Life in the Time of Covid-19
We are currently in Virginia near Washington DC for a week then on to Lancaster, PA to visit family for two weeks.
Since our last post, we had to quarantine for a month in South Carolina. We then moved on to North Carolina for a week. Everything has been closed and so we have for the most been hanging around the RV and taking trips to the grocery store as needed. The grocery store is our big outing.
Our plan is still to get to Maine and visit Acadia National Park. Acadia is currently closed and all public campgrounds require a 14 day quarantine to stay. If the restrictions are not lifted, we will need to come up with Plan B, which is what most of this year has been about.
Social Distancing in Georgia (searching for TP)
I was looking forward to visiting Cumberland Island, GA, both a National Park and a National Seashore. Full of historic significance, cotton was first grown here by a local family who helped Eli Whitney develop the cotton gin. John F Kennedy, Jr and Carolyn Bessette were married in the First African Baptist Church on Cumberland Island in 1996.
While the park is still open, all facilities are closed. With the COVID-19 virus the concessionaire that provides ferry transportation to the island as well as an all day tour, cancelled all trips.
We decided to rent a jet ski at nearby Amelia Island, and take a shortened self-tour of the island.
Dungeness Ruins
In the 1880’s property was purchased by Thomas Carnegie, brother of Andrew Carnegie, who began to build a new mansion on the site. The 59-room Queen Anne style mansion and grounds were completed after Carnegie’s death in 1886. In 1959 the Dungeness mansion was destroyed by fire, alleged to be arson.
There are herds of wild horses on the island. Popular myth holds that horses arrived on the island sometime in the 16th century with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors
Fort Clinch
From our vantage point on our jetski, we could see Fort Clinch in Florida. Fort Clinch is a 19th-century brick fortress begun in 1847 and never completed. The only battle to occur at Clinch was when Union troops recaptured the fort in 1862 after Confederate forces seized control the previous year. Fort Clinch served as the base of Union operations in the area throughout the Civil War. Today the fort serves as a state park.
So what is our plan during these unprecedented times? For the most part, where we are staying is not changing. You can see where we are staying the bottom of this page. The private parks that we have reserved are still open for now. We will be cancelling our reservations in New Jersey and Delaware to spend more time in PA with our families.
Most of the activities we wanted to do this year are closed or to do them seems irresponsible. For example, we were planning to spend a week touring historic Williamsburg, as of now it’s closed. We were also planning self-walking tours in Savannah and Charleston, even though it would just be us walking around the city with a camera, we don’t want to expose anyone to the virus, nor do we want to be exposed. So our days are spent in our RV, walking around the park, and keeping to ourselves. We hope everyone stays safe, has plenty of TP, and that this virus ends quickly.
A Return to Big Bend
Big Bend was the first national park that we visited when we set out on our RV journey back in 2016. Click here to see that post. We returned because we love it here and the weather is great this time of year. Since we now have a 4-wheel drive vehicle we were able to to go on some new hikes, but we loved revisiting some of our favorite hikes in the park as well.
Balanced Rock Trail
The Window & Oak Spring Trails
The Scenic Drive
The 50 mile drive from our RV park to Presidio on FM 170 is a beautiful drive through parts of Big Bend State Park. Colorful rocks abound on this road and runs parallel with the mighty Rio Grande River.
Upper Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail
Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff Trail
Scott Plays Golf
Our RV park is owned by the Lajitas Resort and is across the street. The resort boasts one of the best golf coarses in Texas called Black Jack’s Crossing. I drove along with Scott while he played his round and the surroundings are gorgeous.
Pine Canyon Trail
This is a unique hike as it takes you to a tall rain pouroff (could be a small waterfall during the wet season). The hike starts in the desert but changes to a forest of tress. It looked and felt like fall.
Lost Mine Trail
Santa Elena Trail
Sotol Vista at Sunset
We leave here and have a few travel days and a brief stop at Medina Lake before getting to Houston.
Tombstone, AZ
Our first destination in 2020 did not go as planned. Our original intent was to explore and hike Chiracahua National Monument. Because of the weather, the roads were closed and the hikes in the upper elevations were icy. So we turned to our alternate plan to visit Tombstone, site of the famous gunfight at the OK Corral.
Tombstone was founded in 1879 and within two years of its founding had a bowling alley, four churches, an ice house, a school, two banks, three newspapers, and an ice cream parlor, alongside 110 saloons, 14 gambling halls, and numerous dance halls and brothels.
Under the surface of a quiet town, tensions were growing into a deadly conflict. The Earp brothers—Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan—as well as Doc Holliday, arrived in December 1879 and mid-1880. The Earps had ongoing conflicts with Cowboys Ike and Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McLaury. The Cowboys repeatedly threatened the Earps over many months until the conflict escalated into a shootout on October 27, 1881.
The aftermath of the fight was three dead and three wounded. Wyatt Earp was unhurt, Doc Holliday was grazed in the hip by a bullet, Virgil Earp suffered a leg wound, and Morgan Earp was shot through the upper body. Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton were killed while Ike Clanton ran away at the start of the gunfight
So what did we think of Tombstone, well it was touristy, but a fun way to spend a day. After a few travel days, our next stop is Big Bend National Park.
YEAR IN REVIEW 2019
2019 was a fun year. We spent most of our time in the western side of the US; visited 12 National Parks, 10 states, and drove the RV 5,902 miles. Our plans for 2020 are taking us up the Eastern part of the US to Maine.
Saguaro National Park
After several months of just relaxing near Phoenix, Arizona, we are back on the road. Mid-December we went South toward Tuscon to visit Saguaro National Park. The national park is home to the nation’s largest cacti. The giant saguaro is the universal symbol of the American west. These majestic plants, found only in a small portion of the United States, are protected by Saguaro National Park, to the east and west of Tucson. Here you have a chance to see these enormous cacti, silhouetted by the beauty of a magnificent desert sunset.
Our first hike was on the East side of the park. The Douglas Spring Trail to Bridal Wreath Falls.
The second hike that we did was on the West side of the park. We hiked the very steep 8 mile hike to Wasson Peak for the 360 views. Only one of us made it to the top and it wasn’t Catharine.
Next stop Chiricahua National Monument.