Here we are in month 6 of the COVID-19 pandemic. What was notable about this month, you ask? Well, my childhood friend came to visit with her dog so that we could explore my new city. We had a great weekend with lots of food and drink, and more drink and lots of fun. But then, fire season started. What is ‘fire season’? Well, apparently, it’s an annual thing – according to Wikipedia:
The 2020 California wildfire season is a series of ongoing wildfires that are burning across the state of California. The peak of the wildfire season usually occurs between July and November when hot, dry winds are most frequent. The wildfire season typically does not end until the first significant rainstorm of winter arrives, which is usually around October in Northern California, and roughly between early November to December in Southern California. As of September 9, 2020, a total of 7,606 fires have burned 2,936,955 acres (1,188,544 ha), making 2020 the largest wildfire season recorded in California history. Climate change has increased the risk of wildfires in California significantly.
I watched with a growing sense of doom as the fires broke out around me on three sides, and the smoke began to invade my city. On August 19, I went out for a morning run and could smell the smoke in the air. It reminded me of New England in the wintertime, when you could smell wood smoke as people fired up their woodstoves and fireplaces to dampen the chill of the season. Except that this time, we were experiencing temperatures over 35C, and several days over 40C. That day, I noticed the increasing levels of smokiness and decided that it was probably best for my lungs not to go out again. I loaded up a couple of air quality websites on my phone and watched as the numbers began to climb and stay in the ‘dangerous’ zone. It was then that I knew there was an even worse form of shelter in place – I was effectively entering solitary confinement. The various media and public health notices started coming fast and furious advising that we not go outside at all. If the initial COVID-19 response felt confining, at least we were encouraged to go out and exercise for 30 minutes a day. Under a fire warning, we were told not to leave the house – our lovely cloth face coverings that could help prevent the spread of COVID-19 were no protection for the even deadlier smoke that filled our skies.
Over the next ten days, I heard several of my work colleagues talking about leaving the area. Several had fled to family in southern California, and others were being evacuated as the fires came too close. I tried to make the best of it, doing online yoga classes instead of any outdoor activities, but the confinement was getting harder to take and I wondered how long before we would be evacuated. As the warning came in, I prepared my ‘go bag.’ This is apparently how people in California live for the two or three months of fire season. You basically pack an overnight bag and have it standing ready all the time. I pulled out paperwork that would be difficult to replace – my birth certificate, passport, car title and such – and put it in my laptop bag. I had a small suitcase packed with several days’ worth of clothes, but no idea where I’d actually go should the order come in. It seemed that going west to Oakland or San Francisco was best, but what would I do once I got there? I certainly couldn’t see myself going to an evacuation center. Regardless what was happening with the fires, it wasn’t like COVID was taking a break or had been burned out. Gathering with other evacuees wasn’t something that I wanted to consider. I started to look at flight options. At the time, two hurricanes were approaching Houston – Laura and Marco were set to crash into land right around the time I was considering my options. So, going to Houston didn’t feel like a good idea. With that in mind, I settled on Minnesota. When all else fails, the best option can be to just go home. And so I left California on August 29th.
Traveling during COVID and fires is an interesting experience. To start, I had to decide how to get to the airport. California was threatening to shut down Uber and Lyft due to the issues with whether or not their drivers are actually employees. I also wasn’t certain whether I could fully trust their drivers with masking up and keeping their cars clean. So, I opted for the trusty old executive car services that I used to partake of when traveling for business. Given that I also didn’t want to leave Ava parked at Oakland airport for an extended period – both because she’d be exposed to ash from the fires, but also because Oakland is one of the least safe airports to leave a car, I needed some alternative mode of transportation. Unfortunately, there are people in Oakland who will break into cars just to smash them up, even if there’s nothing of value inside. So, I settled on traveling in style, complete with a masked driver and leather seats.
The airport was another experience. It wasn’t very full and checking luggage was generally the same as before. Going through security, there’s now plexiglass at the agent’s desk and they’re wearing both masks and gloves. They still take your ID to examine it and now ask you to briefly remove your mask so they can check it’s really you. Otherwise, nothing too different. I did observe that digging through people’s bags as they come off the belt isn’t really done anymore. I suspect that TSA have no interest in putting their hands into people’s stuff these days just to check that your charge cords are really okay. Since I arrived quite early (thanks to a conservative estimate by the car service), I looked around for breakfast. There were only two options – Peet’s and a ‘grab and go’ pre-packaged food kiosk. I ended up with Peet’s and had a muffin with my cappuccino. Fortunately, there were very few flights scheduled and everyone spread out to sit and wait. No need to be anywhere within six feet of anyone else. Everyone was wearing masks and while waiting to board, the gate agent announced that bandanas were no longer acceptable. Southwest was passing out disposable masks for anyone who actually made it through security just wearing a bandana over their mouth and nose. The boarding was done in groups of 10 and the gate agent directed us to stay away from the gate until our group was called. Thankfully, everyone seemed to follow the instructions and boarding was pretty smooth. Southwest is still selling less seats and instructed us not to sit in the middle seat unless traveling as a family and taking the entire row.
The flight itself was uneventful, though I had read somewhere that the highest risk traveling was the toilets on the airplane, so I decided to wait it out. Three and a half hours from Oakland to my connection in Chicago was definitely a long time to wait, but thankfully, I made it. Midway Airport was the same as Oakland as far as food options – two places open, no restaurants. Flying from Midway to Minneapolis-St. Paul was even less busy. They said we had 60 people on a plane that could hold 175, so the spreading out was due to needing to balance the weight and not primarily based on preventing the spread of COVID. In any event, we were seated well apart for the quick one-hour flight up to the Twin Cities. My only disappointment there was that the Caribou Coffee near the luggage carrousel was closed up tight.
My first stop was at The St. Paul Hotel for a couple nights. This is my go-to when I come home. An historic hotel where my dad used to take us for kiddy cocktails after events downtown, it’s always been a special place for me. While the bars and restaurants were closed, it is still the same as always and I had a beautiful run the first morning along the Mississippi. It felt great to finally get outside and breathe fresh clean air. After two nights there, I decamped to Stillwater for another couple of nights. I stayed at the Lowell Inn, a place I spent some time over 30 years ago following my first wedding. Of course, their famous wine tasting dinner wasn’t being held quite yet, but it was a nice place to spend time hiking and running the trails. The lift-bridge (a smaller version of the one in Duluth) is closed to cars, so I also walked across for a short visit to Wisconsin. All in all, it was a beautiful place and weather was absolutely perfect. Not nearly as hot as California, but still warm.
Once I finished the city end of my visit, I packed up the car with groceries and luggage and headed to Erhard, MN. The location is northwest of the Twin Cities and further West than I had ever been in Minnesota. My usual travels would have taken me to the northeast and up towards Lake Superior or Duluth but given the last-minute nature of this trip and the fact it coincided with the Labor Day Holiday; my options were limited. As it turned out, I was fortunate to find the perfect location for what I was looking for during this trip; a duplex with a wonderful couple who made me feel very welcome in their home. Quiet, remote, close to some State Parks and a place I could work from for the 8 working days I would be there. To make it even better, my son decided to come up from Dallas and spend a few days reconnecting after a long time apart.
Given that I was working Pacific Time hours, this meant that my mornings were free and clear. I did several hikes and got in a run on the mostly empty roads near the house. In an unusual move, I also watched several movies in the evenings. While I still had work to do, it felt like a time to relax and just enjoy the unseasonably cool weather in Minnesota (a dramatic change from the first few days of the trip). The seasons are changing and it’s one of my favorite times of the year. This area of Minnesota is also on the line between the north woods and the prairie. It was interesting to hike, or given the terrain, stroll Glendalough State Park, which is an example of prairie, and was about 30 minutes south of the house. Then, visiting Maplewood State Park, which is much more north woods with lots of glacier lakes, where I could get in some more rigorous hikes. While there are no mountains or complex terrain in either location, I was able to get out into the woods and enjoy the relative peace and quiet of Minnesota in late summer.
After the perfect escape, I decamped to Minneapolis to check out the historic Foshay Tower which is now a Marriott Hotel. The building is beautiful, and the observation deck looks out over the city, but due to the recent protests and continuing impacts of COVID on businesses, the city itself was shut down. While I expect St. Paul to be relatively quiet (the old song ‘Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio’ comes to mind), I always think of Minneapolis as being bustling. It wasn’t and in fact, was eerily quiet. I ended up spending most of the weekend in St. Paul, taking advantage of the fact salons are open in Minnesota. While having a hair cut and mani/pedit for the first time in 7 months, this was a disappointing aspect of the trip. At least I had a couple nights in the ‘other’ city and got to partake of services not yet available in California.
Over the course of my trip, I watched the air quality and fire websites closely as the entire West Coast seemed to be burning. While I had hoped that things would improve while I was away, the situation was actually getting much worse, in fact, there was a report of a minor earthquake near my city. Considering the fact that many companies are now completely remote and that the Tech industry which drives much of the San Francisco Bay area is beginning to fill jobs ‘anywhere,’ it makes me wonder what the outcome of the fire season will be for these areas. Why would people continue to pay the exorbitant housing costs, deal with traffic, a fire season that seems to becoming a routine and so on, when it’s no longer necessary to live near where you work – or, basically, you’re going to be living at your workplace for the foreseeable future. This will be something to watch over the coming weeks and months as the fall-out from COVID and the fires filter through the California-based companies that used to insist employees must live within commuting distance of some office location.
So, month 6 became a continuing pandemic nightmare month, but with massive fires thrown into the equation and an escape to Minnesota. As month 7 begins, I have to wonder, what next?
