Up early to just sit outside in the warming sunshine. No
places to go, no people to see and nothing to do. It’s just the way life is
right now with COVID-19.
We did make contact
with the TN WonderKids via Kids Messenger...messages and a video call. A few Knock Knock jokes. That's always fun! 😎
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Headed to Coolidge
for pictures at Walgreen’s and groceries at Safeway. Safeway now has signs posted indicating that
they’re imposing limits on certain products. No limits on hot dogs and mac n
cheese; however the shelves were bare in both those areas. Makes sense since the kiddos are off school
and those are quick easy meals to make.
Still no toilet paper, cases of bottled water or eggs. Those items are one per customer so it’s
possible the shelves had been stocked and they were gone again.
Most big stores
around here have instituted ‘senior hours’...65 and older as well as those with
compromised immunity. Kim and my mom both qualify because of age but there’s no
way I’d suggest either of them go to the store at 7 a.m. So we’ll just tailor our meals to whatever’s
available on the shelves. Cheerios are good any time.😋
--------------------
Glad that the stores
have caught on to the panic buying (it’d be hard for them not to notice) and
are taking steps to make sure the goods get spread around. Also pleased to see that those people trying
to capitalize on the pandemic by buying up and then reselling certain popular
items at a premium (hand sanitizer, toilet paper, etc) have been shut down by
the likes of Amazon and Ebay. From what
I’ve been reading this pandemic is bringing out the best, and the worst, of
humanity. I’m rooting for more of the
best to shine through. 👍
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Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Saguaro National Park are both
open although the visitor center at each is closed. I was thinking we could take Marilyn to the Casa
Grande Ruins National Monument also; it’s an interesting walk through history
and wouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.
Then I remembered that to get to the monument itself we had to go through the visitor’s center. Drove by today...the gate is chained shut.
Poo!
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I miss
my sewing machines. That’s the one thing
about being in Arizona right now that sucks.
In a normal year I go to Arizona to get a break from work and my
machines go in for maintenance during my absence. This rapidly turned into a not-so-normal
Arizona getaway. Also I didn’t bring any
cross-stitch or crochet because in the past I have brought projects to do and
haven’t done them...too much to see and do. Right now everything to see and do is
closed...sitting is one of the activities left to do and I have nothing to keep
my hands busy. Being able to create something/anything might take the edge off of
not being able to do much of anything else.
Bah!!
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We had a route in mind when we left on a bike ride today; however, at my
direction, we turned right when we should have turned left and missed the
Florence/Kelvin Highway, the road that has piqued my curiosity. We’ve passed it many times while riding the
Tom Mix Highway, it looks to be in good shape and many vehicles travel it. Today
was supposed to be the day that we explored it...now it’s on the docket for
tomorrow.
Stopped at the Tom Mix Monument...again!
Mom and I wandered down a road by the fence; Kim crossed the fence to do
some exploring. Found some more wildflowers but no animals.
Encountered 4 people
sitting in lawn chairs on the far side of their vehicles with what looked to be
the remnants of lunch on a nearby card table.
If this was just a random picnic they sure picked a weird spot for it. Their voices carried as we walked down the
road; based on their conversation it seemed like they were flaunting the social
distancing/self-isolation thing but their secretiveness suggested they didn’t
want to get caught doing it. Just hope none
of them get COVID-19 from their rebellion luncheon in the desert.😐
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I saw another crested saguaro today about 5 miles east from Tom Mix. When I realized what I was seeing I stopped
to take a picture but I was about 1/8th of a mile past the best
vantage point. The crest was
perpendicular to the road so it was best seen on the approach. Now I know and I took note of the nearest mile marker. Next time I will stop as soon as
I see it.
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Walked down to check out the wildflowers on the frontage road. Of course, it’s been less than 24 hours since
I was there last so there’s no obvious changes but it was a good excuse to take
a short walk.
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When we first arrived here we
were told that Rick Wilson, the pastor at the church over on the corner that we
attend when we’re out here, has been sick. The long term parishioners didn’t
say much about it but there is a substitute filling in for him. The last two weeks we didn’t attend and today
we were told that services have now been cancelled due to COVID-19. In our experience the average attendance
hovered around 25 people which is well below the suggested maximum crowd size
of 50; however, most of those people are in the 65 and older category. Cancelling seems a wise choice.
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Bike miles today: 89
Total miles: 1556
 |
| Saturday's ride... |
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