Covid-style, that is!
There’s no excuse for it, Dad and I had to get out. You already know that our family likes to travel. With the shut down of the world, we were sad* to not be able to travel this summer and Dad and I brainstormed how we could make it happen. Our conclusion was to spend as much time outdoors and away from people as possible. This is essentially what Dad and I had been doing in our quarantine pod at home. He only goes out to the grocery store, I only go out to exercise or power wash. Occasionally we get take out. You can often find us sitting outside at a pool.
A road trip to see some outdoor parks seemed like something we could do and would enjoy. Plus it would get us closer to collecting all 49** states.***
So the plan was born: we would drive,**** mask everywhere indoors, eat outside or take out whenever possible, hand wash/Clorox wipe/Purell constantly, walk out of anywhere we did not feel safe with no questions asked, and HAVE FUN!!*****
I’m including some specific Covid notes at the end of this travelogue for anyone that wants a truly deep dive.******
We started off with a drive to Indianapolis via Nashville hot chicken. The chicken was delicious and the 3 hour traffic delay in Kentucky was not.
We survived, though, and were rewarded with visiting Andrew and Robert in Indy!! Margo looks the same though maybe slightly fancier than I remembered.
Our next stop was a detour of sorts. We had planned on going to Chicago but the week of our trip they established a two-week quarantine for visitors from certain states.******* So we rerouted to Dubuque, Iowa, and the one, the only, the Field of Dreams.******** Oh, and corn. So much corn.
And also “The Evolution of Cheese: From Curd to Ball” or “Kelly’s Dream Meal (Cheese Straws Not Pictured)”
From Iowa we went to...the other side of Iowa. Have I mentioned the corn? We spent the night in Sioux City on the border with Nebraska.********* We found a lovely state park to walk outside in and saw some lovely lake views, a deer, and more uphills than Dad bargained for.**********
We left Iowa for South Dakota and all the sights! My big takeaways were awe at the beauty of the diverse landscapes and anger that none of you so-called friends have told me how lovely it is there! I’m totally pro-South Dakota and if anyone ever needs a referral, hay girl, hay, look me up.
We saw many presidents in Rapid City. Most we could not identify so our favorite game was seeing a statue from afar and guessing who they would be. I, Dad, and America lost.
The win was Dad finding his hair twin!!
And street art!
Crazyhorse maybe did disappoint but they are^^ working on it and I enjoyed the museum they had dedicated to the project.
TripAdvisor’s #1 burger in America was good but not that good. The fried cheese curds were absolutely, my proudest moment as an American that day.
Custer State Park was shockingly lovely and my favorite place we went after the Badlands. We walked and oohed and ahhed all around Sylvan Lake. Dad drove the famed^^^ Needles Highway while I took way too many pictures of vistas.
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But, huzzah, we made it to Minneapolis! You’re certainly unaware, but Minneapolis was to be the last great stop of #Tokyo2020. Like many a totally normal person, I have always wanted to go to Minneapolis. For the views? For the culture? For the lovely midwestern people?
Hard no.
For Mary Tyler Moore.^^^^^^
We also saw amazing murals in one of the places where the George Floyd protests had taken place. There were signs and flags and murals all over the city in support of Black Lives Matter and it was beautiful to see.
And finally, we rounded out the trip together with delicious pancakes and waffles before dad hit the road for St. Louis. I spent the rest of the day sweating in the 95 degree heat and seeing beautiful art and waterfalls before flying home.
All in all, Dad went to 6 new states to bring his count to 46 and I went to 5 new states to bring my count to 45. Will this be our last American road trip? Will America get its act together enough to persuade other countries to let us visit them again? Stay tuned to... TEACHER SUMMERS!!!
-KT
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Covid-Specific notes:
On our big long driving days, we would get lunch to go and find a local park to eat outside. Some where total delights with a lake view and some were decidedly eh.
Masks were...a gamble? Minneapolis wins for strictest mask enforcement with Indy as a runner-up. The farther northwest we got, the more it dropped off. We were definitely the only people wearing masks in places in the Dakotas or Iowa. Sometimes at gas stations you could tell who was a local or a tourist based on who was wearing a mask. (Tourists did, locals didn’t.) There was even inconsistency in the hotels despite staying in a variety of Marriott*^ properties. Some hotels had fully masked staff behind a partition, some had only a partition, and some had nothing and no masks were seen or mentioned. We kept our distance, obvs.
Hotels-- despite the wide variety of hotel staff masking, all the hotels were super clean and arranged for distancing and less stuff. Some amenities in hotel rooms were gone but we knew to expect that and weren’t bothered. I long ago vowed to never use a hotel room drinking glass so this was a plus for me. The weirdest part was probably the lobbies that were decidedly quiet and empty. As an introverted hermit, this didn’t bother me but I totally understand other folks that would mourn the lack of a “vibe.” *^*
Restaurants-- this was the hardest to predict on the trip. I always tried to get us somewhere with outdoor seating or we got food and took it back to the room. A total perk of the trip was that we had excellent weather the entire time so eating on the patio was a treat anyway. I think we ate inside an actual restaurant 3 times total. One was literally in our own entire portion of the restaurant and we never saw anyone but our masked waiter the whole night.*^*^ The others all had masked staff and distanced tables and we both agreed that we felt okay. We would keep our masks on as long as possible, too, and not linger after just in case.
Social Distancing-- totally fine! Truly, we spent most of our waking hours in a car or a park, so there really wasn’t an issue. The only place where we could not keep our personal bubble was Mount Rushmore and Crazyhorse. It was outside, sure, but it still got a little crowded.*^*^* We ended up wearing our masks in the busier spots and felt fine. One spot on our walk had a non-socially distanced line to take a picture and we just skipped it entirely and it was no problem.*^*^*^
The flight home-- Dad was true to the road but I am a weak person. The airport was pretty empty with most shops and restaurants closed. Everyone had a mask on and there were frequent announcements to remind you to wear them. Once on the plane I was able to get a row by myself and blast the refreshed-every-three-minutes air on me. It felt okay!*^*^*^*
=============
Covid-Specific notes:
On our big long driving days, we would get lunch to go and find a local park to eat outside. Some where total delights with a lake view and some were decidedly eh.
Masks were...a gamble? Minneapolis wins for strictest mask enforcement with Indy as a runner-up. The farther northwest we got, the more it dropped off. We were definitely the only people wearing masks in places in the Dakotas or Iowa. Sometimes at gas stations you could tell who was a local or a tourist based on who was wearing a mask. (Tourists did, locals didn’t.) There was even inconsistency in the hotels despite staying in a variety of Marriott*^ properties. Some hotels had fully masked staff behind a partition, some had only a partition, and some had nothing and no masks were seen or mentioned. We kept our distance, obvs.
Hotels-- despite the wide variety of hotel staff masking, all the hotels were super clean and arranged for distancing and less stuff. Some amenities in hotel rooms were gone but we knew to expect that and weren’t bothered. I long ago vowed to never use a hotel room drinking glass so this was a plus for me. The weirdest part was probably the lobbies that were decidedly quiet and empty. As an introverted hermit, this didn’t bother me but I totally understand other folks that would mourn the lack of a “vibe.” *^*
Restaurants-- this was the hardest to predict on the trip. I always tried to get us somewhere with outdoor seating or we got food and took it back to the room. A total perk of the trip was that we had excellent weather the entire time so eating on the patio was a treat anyway. I think we ate inside an actual restaurant 3 times total. One was literally in our own entire portion of the restaurant and we never saw anyone but our masked waiter the whole night.*^*^ The others all had masked staff and distanced tables and we both agreed that we felt okay. We would keep our masks on as long as possible, too, and not linger after just in case.
Social Distancing-- totally fine! Truly, we spent most of our waking hours in a car or a park, so there really wasn’t an issue. The only place where we could not keep our personal bubble was Mount Rushmore and Crazyhorse. It was outside, sure, but it still got a little crowded.*^*^* We ended up wearing our masks in the busier spots and felt fine. One spot on our walk had a non-socially distanced line to take a picture and we just skipped it entirely and it was no problem.*^*^*^
The flight home-- Dad was true to the road but I am a weak person. The airport was pretty empty with most shops and restaurants closed. Everyone had a mask on and there were frequent announcements to remind you to wear them. Once on the plane I was able to get a row by myself and blast the refreshed-every-three-minutes air on me. It felt okay!*^*^*^*
=============
*So sad in that “everyone is healthy and we are whiny diva white people who could not stand the total oppression of our incredibly comfortable lives at home” kind of way
**If you’ve not heard the family story, just know that once Dad refused to drive 20 minutes to go to Delaware and I will 1) never let him forget it, 2) never allow him to go there, and 3) only go there myself when I am spreading his ashes.
***that TCC-lyfe has us collecting points of all kinds and we’ve had to resort to counting states since no countries will allow us in.
****I was actually okay with flying for portions because I did not believe I would survive the length of this driving experience. The end compromise was that I flew home from Minneapolis while Dad drove it home. This worked because Dad is a hero and I’m a self-aware jerk.
*****But mostly, as always, for me. FOR ME! FOR ME!!
******This sounds like a lot of rules but it really was super fun!!
*******Georgia is OBVIOUSLY one of those states and I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t let us in either. Wear a mask, people. It’s incredibly easy and you can be rewarded with not-death!
********They did build it so, apparently, we were contractually obligated to attend. I’d put other quotes in here but I’ve definitely never seen the movie all the way through.
*********POINT
**********As I’m sure you’re already aware, he was the real MVP of this trip. He very gamely went wherever, drove more than his share, and tolerated his incredibly bossy daughter giving photo critiques.
***********See previous post
************Please note that the smallness of the ancient world wonder did not stop him from amassing a surprisingly large collection of pyramid paperweights.
^This is footnote insanity so we're changing it up.
******This sounds like a lot of rules but it really was super fun!!
*******Georgia is OBVIOUSLY one of those states and I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t let us in either. Wear a mask, people. It’s incredibly easy and you can be rewarded with not-death!
********They did build it so, apparently, we were contractually obligated to attend. I’d put other quotes in here but I’ve definitely never seen the movie all the way through.
*********POINT
**********As I’m sure you’re already aware, he was the real MVP of this trip. He very gamely went wherever, drove more than his share, and tolerated his incredibly bossy daughter giving photo critiques.
***********See previous post
************Please note that the smallness of the ancient world wonder did not stop him from amassing a surprisingly large collection of pyramid paperweights.
^This is footnote insanity so we're changing it up.
^^literally
^^^or so we’ve been told
^^^^POINT
^^^^^If one were being kind.
^^^^^^It came on all through middle school on Nick at Nite at 9pm which was also my bedtime so I would hardcore dawdle all through the show until 9:30pm so I could watch. It is absolutely the most formative show of my childhood, despite having been all reruns. I truly believe that you can draw a straight line from my repeat viewings of Mary Poppins to my repeat viewings of The Mary Tyler Moore Show to all of my current life choices and I have zero regrets about it.
^^^^^^^Hat throwing is harder than it looks.
^^^^^^^^Andrew and Robert, I do not have the words to describe the intense joy you have always brought to my life but I do now have a gif for it.
*^Another perk to traveling with Dad is that he is essentially Marriott royalty and is treated with the respect he deserves. “Points or a beverage upon check-in?” “HOW DARE YOU, POINTS PLEASE!”
*^*I see you, AT! Could we possibly have a teacher summer blog without you in it? Miss you love you we’ll be out in the world again soon!
*^*^I actually think they saw me excitedly point to their “all employees will be wearing masks” sign when we walked in and the hostess was like, “take them to the private dining room!”
*^*^*Though definitely not as crowded as I know it would have been in a regular summer tour-bus season!!
*^*^*^Truly, I got the same picture no matter the angle. The guys were pretty stone-faced.
*^*^*^*(She said from her deathbed four to nine days later.)
^^^or so we’ve been told
^^^^POINT
^^^^^If one were being kind.
^^^^^^It came on all through middle school on Nick at Nite at 9pm which was also my bedtime so I would hardcore dawdle all through the show until 9:30pm so I could watch. It is absolutely the most formative show of my childhood, despite having been all reruns. I truly believe that you can draw a straight line from my repeat viewings of Mary Poppins to my repeat viewings of The Mary Tyler Moore Show to all of my current life choices and I have zero regrets about it.
^^^^^^^Hat throwing is harder than it looks.
^^^^^^^^Andrew and Robert, I do not have the words to describe the intense joy you have always brought to my life but I do now have a gif for it.
*^Another perk to traveling with Dad is that he is essentially Marriott royalty and is treated with the respect he deserves. “Points or a beverage upon check-in?” “HOW DARE YOU, POINTS PLEASE!”
*^*I see you, AT! Could we possibly have a teacher summer blog without you in it? Miss you love you we’ll be out in the world again soon!
*^*^I actually think they saw me excitedly point to their “all employees will be wearing masks” sign when we walked in and the hostess was like, “take them to the private dining room!”
*^*^*Though definitely not as crowded as I know it would have been in a regular summer tour-bus season!!
*^*^*^Truly, I got the same picture no matter the angle. The guys were pretty stone-faced.
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