So here is how day Thirty Eight and Thirty Nine of our sheltering in place went:

We are just a few days from pulling up the jacks and hitting the road. The record high heat here in the valley makes being outside a sweaty endeavor so we do a bit of work outside then come in and cool off. Our three roof top air conditioners have been running almost 24 hours a day. There are three zones in the coach for heating and cooling and it’s great being able to set the units differently as needed. The sun hits the back of the coach in the morning and works its way around the south side, eventually blasting the huge front window in the hottest part of the day. We, aka Mr. Handy Pants also put reflective foil insulation across the entire windshield on the inside. We also put the day night shades down for triple insulation and it is really saving our bacon but its such a bummer as it blocks our beautiful mountain view and makes the coach really dark inside. Another reason to get rolling for sure!!!

• To beat the heat, I only got up early one morning to walk. Definitely missing being active… its hard enough to be quarantined but not being able to get outside as much is making me a little crazy (crazier?). Luckily, I have plenty of pre-departure chores to do inside.

• Spent the morning yesterday outside with the mister on getting things ready to pack up and move to storage. Gave all the geranium pots a manicure so they would look nice at their new home.

• We took a load out to the airplane hangar in Thermal. The big move is on Wednesday. On the way back we stopped for gas at the Costco Fuel Station – whoo-hoo, gas was $2.09 a gallon… it’s usually almost $4.00 per gallon here in Southern California. Sadly, its all virus related and not a good thing for the long term economy but for today we took it as a positive. I spotted two juvenile desert iguana in the landscaping as we pulled out of the fuel station and got this fun video of them scrapping it up.

• I made some basil simple syrup to take for cocktails at a friends place on Monday. The Basil Bourbon Orange Smash is a very refreshing cocktail on a warm evening. A word of caution… smash = getting smashed so drink at your own risk!

• We enjoyed a nice evening outside on Sunday, at proper social distance of course with friends here in the resort. Lots of peeps are rolling outta here for home or other summer destinations. Our friends who hosted have a fairly shady lot and had their mister on so it was great to chitchat and say our goodbyes to our dear friends Dawn and Fran.

• Monday, we spent the evening with our other SIP friends in Palm Springs. They graciously offered a home for the geranium pots so we took them over and Wally aka Mr. Handy Pants installed a drip watering system that connects to their existing sprinkler system. It was international night so we all took a trip to Morocco… it is not what you are thinking, no huka pipe…the incredible meal was all moroccan dishes! Thank you Mike and Nanette for a wonderful time!

These next few weeks will be interesting, California joined the growing ranks of U.S. states and countries around the world preparing to ease coronavirus-containment measures, with many planning gradual rollbacks to help reduce the potential for new waves of infections. As more states look to reopen their economies, health experts have said officials need to put in place measures that include expanded testing capacity and contact-tracing teams to safely return to some version of normalcy. It’s confusing, its unsettling and downright scary. Most of us have settled into a relatively safe existence where we can limit our exposure but the idea of going back to the normal pace we knew before COVID-19 is seductive. I have mixed feelings and I know so many other people do as well. Our northern migration will be very different this year for sure.