Welcome back to my Quarantine Chronicles Series. Today is my third installment and we’re half way through (happy hump day!) so I thought it might be time for an update to tell you all ‘sup.
This summer, like the rest of the world, all my trips were canceled. I’m way too type A to plan anything major spontaneously, so I decided to spend more time than anticipated with my family. A whole month in fact!
My advice to people traveling for a month: make stops along the way.
My first weekend was spent at a cabin in Pennsylvania. We hiked and star gazed and watched ‘Hamilton’ by the campfire. I don’t love nature, but I do love these friends. Makes the creepy drive up in winding roads in the dark all worth it.
I spent the first week at my little sister’s house in Ohio. She’s not that little anymore AND she has a baby. He smiles on command, so I had fun with that.
Next was a family weekend in Columbus. The goal was for all of us to spend time together in a place we couldn’t escape from. So, we chose Columbus for the zoo and supplemented our time with the Book Loft of German Village, North Market, and the Columbus Park of Roses. All of us kids also hopped on electric scooters and zipped around our neighborhood one night. In a trail of 8 I’m sure we looked like quite the Buttercream Gang. One person who passed us called, ‘Hell’s Angels’ out the window. All in all, it was a successful weekend!
The grand babies. 
Most of us… Love how the kids are all watching someone else.
Following this was 3 weeks of Indiana time. Going into it I expected that at some point I would get very bored and wish I was home. This time I didn’t feel that usual impatience. Perhaps because 1. I knew I had quarantine waiting for me, or 2. because I know that travel between states is harder this year and there’s a very real chance that I won’t get to see them for many more months. Either way, I savored it. I babysat the niece and nephew, had a lot of social distancing picnics, and even helped my mom with a bakery delivery one day. If I ever got bored I just invited myself to one of my sibling’s houses or tracked down my mom at work.
The nephew. 
The chief! 
My mom made whoopie pies just for me! 
My parents’ cafe, which I frequented frequently. 
The niece.
I don’t know if you’ve done much traveling this year… but the trick, in my opinion, is to have plenty of masks on hand and take advantage of public bathrooms. There is nothing like stopping at a rest stop and discovering it is closed.
And now, I’m home. School doesn’t start until after labor day, so I have a few more weeks to savor my weekday freedoms.
See you tomorrow when I talk about going out in Brooklyn in May.
A Pañuelo World 
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