A 2100 mile trip through Covid19 deserted land

Covid19 is still present with us. Therefore this “blog” with photos taken with an “iPhone” is date-wise late, but subject-wise, unfortunately still current. 
 
In February, a week or two before the U.S. Covid 19 outbreak, we closed on our house. In retrospect, we were lucky. Two months later, we retired from the work world. These were two monumental occurrences for us in just a couple of months. 
 

The words “packing to move” make most people shiver. There’s no getting around it, in any situation, packing and moving sucks. But in a Covid situation, where we couldn’t find any mover to help us pack, we realized it was on us to do it. All by ourselves. And we did. I wish that on nobody. We packed all our belongings into two containers. Cindy and I schlepped every piece of furniture and every box ourselves into the container. Every night was a new cocktail of Advil and Scotch. 
 

At the end of the 1st week in May, we were ready to lock the house for the last time and hand over the keys to the new owners. With laughing and crying eyes, we slowly drove through the neighborhood. Nobody was around; the streets were empty.
 

To make the adventure even more adventurous, we had no plans for our next home except for a three week stay in an Airbnb in Santa Fe. That made the road trip and our departure from New York even more exciting. For both of us, it was a strange  feeling to retire without a home. Cindy was excellent and was okay with that strategy.
 

Our road trip from New York to Santa Fe.
 

Day 1: It was Monday, May 11, 2020; after an early breakfast, we started the engine of our Subaru Outback and left New York. We stayed the last night in my sister’s Irene and Joe’s apartment in Brooklyn. Early morning we said goodbye to Alba (Joe’s sister), masks on and distancing. It was strange to move far away from New York and not being able to hug Alba and also all our wonderful friends in New York.
 

With mixed feelings, we crossed the Verrazano Bridge. Light rain and fog joined us on our first part of our trip to our new hometown Santa Fe, 2100 miles away in the South West (3275km – pretty much the distance between Stockholm and Palermo in Sicily). The back of the car was full with summer clothes and sweaters. We also brought with us our Nespresso machine, a tent, sleeping bags, and some food for the road. For those who know us well, the Nespresso machine is part of our family. 
 

While we drove through New Jersey, the rain continued. The roads were empty. Rest stops were closed. New York at that time was the hotspot of Covid19. The moment we drove into New Jersey and Pennsylvania, I felt uncomfortable with our New York license plate. 
 

We passed Washington in PA. Washington, PA, was the first place I worked when I moved to the States back in 1999. I took the exit and found the building I worked and stayed. Of course, the office was closed. Cindy took a picture of me standing in front of that first working place in the USA. Now being retired since a few weeks, I felt like closing my professional working-circle here in the States. It felt great and it was a satisfying moment.
 

Our first day brought us to Columbus, Ohio. We drove from the State New York to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and into Ohio. The part we drove threw New Jersey is not pretty. There is a lot of industry not my favorite part of the State. Pennsylvania is very hilly and all covered with forests. Ohio is very flat.
We stayed at a Courtyard Hotel that was almost empty with only 10% occupancy.
 

The coffee shop and breakfast area were closed, but they offered a take out menu with a few items. We ordered and had our dinner in our room. Cindy, of course, wiped down everything with Lysol. We felt safe.
 

Day 2: The next morning, before we drove from Columbus, Ohio, to St. Louis, Missouri, we stopped to say hello to a friend of Cindy’s from Reuters now living in Columbus. It was a real treat. 
 

The 420 miles (960 kilometers) ahead of us was almost 75% road construction. One lane only and lot’s of trucks. It was not pleasant. The highlight of the drive was a Starbucks with a sign blinking OPEN. We enjoyed that coffee a lot. At the Starbuck’s rest stop, I felt that people stared at us like “go back to New York and don’t bring the virus to our state.” To avoid any incidents, I took off the front number plate and threw it in the back of the car. From that moment on, whenever I could, I backed up the car when I parked somewhere. This way, no one could throw eggs at us. 
 

On Day 2, we drove from Ohio through three more states: Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. That makes 7 States so far.
 

The Royal Sonesta Hotel in St. Louis was a newly renovated historic hotel. They had less than 10% occupancy and had everything else closed. We bought a bottle of wine across the street and ordered take-out at an Italian restaurant. We truly enjoyed our dinner and wine.
 

Indiana was very pretty with lots of farmland and trees. Illinois was completely flat while Missouri was green, lots of trees, and hilly.
 

Day 3: From St. Louis, Missouri, we drove into Oklahoma City and had another great hotel, almost for ourselves.
 

We walked outside the hotel, and found an open restaurant where we were served outside on the deck. It was the first dinner in a restaurant we had since the beginning of February. I have to say we so much enjoyed a fine glass of wine and delicious food, served by friendly waiter with a mask. Afterwards, we walked around this pretty city. We also visited the memorial for the Oklahoma City Bombing. It was moving and very well done. 
 

Day 4: This was an important day for us:  the drive from Oklahoma, via the northern part of Texas into New Mexico. The day was sunny and the landscape interesting.
 

When we crossed into New Mexico, I got out of the car to take pictures of all the welcome signs. New Mexico will be our new home. We followed the signs to Santa Fe and arrived just for the sunset. Arriving at our beautiful Airbnb and we were welcomed by our host Mary Ann. Cindy cried, to mark the occasion.
 

Summary of our first eight weeks in our new hometown Santa Fe:
 

On day one I switched my Long Island phone number 516 to a New Mexico 505 and picked up the first mail at our temporary postal mail box.
 

We enjoyed our Airbnb very much. It was the perfect place and location to experience Santa Fe. Not only that, but the proprietor, Mary Ann Bennet is both an artist, a yoga teacher and a meditator. So we dove right into both immediately. 
 

Almost immediately we started looking at houses and apartments in all different parts in the county of Santa Fe. The market was really dry, and to make matters worse, prices were rising.  We didn’t like much of what we saw. The houses needed too much repair and modifications. But we had a smart realtor and she sent us a listing that turned out it was an empty lot. We had no idea where it was. We drove there and fell in love with the location. Fast forward; we bought the land, found the architect and builder, and started the process. It turned out that this lot is two walking minutes  from our friends Lynne & Don. Cindy was at their wedding and knew them when she worked and lived in San Francisco for almost four years.
 

Stay tuned! One reason we moved to New Mexico and Santa Fe is the outdoors. I will show you the area around Santa Fe very soon.

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