Social Distancing in Littleton/Florida = Weeks 24-27

It has been a month since I’ve written a general update about the state of the world. We spent two of the weeks in Florida, returning a week ago.

This was our second set of flights during 2020, and our second time visiting Florida. We had such great time on my birthday trip, that we wanted to explore the idea of buying a vacation home or perhaps even moving full time to Florida.

We flew United again, which was a much better covid experience this time around. We did the same route, Denver to Tampa. Nearly everyone was complying with the mask mandate. We didn’t sit in first-class this time, so we were worried that we would have to share our row with a stranger. On the flight out, the middle seat was empty, and on the flight home, we had a stranger sitting by the window. Dan sat in the middle. I realize that leaving our house is risky, but I do feel much better when people are following social distancing and wearing masks. The only hiccup is on the flight home, United ran out of the antiseptic wipes that they hand out as you board. I thought this was a pretty bad oversight during these times. Luckily, I had extra wipes. I also wish they didn’t fill the flights. I guess on the positive, it is good for the economy that people are traveling and spending money.

We stayed in an Airbnb rental house in Kissimmee. The house was clean and felt safe. We had a private pool overlooking a lake, which was nice. It certainly felt safer than a hotel, as we didn’t come in contact with anyone while at the house. We kept our normal work schedules, so we were home a lot.

As before, dining-out was similar to Denver rules = Keep a mask on while walking through the restaurant and the tables are distanced. We played mini-golf, which was the same as usual, we just used a lot of hand sanitizer as we were touching things.

The biggest surprise is Dan bought us day tickets for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, so we could experience Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.

We arrived at park opening and immediately got in the queue for Smugger’s Run. I’m not sure that Disney was as strict as Sea World with safety protocol, but I generally felt okay, especially when we escaped the crowds bunching-up at the entrance. I hate to admit that the park felt less magical. The sense of atmosphere was diminished ( a few storm troopers, but that was it) and there were queues for every store. I kind of wish we had waited to visit.

After Smuggler’s Run, we got a call from my stepson, Felix. He wanted to play video games with Dan, a normal part of their weekend routine, so we decided to leave the park. Our original plan was to upgrade our day pass to annual passes, which we have done in the past. We figured that with an annual pass, coming to the parks for a few hours wouldn’t be a big deal. We wouldn't need to squeeze all of the fun into one day.

It was absolutely pouring rain and the guest relations staff were standing outside with umbrellas. I think this was to prevent unnecessary people from entering the small guest relations room. A regretful employee informed us that Disney had temporarily stop selling annual passes. Deflated, we went home and I called Disney to get to the bottom of it. They offered to refund our day ticket, so in the end, we could not upgrade, but we did get 90 minutes in the park for free. That was the extent of our time at Disney. I’m hoping we will go back with the kids for Christmas or next summer and get our annual passes!

We found a vacation house and put in an offer. It looked great on the surface and we were really excited to become owners of a short-term rental property near Disney. However, upon the inspection problems arose and we decided that it no longer looked like an attractive deal. We backed out, and since we were going home shortly after, we didn’t look at more properties. I’m not sure if we will revisit this idea or let it die.

We enjoyed other Orlando activities, such as The Chocolate Kingdom, mini golf, and the Orlando Cat Cafe. I will write about all of this in a more detailed trip report, but I did want to share a picture of a cat named Todd.

We absolutely fell in love with Todd, who just wants to cuddle and take a nap. He is the sleepiest cat ever! We were thinking of how we could adopt him and get him back to Denver, when he was snatched up by another human. We hope he is off to a loving home with great sleeping spots!

Speaking of cats, we’ve had quite the stressful time with Slinky this last week. On Sunday, he started acting odd. He was lethargic and stopped eating/drinking. Today, we took him to the vet and he was given medicine and fluids. We are waiting for the lab results. Luckily, he seems to have perked up a bit with the fluids, and he did eat/drink a little when he came home. He also seems more feisty. I’ve been crying buckets for the last few days, worried that we would have to put him down, but now I feel like he is rebounding. Happy thoughts that he continues to get better and that the labs don’t reveal anything serious.

I was devastated to hear of the passing of Justice Ginsburg. I was upset enough at our Colorado Governor Cory Gardner to write him a letter regarding his decision to vote to confirm Trump’s nominee. I don’t expect Gardner to change his mind, as he is very much in Trump’s pocket, but I did feel better writing the letter. I’m mostly upset that republicans are going back on their word and the precedent set when Obama had a similar situation in his final year of presidency. I’m also definitely worried about who might get confirmed and what that could mean for future rulings. The world feels fragile.

I have a political themed movie recommendation: Irresistible starring Steve Carell and Chris Cooper. Irresistible is from the mind of John Stewart and follows a small town election that catches national interest, causing heavy-hitters from both major political parties to interfere. It’s a surprising and intelligent movie with a good dose of humor. We watched it last weekend and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Cordella Magazine sent me their latest literary journal. It was wrapped so beautifully, that I wanted to share a picture. Hurray for packages in the mail!

Fall has arrived, but we still have summer weather. We missed a small snow storm when we were in Florida. Check out this stunning sunset!

Apparently migrating tarantulas have been spotted in our neighborhood, but we haven’t seen them. We did have a wasps nest removed. I’ll take wasps over tarantulas.

Finally, some cat pictures. I’m transforming…

Social Distancing in Littleton: Week 24

It has been another very quiet week. Not much new on the Covid front. It seems like things here are mostly the same. We did turn down two invites from neighbors, one hosting a wine evening, and the other a dinner party. Both events sounded like a lot of fun and we really like our neighbors, but it just was outside of our comfort zone with social distancing. Hopefully they will keep inviting us and we can join events when things are safer.

I found out that I came in 7th in my heat for the first round of the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction competition. I was very pleased. This weekend, I had 48 hours to write a 1000 word story in a spy genre, located on an oil spill, and I must include the prop of barbed wire. I will find out the results in October. I love these challenges. They force me to write outside of my normal genres and within constraints. I’m also motivated to win!

I used my fun Llama tea diffuser that Dan bought me for my birthday! My novelty tea diffuser collection is enormous now.

We watched a new documentary on HBO Max called Class Action Park, about New Jersey’s infamous Action Park amusement and water park. The park was known for flaunting rules and allowing kids to run wild, including very dangerous situations leading to many injuries and deaths. Beyond the safety violations, Class Action Park speaks to a sense of both nostalgia and anger that many klds of the 70’s and 80’s felt from the freedom that their parents gave them. As a latch-key kid growing up in that era, I can definitely relate. Action Park has since been purchased by a former employee and has been rebranded, I imagine with safety precautions front and center. I’d love to visit this infamous theme park.

Finally, cute cat pictures! Tom is giving his new “purple thing” a bath and Slinky is licking fresh whipped cream, getting more on his face than in his mouth.

Summer 2020: Breckenridge, Colorado

In this post, I’m combining two recent trips that we made to Breckenridge, Colorado.

Our first time in Breckenridge was an afternoon/evening visit that we made after spending the morning in Vail with our friends Julie and Ryan. On the short drive from Breckenridge to Vail it started raining. This was a welcomed break from the intense sunshine and heat of Vail, but it also meant that we were running for cover when we reached our destination.

We tried to have a “Linner”- late lunch/early dinner at the Breckenridge Distillery, but the wait was long, and we discovered that they lacked vegetarian options for Julie and Ryan. I hope to return to try their carnivore centric BBQ menu.

We went to a friendly dive bar called Northside Pizza for cheap beer and pizza. I had an amazing calzone that was cut into a pretty pattern.

We tried to go up on the chairlift, but they were not open until July 4th. The town was bustling with holiday visitors, and we poked around the various shops, buying cookies for dessert. Dan’s cookie sandwich had cream in the middle and was a gooey mess!

On the way out of town, we saw a vibrant rainbow over the lake in Frisco. Colorado has so many amazing rainbows.

Two weeks later, Dan and I returned to Breckridge for our first hotel stay during Covid. We booked at the Doubletree Hilton right near town. There were definitely changes to comply with Covid safety, including the removal of seating areas in the lobby, and the closure of the restaurants- no customary free breakfast. No Doubletree Cookie. Masks were mandatory and only one party was allowed in the elevator at a time. We missed the sign at the entrance, but they requested that only one person from a group visit the check-in desk. The pool was closed. Our room also had a sticker seal to show that it had been cleaned and sanitized, as part of Hilton’s “Clean Stay” program.

The hotel really felt just like a place to sleep, rather than a true relaxing vacation. I have to admit that I had trouble sleeping, because I had weird dreams that the bed might not have been sanitized enough. It has been over a month and we are fine. A big plus about the hotel is that it is very close to town. It was just a ten minute walk, so we could drink and enjoy ourselves.

We had BBQ at the Whiskey Star Smokehouse. The food was good, but rather expensive. The town was crowded, so service was spotty. I have noticed that the general chaos that restaurants experienced in the early summer, has calmed down. I know it wasn’t easy to adjust to Covid changes and the demand of people who were excited to get out of the house, but it seems like restaurants and stores are coping better than they were in early July. Things seem almost normal around Colorado now.

Breckenridge is a very beautiful town and it feels more down-to-earth than Vail. A little less fancy and snobby.

The next morning, we woke up early to go on the Breckenridge chair lift. The first lift to the main activities center was free and great if you just want a fun ride to the top. I recommend arriving when the lift opens, as it got very crowded, very fast.

At the top, we found several restaurants and activities, including multiple alpine slides and a miniature golf course. We paid twenty-three dollars each for a second chairlift ride. This one was on an open-air lift, rather than an enclosed gondola, and it offered a serene ride to the top ( about a 12-15 minute ride.)

At the top, we learned that we were in the White River forest. The area offered gorgeous views of the valley and many hiking trails. There was a very cool looking ropes course that was closed due to covid. We spent about twenty minutes enjoying the views and taking pictures, before heading down. The Breckenridge scenic chair lift was much better than the one at Vail and half the price.

We went back into the village for breakfast, where we discovered Semplice Cafe. Semplice Cafe has one of the best breakfast burritos that I’ve ever eaten and it is served with maple chipotle sauce. Delicious. The coffee and baked good are great too. Plus, the owner couldn’t have been friendlier. It was the best place we ate in Breckenridge, so good in fact, that we keep joking about driving there just for the burritos.

We chased the Semplice burrito with dessert at I Scream Gelato. The gelato was a perfect way to end our trip to Breckenridge.