coronavirus

Bad news and pretty good news

/ Roadtirementvintage / 41 Comments

Completely unrelated but kind of cute photo

Which do you want first?  Ok, the bad news: We had appointments for our first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine scheduled for 3 PM this afternoon. Last night the State Department of Health sent us text messages stating that due to the impending snow storm our appointments were cancelled. Rats!

This large storm is all over the news. It is touted as one that affects millions and millions of people. (When did they start tallying how many are affected by snow, rain, hurricanes, etc.) We had about an inch of snow overnight. The big storm is supposed to hit here about 3 PM dumping up to 9 inches they say.

Oh yea, the good news. This morning we called the information number for vaccine scheduling. First we found out that after our appointments today were cancelled that we went to the back of the line. We were able, however, to get scheduled for next week on the 23rd. We will have to go to an adjoining county’s hospital, about a 20 mile drive. (The  soonest we could get in our county was March 15th.)

So we’re losing 8 days, and don’t yet know which vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna, so we don’t know about timing the second dose. We had made reservations at an RV park in Florida based on our first appointment date, but may have to change them. Time will tell.

Revisiting a great restaurant

/ Roadtirementvintage / 24 Comments

After we get our vaccines we are so looking forward to getting back on the road and actually sitting down for a meal inside a restaurant! Here’s a revisit to a place we visited  back in 2018.

Hamburger Inn Diner an integral part of Delaware, Ohio

The Hamburger Inn Diner is on the main drag in the central Ohio city of Delaware. Our family enjoyed lunch there last weekend. (Read our post here) I was fortunate to meet and have a conversation with Bill Michailidas, the owner.

Bill shared how the Hamburger Inn Diner is really a focal point in the community. The generous serving of Thanksgiving dinner to nearly a thousand folks is a shining example of the good this Diner shares. Besides, it has been serving the people of Delaware great food since 1932.

Since 1947 the diner has become the place for local citizens to gather and share coffee and conversations. Oh, the wisdom that has been shared in the gatherings for the past seven decades.

The diner is open 24 hours on the weekend. As you can imagine, the diner is full of law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel . Workers from all shifts can find a time to eat, and local college students can enjoy great food and a safe place to study after hours.

Delaware, Ohio is fortunate to have the Hamburger Inn Diner. Be sure to stop in when you are in Delaware.

Hot dang we got our appointments

/ Roadtirementvintage / 32 Comments

The local noon news announced that Indiana health officials today dropped the age for seniors to be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine from 70 to 65. We immediately got online to the State Health Department website and started the registration process. Within about 45 minutes Sher and I both had confirmed appointments back to back two weeks from today, on February 15th at our local Health Department Office.

Won’t be too long before we’ll be able to be back in the rig on the road again.

We’ve been really stewing over when we would be able to get the vaccine. We’ve even looked for states where we might be able to get the vaccine without having residency in that state. Fortunately we can stop that search now. What we have now is the chance to let loose with a sigh of relief and have a timeline in sight for future travel plans.

Ever think about pockets?

/ Roadtirementvintage / 31 Comments

Watching the CBS morning show this Sunday we saw a report on “The 500-year history of the pocket”   The video was very interesting as I had never really thought about the story of how pockets came into being in clothing and fashion. The piece showed lots of history as well as quite a bit of past and current controversy over the inequality of men’s and women’s fashions use of pockets throughout history. Check out the link above for the CBS report.

After the  segment on TV, Sher and I started talking about it. Sher asked what I carried in my pockets. I replied that since our being stuck with the virus I haven’t used pockets!  Actually I have not really used many pockets since my daughter gifted me with the sling bag pictured above with the things I usually have with me.  Guess this leads to a hopeful additional purpose of this post. What do you carry in your pockets? Do you even have pockets? Agree with some of the gender inequalities brought up in the CBS report?

Big flakes and a covered bunny

/ Roadtirementvintage / 16 Comments

Strange as it sounds, we’ve been waiting for a decent snow since we’re still stuck in Indiana. Snowfall is so pretty, and this evening it started at dark.  Up to 5 – 6 inches is forecast before morning, which is the most accumulation yet from any event this winter.

We noticed this little bunny just sitting in the yard seemingly really enjoying the snowfall. He was there long enough to begin to get a covering of snowflakes on his back. He sat there for quite a few minutes.

Snow is starting to stick!

This time last year we were enjoying an RV Resort in the Texas Hill Country west of Austin. With any luck we can get our covid vaccines sooner than later and be able to get on the road again.

 

Yet another thousand pieces

/ Roadtirementvintage / 25 Comments

Space X, United States Space Force and the International Space Station all are interesting topics of late. Not wanting to be left out, we launched another 1000 piece puzzle to help keeping us from totally going nutso during the virus situation!

Our son picked this one out, and we’re just beginning to put it together. As you can see, we’ve started on a bit of the borders. And to quote that famous space traveler Buzz Lightyear: “To infinity…and beyond!” At least until the puzzle is done…

Don’t let your guard down! Stay safe and get your vaccine as soon as you can!

What to do and so many choices

/ Roadtirementvintage / 57 Comments

What to do and so many choices.  That is the situation we are in.  We sold our spacious 4 bedroom home with an in-ground swimming pool 5 years ago.  Our kids were all grown and college educated and we were ready for a big change.  So we sold our house and bought an RV to travel the country.  And that is what we did for 5 wonderful, exciting years.  Then coronavirus struck and shut down the US.  Being of the 65+ older population, yes we are “baby boomers”…we decided to play it safe and stay in our small 2 bedroom house in Indiana.  Plus, we have our youngest son, who is unmarried and takes care of the house while we are gone, that would be able to help us.  You know, grocery shopping, picking up our meds and etc.

Then we fast forward, or slowly forward to today.  Should we continue our adventures or should we acknowledge we are getting older and stay put?  It’s a big decision for us.  Our kids live in Washington state, Texas, Ohio and Indiana, we’ve always had fun visiting them while we travel.  We are pretty healthy and able to get around and take care of ourselves.  We’ve spent a winter in Harlingen, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley which we loved.  We were enjoying wintering in the Hill Country west of Austin when the virus hit the US and then we got coronavirsed in after retuning to Indiana.  We were going to spend this winter’s months in the southern part of Texas and visit our Texas family while there.

So, maybe writing it down has helped me see things clearer and I’m questioning why I’m even thinking of giving up our adventurous traveling lifestyle. We just wish we could get our COVID-19 vaccines sooner than later.

Snowy Sunday

/ Roadtirementvintage / 25 Comments

Enjoying a treat

The TV weather forecast on Saturday called for some freezing rain Sunday morning followed by rain. Imagine the surprise when we woke up Sunday to a fairly heavy snowfall with about an inch already on the ground!

Our herb and flower garden was a summer project that we worked on while staying “in isolation” avoiding the COVID-19 pandemic. With today’s snowfall it sure looks rather, ah, wintery. One thing about snow: your yard looks just as good as the always  perfect yard down the street.

Snow covered garden

We’re still waiting for our chance to get the coronavirus vaccine. Here in Indiana you have to be 70 or above to sign up for the vaccine. Neither of us are 70 yet, but we will be in the next group, be it 60+ or 65+, assuming they won’t change which group is next to be allowed to get the vaccine. We are anxiously awaiting our chance to receive the vaccine. We, like everyone, are anxious to get back to being able to safely travel and to visit family.

Our current favorite wine is from Buck Creek Winery

/ Roadtirementvintage / 17 Comments

Found our newest favorite wine!  Road House Red from Buck Creek Winery in Indiana has won the taste test and proven to be our favorite.   We had been to Buck Creek Winery about a year or two ago and had even taken a tour of the winery.  We knew we liked their wine, but we hadn’t found one that totally captured us. That is until we returned a couple of weeks ago.

The Road House Red variety is a sweet concord grape wine with an 11% ABV. It is sweet, smooth and very tasty.  It is good with cheese and fruit.  We also liked it with chocolate.  In fact, we liked it with everything we tried it with.

We spent a lot time trying different wines from wineries while we had been stuck with the coronavirus.  Not that we had it, we were very fortunate, but then we didn’t hardly leave our house for almost a year now.

We also like the Road House White and have ordered some more of it too.  Did I mention it can be ordered online and mailed to you? They have an extensive wine list for your buying pleasure.

But, Road House Red has become  our favorite.  You can check out the other varieties they offer at the Buck Creek Winery website. The winery is only 30 minutes from downtown Indianapolis off of Interstate 74.

German beer and peach wine at 450 North Brewing Co

/ Roadtirementvintage / 35 Comments

We traveled to the 450 North Brewing Co. outside of Columbus, Indiana yesterday afternoon.  It was our first time to this brewery and we weren’t sure what to order.  In fact, we were too “coronavirus scared” to go into the establishment.  So, our dear son went in and brought out a beer list for us.  We got a growler of the Dunkel,  which is advertised as a German style lager, dark, smooth and malty.  At 5% ABV we loved it and will for sure be getting more.  We  are wanting to try some of their other brews as they have a large selection to choose from.

We are anxiously waiting to get our coronavirus vaccines so we can start visiting places again.  450 North Brewing is going to be one of our first go to places, as the food menu looks very good.

They are part of Simmons Winery, so we guessed at a bottle of wine we wanted to try.  We tried the Fuzzy Peach table wine and we were a little disappointed with our pick, as it wasn’t as sweet as we like.  But, our fault as we didn’t go inside to do a wine tasting.  Next time we will go in and try some of the sweeter wines.

Looking forward to going back to this winery and brewery.  I’m getting hungry just thinking of their menu!