Payson, AZ
The COVID-19 virus has complicated our lives as much as everyone else's. We are trying to stay safe in a less congested part of the U.S. The first two photos below are of Roosevelt Lake along highway 188 in Central Arizona. We are avoiding people and keeping ourselves virus free (so far) by obsessive hand washing and chlorine wipes for the numeric credit card pads in addition to social distancing. This virus is so blasted contagious that it seems most people are going to get it eventually. The wise thing to do now, though, is avoid getting it when the hospitalizations are peaking so that you have a better chance of getting higher quality health care if you happen to get a more severe case. There's also the possibility that one might avoid it until there's a vaccine.
Wild flowers overlooking Lake Roosevelt
We're in this area through April but don't have a good handle on where we go from here. Many of the parks are closed down and a lot of RV campgrounds are either closed or not taking any new campers. We were going to travel to Alaska this summer but that's pretty much on hold. We have a reservation for the month of May in Portland but we are a bit reluctant to expose ourselves to the mass of humanity there.
Lake Roosevelt from the vantage point of a dirt road that winds up into the hills West of the lake
Small communities are often reluctant to have outsiders come in due to the obvious possibility of introducing the virus to their inhabitants. Additionally, there is concern about limited resources caused by reduced imports from other countries as well as businesses cutting back personnel to prevent spreading of the disease. All of these things make our chosen lifestyle a bit more complicated than we anticipated.
Forest Lake, off of Highway 260 East of Payson
Everyone try to stay safe!
Dr. Bob and Kathy