Knowing I wanted to visit with my daughter and grandsons before traveling further away, Tom wasn’t convinced we could find a place to stay nearby, because of the closures of the campgrounds. Son-in-law Josh came to the rescue and offered us a spot on his ranch where we have been holed up for the past ten days.
It worked out really well as we were able to help with child care while my daughter, Kendall, worked. Her job, along with Josh’s (and my son’s) are all deemed essential as they are all ag related. Tom’s daughter Jenna (eye surgery assistant), and daughter-in-law Jordyn (teacher) on the other hand are currently going stir-crazy. Us, not so much.
We kept very busy with the grandsons and my heart goes out to all working and stay-at-home moms. As delightful as they are, managing a baby and a pre-schooler is exhausting! But worth every second:
The only time we had to be grownups was while they were sleeping. We did get a chance to play Catan on a Sunday when the kids were asleep and the parents both had the day off. Again, it was a nice change of pace and distraction from talking about current events.
We had a great time staying at their home with them every day and having meals together at home instead of going out. Kind of bummed we didn’t get to take the kids to the playgrounds or parks, but we are following the crazy rules. So we had lots of fun taking Casen for walks around the ranch and letting him play on the tractors.
The boys are adorable and we hated to leave, but with the rumors of state border closures, we were still feeling the pull to get out of California and into a less populated area.
While they offered us a place to stay indefinitely, we still felt like it was time to go. But “Where?” was the big question. Following our friends south to Arizona sounded good to me, but knowing that the weather will be warming up soon gave us pause. Our grand plan was to go North this summer, but it’s too early in the year (i.e. too cold) to go now.
Tom’s older brother, John, has property near Klamath Falls in southern Oregon, so Tom contacted him about staying there for a month or so. John sounded happy to have us, and it sounded as good as any other idea we could come up with. Since he lives forty minutes away from civilization, it definitely checked the less-populated area box. Plus it wouldn’t be so far away that we couldn’t zip back down to see the kids. Also, it wouldn’t be getting too hot any time soon.
In fact, on the drive up today we passed some snow on the ground, and as we were pulling into his place it started snowing on us – and that is NO April Fools!
Stay Safe!
Peace & Love, Joy
