Pyramid

It's all in the eye of the beholder.  
 

My dear sweet mother, Anne, passed away from heart failure at age 88 on October 16th (coincidentally, Bob Weir's and her grandson Jack's birthday).  In the midst of a year that started out with me facing, and beating, a cancer diagnosis, proceeded to the onset of the pandemic, my store being shuttered for 10 weeks, the George Floyd protests, the C.H.O.P. phenomenon (which, along with the Defund The Police movement, hijacked the focus of the BLM movement), and the ongoing spectacle and demoralizing failed leadership of our politicians from the White House to the City Council, the hardest hit for me was watching my mom's health deteriorate.  I took three round-trips to Virginia to help manage her and my father's situation.   I'll let you judge if those were essential or not.  
 

After mom passed, we flew my Dad out to Seattle to stay at my sister's house, so he could get better attention and TLC than than the isolation he faced if he went into a nursing home.  He doesn't drive anymore, so my parents willed me their 2016 Lexus SUV.  I don't really need a second vehicle right now, but my sister says it will help getting him to doctor's appointments, as he has trouble getting in and out of the lower seats in sedans.  I took a one-way flight to Dulles airport to pick up the car at the old home place and drive it back to park at my sister's for my dad to use as long as he needs it.

This trip is somewhat of a memorial road trip to my mom, and for me, a much needed psychic break after this fuck-all of a year.   You can believe that I am taking every precaution I can, with masks, distancing, hand sanitizer and hand washing, while still trying to enjoy the sights.  I aim to visit Monument Valley, The Grand Canyon, The Hoover Dam (lol), and Big Sur before taking the 101 up the coast going home; all things I did on a road trip with my Mom in the summer of 1982.  I'm skipping visits with family and old friends to minimize contact.  I can't bring the COVID home with me.  Not only would it cripple my business, it would likely kill my dad, who is 93 and frail.

So, for now, I'm just enjoying the ride.  It's been beautiful and clear so far, and a lot of fun to rediscover the pleasures of a road trip.  Traffic has been light, although there are still a lot of trucks on the road, and I haven't seen many cops at all.  I think they're as afraid of the COVID as anyone else, and I've only seen them assisting breakdowns and helping people navigate construction sites.  
 

Well, that's enough for now.  Time to see the sights and get going further down the road.   Hope everyone is doing well and you all have a great day.

Thanks for the kind thoughts, friends.  I'll post some more photos later.  Memphis was great.  Unseasonably warm t-shirt weather in the 70s.  Took in the Lorraine Motel, Beale Street, Sun Records and Stax Records before hitting the road.  Memphis and Little Rock had the best radio stations so far on the trip.  Northwest Arkansas was pretty, I was winding through the Ozarks as the sun was going down.  Drove across Oklahoma at night.  Lots of road construction slowed things down.  The radio was mostly religious talk, pop country, Classic Rock with predictable playlists and ubiquitous spirit animal names like The Eagle, The Fox or The Hog, or Sports radio oddly on the FM bands.  Oklahoma City was very spread out and wasn't much to the eyes on a nighttime interstate drive-by.  Mostly clear weather, except a few drops of rain in Oklahoma (just as a Looks Like Rain from Nassau '81 started playing) and some steadier showers in the Texas Panhandle.  Pulled into Amarillo, Texas just before midnight.  It's in the upper 30's this morning and clear.  Gotta check the oil and fill the tank, grab some breakfast and get back on the road.  Looking forward to today's drive thru New Mexico and Arizona.  Monument Valley is off the itinerary as the Navajo Nation has closed their Parks.  

From Soulsville to Giant Seals, it's been a good trip.  I'm in Eureka this morning.  Going to head up the coast after today after checking out my old haunts here by the Humboldt Bay.  I'll post some more photos when I get home.