The Driveway

The plan was to be about 500 miles from home and on my way to New Mexico by today. Instead, Callie and I are camping next to our pole shed on the hill.  I really can’t complain. I have nearly every convenience of a rustic campground: twenty amp electricity, a water spigot down the hill, and  a bathroom inside the house. The Scamp has a bathroom, but there are no open dump stations to unload so we will let that go unused for awhile.

There is also a fire ring, although the state of Wisconsin suspended burning permits and strongly discourages campfires so as not to place any strain on emergency services responding to grass fires.

Numbers for “the virus” have been climbing in Columbia County, but no deaths so far. Dane County, where Madison is located, is a bit of a hotspot. Milwaukee is the big hotspot here with deaths starting to climb, and hospitals putting up triage tents in parking lots.

Our family is staying relatively healthy. Julia’s dad Gene is out of the hospital. We have scaled back our hiking trips. Mostly, we hike from our front door. There are country roads to our west and trails to our east.

This is actually a pretty good place to ride out the storm. Camping in your driveway is better than not camping at all.

Safer at Home

Lockdown sounds so draconian, so Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers issued a "Safer at Home" emergency order, which basically means the same thing.  Like many states, the lockdown order has many exceptions.  The one I'm particularly fond of is that we are allowed to get out and exercise, provided that we maintain social distancing.

We've been getting out to hike every day.  Our state parks are still open for hiking, so Julia and Allie headed to Devil's Lake yesterday.  This morning, Julia and I left the vehicles at home and walked out our front door to the Lodi Marsh Segment of the Ice Age trail.

It was a perfect day to hike.  The sandhill cranes were calling; the squirrels were out and about; and Crazy Callie, the border heeler, was leading the way for our 8.5 mile hike.

It's a stressful time.  Julia's dad was admitted to the hospital tonight with suspected pneumonia.  We don't know yet whether it's bacterial or viral.  (3/26/20 update: he does not not have Coronavirus or  pneumonia; the diagnosis is acute kidney injury due to dehydration)

Exercise, meditation, prayer.  We all need to manage this weird time that we are in.   Besides hiking, I've moved all of next winter's firewood from my outdoor stacks into the pole shed.  Now it's time for me to cut and split some more wood.  Rain is predicted for the next few days, so I'm not sure how much I'll get done.

I finished a really good book that I downloaded from the library:  "The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead.  What we're going through certainly pales in comparison to what runaway slaves went through on their attempts to get north.   I highly recommend the book.

I can't recommend this cruise offer that I got in the mail yesterday.

New Reality

We are settling into our new reality in south-central Wisconsin.  Most businesses with public interaction have closed.  Based upon CDC recommendations and other information, Julia's optometry office also closed, except for emergency and curbside service.  She will be off of the schedule for awhile.

The weather has been lousy during the last couple of days:  rain, snow, cloudy skies.  I've continued to take long walks with Callie in town. The streets are mostly deserted.  With schools closed, I expected to see more kids outside, but I guess everyone is sticking close to home and inside.

Allie and Justin are both home.  Allie is taking care of Justin and getting paid for it.  Justin's previous caregivers have shut down operations in Whitewater, and the dorms have fully closed.  His care coordinator advised the status quo will remain in place until at least mid-April and perhaps longer.  Justin is on a bunch of medications, and we've stocked up on those as best we can. 

The grocery store has had shortages like many around the state, but it hasn't been too crazy.  The hardware store remains open. Bars and restaurants are all closed.  I've been doing a lot of reading online about the virus, and it takes a bit to separate the wheat from the chaff.  One of the best sources that I've found is this blog by a very experienced infectious disease physician:

Allie is probably the most bored out of the four of us.  She put together this video:

Rapid Changes

It's amazing how fast the world has changed in the past few weeks.  The stock market has tanked.  Countries are closing borders. Schools are closing.  Crowds are a bad thing.  Social distancing is a thing...a good thing.  Honestly, I didn't need social distancing to be a trend.

If it was just up to me, I would be heading out west in early April with the Scamp. Unfortunately, it is not meant to be.

Justin has a great semester going at UW-Whitewater.   He has new friends.  He is doing well in school.  Additionally, he found a new passion:  sports broadcasting.  One of Justin's new friends is a communications major and participates on the campus television station.  Justin auditioned and is now is part of the broadcasting team.

 
Each week, they do a sports talk show, covering a wide range of local, regional and national sports topics.  Also, for college team broadcasts, they provide play-by-play, color and sideline reporting.  Justin loves spectator sports, talking and the limelight, so the fit is perfect. 

Unfortunately, the corona virus has thrown a wrench into the continuation of the semester.  UW-Whitewater, along with many other colleges, is closing early for an extended spring break, and the future of the semester is unclear.  Justin is coming home tomorrow. We are planning for the probability that he will need to complete the semester from home with his classes offered only online.

While the situation is fluid, his care giving agency has advised that care giving will not be available in the dorms when online classes resume.  That means that Julia and I will likely share care giving responsibilities at home for the foreseeable future.  There is a possibility that Allie might be able to help out some too.  Anyway, I'm 99% sure that I won't be making any long trips this spring.  I will need to stay closer to home for awhile.

One scary thing is that Justin has weak lungs due to his muscular dystrophy.  He already needs a bipap machine at night for breathing assistance.  Justin rarely catches viruses, so we're hoping that continues. 

Glacial Drumlin

Today, Julia and I celebrated our last day of the empty nest by hiking the Glacial Drumlin Trail near Lake Mills, Wisconsin.  We did an in/out hike of about eight miles.  Spring is in the air.

Robins literally arrived just a few days ago.  They are fat and sassy after a trip north.  On the trail today, we saw another sign of spring:  the return of the sandhill cranes.

After the hike, we went to Lewis Station Winery, where we sampled several red wines (ok) and dined on wood-fired pizza (really good).

On a final note, I ordered 25 lbs of green coffee beans to get me through the zombie apocalypse.  I'll let other people stock up on toilet paper. 

Cold March Day

The day's weather started off like my mood:  dark, windy, rainy and cold.  The plan was to drive to Madison and walk around Monona Bay, but it was still miserable out when we reached the eastern outskirts of the city.

We decided to put off the walk until later in the morning.  Julia shopped for special yarn (she is learning to crochet), while Callie and I circled around the outside of the mall.  I then did important stuff like buying a toilet brush for the Scamp.

Yes, the Scamp.  My plan is to head west around April 1st, give or take a few days, depending upon the weather. Moving the starting day around isn't much of a big deal.  However, the spread of the coronavirus in the United States is a curve ball that I didn't see coming.

Of course, it's still early to make any decisions, but I'm concerned about closed businesses, restricted travel, and out-of-network medical expenses.  It may not be the best time for a long trip.  But I am preparing anyway as though I'm going. 

My good friend Dean installed new front brakes on my Nissan, which was good timing because the brake pads were completely gone.  Going up and down mountains without good brakes would have been a bad thing.  New tires for the truck may also happen.  I am so hoping that there is a trip.

Getting back to today.  Just when we decided to head home, the sun showed up.  We turned around and headed to Monona Bay.  Lots of fishermen were out.

Yes, there were still some clouds, but look in the other direction.

Madison Skyline

That is the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Monona Terrace and Convention Center in the lower right center of the above photo (white building).  I love how it blends into the lake and landscape.  During the summer, there are concerts on the rooftop.

Walking around the Monona Bay is a four mile loop.

Julia and Callie ready to start walking

Then we were ready for lunch.  The original plan was to enjoy some pho at one of Madison's new Vietnamese restaurants.  It has a very naughty-sounding name, but the owner (who doesn't speak much English) claims total surprise.

 Unfortunately, they were closed.

So we headed to a restaurant that we know on the other side of the strip mall:  Badung.  They have excellent food and didn't have any remodeling issues.

Julia and I both ordered Khao Soi, which is a Northern Thailand curry egg  noodle soup with beef, cabbage, lemongrass and star anise.  It was delicious.  With egg rolls, our bill totaled $20, including a generous tip.

When we came out of the restaurant, dark clouds returned.  However, with our bellies full and our exercise complete, we felt much better about the rest of the day. 

Winter can be Wonderful

Winter has been going full-blast ever since we've returned from Aruba.   There aren't that many days below zero each winter in south-central Wisconsin, but we've had several of them in the past ten days.  There's also been snow, ice and wind.

None of those weather conditions bother Callie-dog.  She managed to get an upper respiratory infection at the kennel.  I think she just wasn't getting enough outdoor time.

This morning, hiking conditions were perfect.  We took advantage of the soft snow and temperatures into the 30's and drove over to Devil's Lake State Park.   I've hiked the Roznos Meadows Trail during the summer, but this is the first time that I've ever hiked it in the winter.

The first half of the trail is flat, yet provides a gorgeous view of the bluffs that I'm usually hiking up from the lake.  It's always fun to get a different perspective on things.

Julia was off to the races.

This is an in-and-out trail, connecting up with the Uplands Trail at the top of that ridge in the back.  The trail was lightly traveled.  Just a few people and no dogs.

Callie is completely recovered from her illness and ready for whatever comes her way.  We're already planning a spring trip west.