By the time we left Mexico in February of 2020, we already had news of the novel coronavirus in China. We mused aloud whether this might be the pandemic for which the world was statistically overdue. Still, we were not prepared for the pandemonium that ensued.

We spent our 2020 hiding in housesits, hardly daring to venture from the safety of isolation.

First, we were in a small village north of Saint Louis, Missouri. While St Louis has so many fantastic sights and activities, we can only report our occasional shopping trip to the fantastic Asian store that had everything we could want. The one huge plus for where we were? The Amish stores 20 minutes away that had cheeses, honey and so many other goodies that were very reasonably priced.

Our second housesit was in a small suburb north of Phoenix, Arizona. The area’s claim to fame was a 1974 Gordon Lightfoot song: “Carefree Highway”. Carefree is an adorable little town that we couldn’t enjoy because absolutely nothing was open.

In between, we managed a visit to Navajo lands that were safely empty. First stop there was an area of dinosaur footprints in rock. No one was collecting an entrance fee or selling souvenirs! Literally empty.

Then we enjoyed the ride to the Four Corners, a trip through Mother Nature’s art gallery. On display were a pair of sculptures of elephant legs.

After our last housesit, rather than risk an RV park crowded with conspiracy-believing, non-mask-wearing A-mur-i-cuns, we headed back to Mexico. We’re in a very uncrowded, RV park on top of a mountain overlooking the Guadalajara valley. Our plan is to stay in Mexico until international travel is safe again.