, which surprised me, but some did when they went out to a different area. We had the pool to ourselves.
Later, we walked next door to Steve's Steakhouse. We'd never eaten there, and decided to give it a try. We had to give our names and a phone number "for the health department". (When I asked why, the Health Dept insists on that so that they can track who had contact with a given person that could contract CV-19. Okay, I guess.) Everyone was wearing masks and gloves, required of food service in that county in UT. Where there were booths, every other one was taped off. Where there were tables, some were moved out. We had an excellent meal whose prices were on par for Richfield.
We crashed quite early that night.
Donna
Did you visit the women's toilet???
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DonnaR57
We chose Peggy Sue's 50s Diner, because it would be open for breakfast and was not a chain. It was excellent! All staff were wearing masks and gloves, and they had social distancing in place in a fun way -- every other table was "Reserved for XXX" (XXX being the name of a 50s or 60s celebrity that is long gone, such as John Wayne, James Dean). The diner barstools were all closed off in the same manner. Loved the way they did that in keeping with the theme of the restaurant.
This restaurant has been fabulous for a long time.
DID YOU GO INTO THE WOMAN'S BATHROOM? Visiting the women's toilet is always one of the best parts of that place!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DonnaR57
Moving on, we flowed through Las Vegas smoothly and noticed how much less traffic there was despite the fact that some of the Strip has officially opened.
Traffic is almost back to normal...
Day 8 - AURORA CO to SALINA KS
Day 8 - Aurora CO to Salina KS - 420 miles, 7-1/2+ Hours
We had a leisurely morning of coffee with our daughter and her family before loading up the truck for our 425 mile driving day. We left at about 9 am and headed up to I-70 via “the back roads”. This was achieved by going east on Quincy, and then north on Watkins which took us directly to the freeway with a stop at the Shell station ($1.98/gallon for diesel!) before getting on.
It was about 2-1/2 hours to Burlington, so we stopped there for a lunch at Arby's (always a favorite stop since I don't know where San Diego has Arby's any more). Back on the highway, we only stopped at rest areas. It was HOT, most places in Kansas registering between 94 and 98F, but with humidity to make it feel like “104”. Come to find out that the projected temperatures for the next day were in the 100s. Whew! Turn off the furnace, Kansas!
This was one of the latest days for checking into a hotel, than we have had in a long time. It was around 5:20-ish. Once again we had issues with their credit card processing -- not our card (our card-issuing financial institution assured us it was NOT us!) but their system.
We were first disappointed that the pool was not open here due to COVID. I don't understand closing a private pool like that, but counties and states are fussy. So rare is it to find anyone in the pool besides us. Then disappointed that Taco Bell was about the only fast food place in Salina who did not have dine-in open. So we first went to DQ and had both a sandwich and a hot fudge sundae – not exactly the best thing for the health, but a good treat like that is rare, too.
Then tried to find cheap fuel. In the Midwest everything is cheaper than in CA, diesel-wise, but $1.97 sounded good to us. However, the station that advertised that price had a swarm of bees directly over the car/pickup diesel pump. The price was $2.07 anyway for debit/credit. So we moved on across the street to a cleaner station, at $2.11. We hadn't fueled up since Watkins, that morning, so the tank was reading somewhere between ¼ and ½ tank.
Finally found my family's new place. We enjoyed a short visit, inside their living room, where it was much cooler than outside.
Headed back to the room for a glass of wine and relaxation while allowing our bodies to adjust to Central Time (we crossed over that between Goodland and Colby KS, about 12:30/1:30). We had brought our new travel wine glasses (stainless steel) and some small bottles of wine (a 4-pack of individual servings). We'd put the wine in the room's refrigerator.
Donna
Day 10: Salina, KS to Lake of the Ozarks, MO
Day 10: Salina, KS to Lake of the Ozarks, 360 miles, 7-1/2 hrs+
Today was mostly a driving day. We tried to get out by 8 am, but once again, Choice delayed us. They tried to make us use a different card, but we held our ground. We got a later contact from the hotel saying “it's all taken care of”. This is a problem within all of Choice, obviously.
Breakfast stop in Junction City at Cracker Barrel was the reason for an earlier departure. It was an enjoyable meal.
We took I-70 to I-435, a belt loop around Kansas City, KS. We took that to I-49, but we were only on that for about 2 miles when we got off to do a little sightseeing. We went to Harry Truman's Farm in Grandview, MO. It was a mere shadow of what it had been in his time, down to 10 acres from over 600 acres. We saw the home (outside only), the chicken coop, the outhouse, a water pump, and lots of good brick “fence posts”. Took some photos. We were probably there about 20 minutes or so, then moved on. I will upload photos a little later.
We took I-49 down to Harrisonville, where we picked up MO-7 as far as Clinton. In Clinton, we took MO-13 down to Collins. Both MO-7 and MO-13 were 4-lane divided, but when we got on US-54, we were on 2-lane road.
The fuel prices were best in Camdenton, and we were over 350 miles on the tank, so our next stop (after a rest area stop) was at the gas station. It was nice to put in 22+ gallons for less than $50, for we paid $1.85/gal for diesel!
It took awhile to check in at Margaritaville because the room wasn't ready. It was 45 minute wait, then time to get the room keys and the luggage moved in. It was about dinner time by the time we got up to our daughter's.
It was a lovely family reunion. After dinner (meat loaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli), we shared all the things we'd brought for everyone. Oh, my, how the girls were appreciative!
Came back to the room to enjoy wine before bedtime.
Donna
