Here we are in our fifth week of social distancing and we are still in a routine. It has been okay. I saw a quote, not sure who to attribute it to or if I’m remembering it correctly, but it was something along the lines of: “We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.” This is so accurate. I don’t take it for granted that we have been very lucky during this situation. We still (as far as we are aware) do not know anyone who has gotten sick. To this end, we are doing our part and staying home.

We did venture out to the grocery store. It has been two weeks since our last shop. Our store was well-stocked and we were able to get everything that we wanted, including a huge bag of flour. We are trying to last another two weeks. Although the store was stocked and not very crowded, it was a different experience. This time, about 50-60% of people wore masks and actively practiced social distancing.

Among the people who were not wearing masks, some went out of their way to come close to us, closer than people would have under pre-virus circumstances. I couldn’t help but feel this was antagonistic. On the same day, many people were protesting the “stay at home” orders, including hundreds in Denver. I felt this growing sentiment of not just people wanting to do their own thing, but an aggression towards those who feel differently. It made me want to get home quickly.

I’m proud to say that a side-effect of the virus has been the way we use food in our household. We have been cooking every meal at home and really eating all of the leftovers. Food waste used to be a big problem for us, but we are using everything. I can’t say that we are eating healthier, as this week included homemade pizza, baking a cake, curry night with fried pompadums, and gnocchi with bolognase sauce.

Dan received an order of goodies from The British Food Depot and I got to try a Wagon Wheel. Wagon Wheels are similar to Moon Pies, but smaller and tastier. I love British snack food!

We started in on a new bag of coffee from Boca Java, my favorite roaster. I’m sharing because the bag has a funny and appropriate label. Also, Boca Java recently suffered a terrible loss when a fire destroyed their roasting facility. They are struggling to get back on their feet. It’s enough that we are all dealing with the virus, but a fire on top of that is a huge setback.

Cooking wasn’t our only project: Dan turned our gorgeous Timothy Oulton light pendant, into a floor light. Dan added the base. It is too heavy to hang, but having it on the floor is actually a great addition to our living room. We also took part in the third Timothy Oulton Los Angeles Lock Down event, where we were treated to a preview of new products.

We went on many walks, always sporting our bank robber bandana masks. Yesterday, cows congregated at the fence near our house, so we went to visit them.

We celebrated Earth Day this week and if there is one positive result of Covid-19, it is in many places the environment is healing. It seems to be healing in ways that simply wouldn’t have happened if we had not been forced to change our behavior.

The weather has been beautiful, but since our garden is still just dirt, we have been staying inside. I read a ton and Dan played video games. We Skyped with the kids. We watched more Schitt’s Creek, currently on season 3. We did a double-movie Saturday with Guy Richie’s The Gentlemen (great, worth watching, very funny) and The Impractical Joker’s Movie. We are huge fans of The Impractical Jokers, but the movie is a stinker. They have a few challenges like on their show, which are amusing, but it also has a strange storyline, which was totally unnecessary.

As I mentioned before, we are lucky and grateful for everything that we have, but that doesn’t mean that we are not allowed to feeling disappointment. If Covid-19 hadn’t happened, we would be in Las Vegas right now. This is actually the first time in Dan’s career that he has missed the NAB trade show and I have gone with him every year, since we have been together. When it was cold this winter, I was dreaming of our April trip, especially sunbathing poolside with umbrella drinks. I was looking forward to having the Chinese Chicken Salad at Chin-Chin and hanging out with my friend Cath. I know it’s just a trip to Vegas and we’ve been to Vegas a million times, but it is a disappointment. In light of that, here are some of my favorite pictures from previous Vegas trips, including our Aria Wedding.

And as usual, I will end with a picture of our two fur-babies. Now that we are always home, I’m not sure how they will handle it when we are finally allowed to start traveling again!

We have just returned from a four day, three night, Las Vegas trip with Dan's parents. We packed it in! So much so, that I need to break the trip report into several blog posts just to cover it all. I've stayed at a majority of the major hotels on the strip, including a recent week long stay at the Palazzo. Yes, I've been spoiled. Until this weekend, it had not even occurred to me to stay off the strip. I thought that I would be missing out on being in the middle of the action and that it wouldn't feel like a proper Vegas vacation. Technically, I suppose we were still "On The Strip" as we were on Las Vegas Blvd, however we stayed beyond the "Welcome to Vegas" sign and our hotel had none of the normal Vegas trappings.

We stayed at the Tahiti Village. The Tahiti Village is part of the RCI Timeshare group and when not used by timeshare owners ,it is rented out as a hotel. We had the Royal Tahitian Suite, which was two adjoining rooms, each with it's own bathroom and a shared living room with a dining area and full kitchen. It was huge! Our bathroom had a jacuzzi tub and a shower that converted to a steam room. The kitchen was fully stocked with appliances and kitchenware. We only used it to eat breakfast, but it would have been great if we had stayed longer or wanted to eat in. We had a washer/dryer and used the dryer for our bathing suits.

I think the Tahiti Village just might be my new favorite place to stay in Vegas. The pool is hands down, the best. It's broken up into two complexes. The main pool complex has one enormous pool with various entry points, including a sandy beach that was a big hit with small kids. It also had a side area with a net for pool volleyball. The area has so many pool lounge chairs, that we never had a problem finding a spot, which seems to always be a big issue at the major strip hotels. Here is a picture of the main pool complex.

The second pool area is a lengthy lazy river with free tubes! I love, love, love lazy rivers. This sealed the deal for me. We spent several hours just floating around the river. It has about five water features, including a huge waterfall. It's definitely not for those who want to stay dry. I could have spent the entire vacation in the lazy river and would have been perfectly happy.

Another great thing about the pool, were the drink prices. We got huge Mai Tais in a souvenir cup and they were only fourteen dollars. An equivalent drink anywhere else on the strip would have been easily over thirty. The bartender just kept pouring more and more alcohol in the cup. Speaking of the bartender, all of the staff that we encountered were super nice and helpful.

We didn't make use of them, but the area also has a big BBQ area. There were lots of planned community activities, like games and movies shown in the pool. We drove to the strip each day, but they also have a free shuttle service, so technically you don't need a car. The lobby has free wifi and soon all of the rooms will too. Also coming soon is an adult only jacuzzi area, that is currently under construction. We didn't go to it, but the property has a small gaming area in an adjacent building, with a bar called Tahiti Joe's. They also have a day spa.

I couldn't find anything not to like about Tahiti Village. We saw lots of families with small children and everyone seemed to be having a blast. I don't think that I've ever left Vegas feeling so relaxed. I feel like I just spent a week in Hawaii. Thank you lazy river!

Here are a few more pictures of the property.