It's time to come home

Source: The White House
March 13: National Emergency Declaration.
Trump declared a National Emergency to help the government respond to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 13, 2020.



Our stay in Arizona came to an abrupt stop because of rising Coronavirus concerns. Our daily routines and activities were becoming severely impacted by this invisible threat that was spreading around the world and threatening to invade Leisure World. 

Leisure World had just announced they were closing all the public facilities effective immediately.  Swimming Pools & Spas, Fitness Center, Billiard Room, Card Rooms, Woodworking Shop and pretty much everything else was being closed to encourage social distancing of the residents and staff. Activities like Pickleball and Tennis were becoming severely restricted by cancelling all organized play. 

The average age of residents in Leisure World is likely around 75 yrs. This age group is considered to be in the highest risk category for surviving Coronavirus although, so far, nobody has become sick or is willing to tell anyone. Time will tell if the preventative measures were worth it.

Coincidently, the Canadian government was also issuing travel advisories and urging snowbirds to come home. Because of this our health insurance coverage would not cover Coronavirus claims.  Paraphrasing our Prime Minister, "It is time to come home."

We left our Mesa home early on March 17th and headed north toward Salt Lake City. Our first night was spent in Provo, Utah. We were on the road again by 7AM.  A few minutes into our drive, we heard news of a 5.6 magnitude earthquake in nearby Magna, a community in greater Salt Lake City. Live news reports were warning of downed power lines, power outages and building damage but we didn't see anything worse than a splintered power pole along side the Interstate 15. There were numerous aftershocks too but we didn't feel anything unusual as we were driving through construction zones.

The orange and yellow dots indicate where the earthquakes and aftershocks took place between March 18th and March 20th. 

The Angel Moroni statue atop the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands with its trumpet missing after an earthquake in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 18, 2020.

At the Coutts Canadian border crossing there was a half mile long lineup of returning Canadians. During our 1hr-20min wait we were entertained by 11 whitetail deer trying to cross the lineup at Sweetgrass. 

After being interrogated for the usual customs declarations and other questions about firearms and liquor the CBS Officer informed us of the new requirements for individuals returning from a foreign country during a Pandemic.  We were asked if we had any cold or flu symptoms like fever, cough or shortness of breath. We replied no to all questions. "You'll both need to Self Isolate yourselves from the general population for 14 consecutive days once you return home" said the Officer. Little did he know that "Self Isolation" fully describes our normal lifestyle at Lac La Nonne.

North of the border radio stations were announcing the Can/US border closure for all but essential travel. It felt great to be back in Canada but we all know that the worst is yet to come.

Finally we arrived home, one month ahead of schedule. This is our view for the next two weeks. There's a foot of snow in the yard and the temperature is around -10C.  Looks like there's still some winter in store for us.

On the bright side, the snow should be gone in a couple weeks and I'm optimistic that we will be returning to Arizona in October.