We started planning a trip to San Diego California over a year ago to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary on 3/12/20. California is still home to both of us, and we were each looking forward to seeing friends, and family,that we had not seen in person for several years. We also made a list of our favorite So. California places and foods that we wanted to see and sample why were were there
We also wanted to stay in a condo like unit located as close as possible to as many of our friends as possible while enjoying the comforts of home. So we decided to exchange our timeshare in San Clemente for one in the Welks' Resort in Escondido California. Because the demand for timeshare exchanges in Southern California are always high we had to plan and book the exchange a full year in advance.
That of course was long before anyone in the USA had ever heard of COVID-19. Cautionary warnings about travel in the USA only started being discussed a few days before our trip. (Age related warnings weren't emphasized until after we were already in California.) Once we finally became aware of the seriousness of the virus's potential impact, we had some long and serious discussions about whether we should cancel or continue the trip. Ultimately we decided to go, but to limit the contact with the general public by avoiding public places and strangers as much as possible. That decision narrowed our itinerary down to a visit with a couple of friends and our children.
As always, driving in heavy traffic was the most disorienting experience part of being in California. Even in the middle of the night , seeing people traveling at 70 mph on a 10 lane freeway (10 lanes in both directions) is disconcerting. We used to be reasonable comfortable and confident about our driving skills in these conditions, and we would usually feel at ease on the road within a day or two of arrival. No more, we have been living in the slow lane for too long now, and this time neither of relaxed while we were on the road, even on the side streets. Fortunately for us, Californians tend to treat rain as something of a natural disaster and many avoid driving in it unless they have to, so the weather helped us out by raining all week*, which kept the freeway traffic to a minimum.
*Note: The rain also kept the hills green and brought out a lot of wildflowers. To me the rainy season is always the most beautiful time of year to visit California
Also as I said, we cancelled all plans for site seeing, and focused upon seeing family and close friends.
First on our list was Bruce's Step son Mary and his wife Samantha
Next we dropped in in on Bruce's Life-long friends Dennis and Nina Fox
(and their herding dogs and sheep.)
I also got some face- to face time with my daughter, Laura,
and our grand-sons Dylan and Ryan.
I even had a chance to do some catch up with my BFF from college, Rose.
It was a more subdued trip than we had originally planned,
but I am still very glad we went
It gave us the opportunity to see connect
with family and friends we had not seen for five years,
and may not see again for another five years or more.
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