Weinstein Travels

These long days on the road have been made a bit easier because we keep gaining hours when the time zone changes!

As soon as Carter started to feel better from Covid, I tested positive. It hit me in a more mild way, just feeling like a bad sore throat. We are masking wherever we go inside and I Lysol wipe the steering wheel every time I drive. But those are the boring details. Let’s get to the fun stuff.

The dogs have been awesome this trip! Before we left, they were my biggest worry. But they seem to understand the rhythm of things and have chilled out. Phew! We filled these Kong toys with doggy peanut butter and it keeps them busy and distracted when they get anxious.

We stayed a night in Shamrock, TX, which is located on the original Rt. 66 and was the inspiration for the “Cars” movie. It was a cold – 100 degrees when we got the campsite. A bit heavy for 2 Covid patients, but Jason and Spencer toughed it out and set up camp in the heat.

Mid-Drive stop the next day at a swimming hole called “Blue Hole” which Jason found on the list of top ten swimming holes in the US. It stays a steady 61 degrees all year round- and we all had a refreshing jump in!

Back in the car we go! We are heading to the Grand Canyon, but on the way I saw signs for the Petrified National Forest. The website is so clear, it tells people that if they are traveling West on Rt. 40, it’s an easy drive and practically on the way to drive through the national forest. It took some convincing, because the family just wanted to get to the GC, but I insisted we see our first National Park. And YES, it was awesome.

Dogs are allowed here – They say it’s the PETrified Forest, being the most pet friendly park. It was hot, but their feet were ok (I was concerned) and we walked along a path with them.

How cool to imagine how big these tree trunks must have been when they stood as a forest! We were all very impressed at how the wood crystallized over time.

We got back in the car and headed to the Grand Canyon. At this point, we have had 6 days in a row of 6+ hour car rides and we are so ready to settle in for a 3 night stay at the Grand Canyon! Between the stress of Covid and driving, we are managing to get along pretty well still. We just finished the last audiobook of the Harry Potter series. Other car activities: I started to crochet the yarlmulkes for Spencer’s Bar Mitzvah. Everyday Spencer practices for his Bar Mitzvah Torah portion in the car. He even meets with his Bar Mitzvah tutor once a week while on the trip. That’s dedication!

A 3 night stay warrants the carpet coming out! At this point, Carter is feeling all recovered from Covid and I am getting a bit worse. We settled and and cooked burgers for dinner. All Jason wanted was to relax with a beer. He opened up a cold one and enjoyed most of it. Carter asked “Can I have a sip?” Jason and I have done a lot of reading on teenage drinking, and the advice we got was to let kids have some in safe environment. So Jason hands him the beer and Carter took a sip. “Nooooooo!” I said! “He has Covid! We have been wearing masks for the last 2 days, you can’t drink that beer anymore!” You can probably hear it in my tone, I really really don’t want Jason to catch Covid. (Very selfishly, as he does most of the driving and set up of the camper. But also in a loving wife kind of way.)

So Carter got to finish the beer. And Jason was very disappointed about that. More tomorrow- the kids both want to write about the Grand Canyon so you’ll hear from them soon!

P.S. I am feeling a bit better today and am optimistic that I am on the up swing with the Covid. Thanks for all your well wishes! It’s greatly appreciated.