I have travel whiplash

We left for Florida on February 15th and we got back to New Hampshire this past Tuesday night, the 24th. That’s four days of driving for 6 days of boat work. Exhausting. We had planned to drive home this weekend (after more boat work), but that plan went out the door after Dave’s call to the surgery center Monday morning.

If you recall from my last post, Dave is having hand surgery soon. When he scheduled the appointment, he asked about what he needed to know or do ahead of time. All he was told was to not eat after midnight the night before surgery. He called from the boat Monday morning to confirm any pre-surgery actions. The woman said he’d be called 3-4 days before surgery to schedule a COVID test. When he asked if that was something he could have done in Florida she said, “You’re in Florida? You weren’t supposed to travel [outside New England] for two weeks prior to surgery.” Really?! That would have been good to know when Dave asked the first time! We wouldn’t have been happy about it, but we definitely wouldn’t have gone to Florida! 🤦🏽‍♀️

Dave asked to speak to someone further up the food chain who could make decisions about waiving this two-week rule. He was put in touch with a manager who listened to him describe our approach to COVID safety and our activities in Florida. We weren’t there for vacation. We were living on and making repairs to our boat, away from other humans. We’d brought all our food from home. Our limited human interactions were always brief and masked. We also pointed to the State of NH guidelines for travel that indicate a person can cease quarantine sooner than 14 days after returning from travel if one gets a COVID test on day 6 or 7 that returns a negative result. The manager agreed with us, put together a plan that included our leaving Florida the next morning and Dave getting a COVID test this coming Sunday. So Monday evening we started closing up the boat and packing up the car. Early Tuesday morning we had a quick breakfast, finished closing up the boat, hopped in the car and started the long drive home.

So we’re home again and laying low. As long as Dave’s COVID test comes back negative, which we’re confident it will, his surgery will proceed as scheduled this coming week. In the meantime, he’s trying to keep busy so as not to obsess about his impending surgery, but not so busy that he makes his hand sore. It’s a delicate balance.

I brought home some boat-related tasks that I will tend to. Once those are done I’ll do some sewing, some reading, and tick off the days until we can return to Indigo Lady and the warmth. I’ll update about Dave’s surgery late next week.

Stay safe and take care of each other!