We have been down in Quartzsite for almost 2 weeks now. I gather that Arizona never had a mask mandate, because almost no one wears them here. Ken and I have had so many holidays ruined by illness, I feel fortunate that is at least “acceptable” to wear a mask.

Years ago~1999, I trained for months to run the Maui Marathon and picked up a gastro bug on the plane and was unable to run the race….. 7 years ago Ken and I went on a bike barge trip in France, where you sleep on the barge, and cycle between spots during the day. It was a small barge, and someone boarded with the flu. Gradually each day someone else succumbed to the illness. Ken and I finished the trip free of the flu, but with in 24 hours we were both very sick. It was a real drag to be in France, sick. We went to Spain 5 years ago to hike the Camino trail, and one night after a particular long day, we slept in the common sleeping area (Alburge) and someone clearly was coughing…… a day later I had to quit the Camino 70 KM short of our destination because I was coughing and very wheezy. (the next day I fell and broke my shoulder). I also know of people who have come home early from european trips because of sickness. It is just NOT FUN to be sick and any time, but worse when you are somewhere away from home.

It seems that they are lifting mandates all over the place, but in crowded indoor places I am going to continue to wear mine (for now) …. I never wore it because it was a mandate in the beginning … I wore it because I was trying to prevent illness. And at the beginning, there were no masks… I had leftovers from the fires/smoke in BC. I felt extremely lucky to have an N95 mask back then.

We are having a great time down here wandering the desert looking for rocks, rarely a soul in sight for miles. We really are set up such that we do not need to go into crowded indoor places very often. Sadly the pub here that has the most selection on tap, is very crowded, and no masks. It has been awhile since we found a good brew pub. I would suggest for this area… to BYOB..😊

It is also getting quite depressing that a trucker/car/RV “convoy” of vastly smaller numbers than are reported in some news outlets, are occupying Ottawa, to “protest vaccine mandates” Ken and I have been to our share of protests, mostly protests against war…..(protests against needless killing of innocent vulnerable individuals). THESE protests in Ottawa and other large cities and border crossings are essentially in favour of needless killing of innocent vulnerable individuals.

The protests we have attended over the years have not been funded by wealthy individuals, but somehow they have managed to provide toilets, food, and emergency facilities. There is a million nurse march in Washington DC in May, which I am sure will be vastly better organized. These Trucker “protesters” have been defacataing in peoples yards…… then again, when you gotta go you gotta go…..disgusting.

Another main difference with the protests we have attended, is that people actually get arrested if the stop the flow of traffic. It seems that THIS protests GOAL is to stop the flow of traffic. Why does one law apply for anti war movements and another for truckers who are afraid of needles. Right now they are actually blocking the border crossings basically stopping their “fellow truckers” from doing their job. Most truckers in Canada are vaccinated. Why should truckers be exempt from the same rules that the rest of us have to comply with, in returning to Canada from the US. The actual point is to stop the spread of disease….🤔🤔. Its not like Biden and Trudeau stopped truckers from crossing the border unvaccinated….just to mess with their “freedom”. If it had to do with freedom, you would think they would have protested when they had to have a passport??

OH AND BTW, there IS a big possibility of a war right now, that would involve Canada and these stupid truckers are taking the limelight of the news when journalists SHOULD be doing a better job of explaining what exactly is going on in Russia/Ukraine rather than skimming the top.

I must say I was disappointed that Trudeau would not meet with the protesters “because he disagreed with them” I gather that he would also not meet with a group of anti war protesters, since he is so het up sending troops to Ukraine.

Sorry to have ranted here.

I did want to close with a video of Tucker trying to wear booties in the desert to keep from getting cactus thorns in his paws.

Much love to all from Ken, Janet and Tucker the dog with booties

Please wear a mask if you do not like being sick.