We spend a week in Mesa, helping Anne’s Mom get ready for her trip and then onto a plane to Bismarck, ND where she’ll spend time with her sister. On Saturday we have a delightful evening at Randy and Sally’s which includes dinner and a trivia game with friends via Zoom. Sunday William and I spend most of the day performing the tasks to close up the house for a few months then grab a Lyft ride to a hotel near the airport.
Our experience traveling in this Covid-era is frustrating. In normal times the hotel has a shuttle which travels to the airport and nearby restaurants. It is not running due to Covid-19 measures. The closest restaurant is 1.5 miles away and it is 105 F - not a reasonable walk. I load up the Door Dash app on my phone and we try it out for the first time. It turns out to be a good experience - we have some good Indian butter chicken and garlic naan then put in a second order for cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Thank goodness we get a $60 annual credit on Grub Hub orders from our Chase Sapphire Reserve card!
Although the website for the hotel said they were providing a grab-and-go breakfast instead of their usual breakfast buffet, that isn’t the case in Arizona. Sigh - we’ll grab something at the airport. The Lyft driver for the 3.5 mile ride to Sky Harbor Airport takes over 30 minutes to arrive. He explains that the number of drivers is way down because drivers make more from unemployment and the $600 per week Federal unemployment supplement than driving.
We put on masks as we enter the airport. Disappointingly, we find only two restaurants open in the terminal, and each is offering only two or three items from their standard menus. Mostly breakfast sandwiches. The food is delivered on disposal plates or in boxes and coffee is in paper cups. The restaurants do not allow seating - apparently we are expected to take our meal to the gate seating areas and balance them on our laps. It feels worse than a step back to the airport dining experiences of the 1970’s. We remove our masks while we eat and like most people leave them off until closer to boarding.
The Southwest Airlines gate attendant pre-warns everyone that no beverages or food will be served on the flight due to Covid-19. We are encouraged to purchase items in the terminal. As boarding begins we are reminded that masks are required for the flight. We are reminded once again in the pre-flight announcement from the flight attendant that masks are required throughout the entire flight. After we land William adjusts his mask and poses for a photo prior to our deboarding. The mask/no mask issue has become so scientifically muddied and p o l i t i c a l !
Gina and William’s mom pick us up at the airport in Milwaukee and we drive to Racine where our home for the next month is in our nephew Jerry’s duplex. We’re happy that his renters moved out and he’s provided us with the opportunity to rent for a month.
Our experience traveling in this Covid-era is frustrating. In normal times the hotel has a shuttle which travels to the airport and nearby restaurants. It is not running due to Covid-19 measures. The closest restaurant is 1.5 miles away and it is 105 F - not a reasonable walk. I load up the Door Dash app on my phone and we try it out for the first time. It turns out to be a good experience - we have some good Indian butter chicken and garlic naan then put in a second order for cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Thank goodness we get a $60 annual credit on Grub Hub orders from our Chase Sapphire Reserve card!
Although the website for the hotel said they were providing a grab-and-go breakfast instead of their usual breakfast buffet, that isn’t the case in Arizona. Sigh - we’ll grab something at the airport. The Lyft driver for the 3.5 mile ride to Sky Harbor Airport takes over 30 minutes to arrive. He explains that the number of drivers is way down because drivers make more from unemployment and the $600 per week Federal unemployment supplement than driving.
We put on masks as we enter the airport. Disappointingly, we find only two restaurants open in the terminal, and each is offering only two or three items from their standard menus. Mostly breakfast sandwiches. The food is delivered on disposal plates or in boxes and coffee is in paper cups. The restaurants do not allow seating - apparently we are expected to take our meal to the gate seating areas and balance them on our laps. It feels worse than a step back to the airport dining experiences of the 1970’s. We remove our masks while we eat and like most people leave them off until closer to boarding.
The Southwest Airlines gate attendant pre-warns everyone that no beverages or food will be served on the flight due to Covid-19. We are encouraged to purchase items in the terminal. As boarding begins we are reminded that masks are required for the flight. We are reminded once again in the pre-flight announcement from the flight attendant that masks are required throughout the entire flight. After we land William adjusts his mask and poses for a photo prior to our deboarding. The mask/no mask issue has become so scientifically muddied and p o l i t i c a l !
Gina and William’s mom pick us up at the airport in Milwaukee and we drive to Racine where our home for the next month is in our nephew Jerry’s duplex. We’re happy that his renters moved out and he’s provided us with the opportunity to rent for a month.
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