BAM–this Coronavirus thing that was in China, is now throughout the United States. It is a GLOBAL pandemic! Confirmed cases are growing exponentially causing governors to basically shut down their states to keep people socially distancing, and even to stay home, leaving only to tend to basic life needs of food and medical attention/prescriptions. These concentrated efforts are critical to isolate the virus and “flatten the curve”.
Luckily, Yuma as of tonight (March 26) has grown to only 4 confirmed cases, while CA has 3306 case and 70 deaths, with Jamul (San Diego County) having 297 of those cases and 2 deaths. Since San Diego County is where Pio Pico Thousand Trails is located, we began thinking a lot about our return on April 1.
BEYOND THE NUMBERS:
Pio has NOTHING to do. The swimming pool areas are locked during this pandemic. The park is always full. Physically, all we would be able to do is walk the park which is pretty dusty, especially when vehicles go way over the posted 5 mph leaving a big dust cloud to walk in. The one positive of going back is that we do have a lease site, so we would have our same quiet spot in the back of the park, but the power issues are likely the same since our site is still 30 amp. We have not heard one word from management or sales regarding a 50 amp site opening up. (And we know one near our site will be available April 1.) We would be closer to our grandkids, but we would not want to visit them while the virus is so prevalent in California. Just going to the grocery for essentials is a risk we aren’t comfortable taking there.
Yes, our lease site is fully paid for, and it will cost us to stay here in Arizona, but we feel this is the safer place to be, both for avoiding the virus and for our sanity. The population of Fortuna De Oro has been dwindling day by day the entire month as people head back to their northern homes. This creates A LOT of space between occupied sites. No one intentionally comes to Yuma for late spring, and certainly not for the summer, so we don’t need to be worried about people coming to the local area. Fortuna De Oro is now closed to anyone coming in even as an “overnighter”. Nor is it accepting any new reservations. The park itself has significant wide open areas for residents to be active yet responsible to remain socially distanced.
The pool and spa is of course closed for actual use, but the pool AREA is still accessible. We find it to be a very quiet, relaxing place to be. I can stay out of the direct sun with one of the cabanas while relaxing in the fresh air.
While the gym is closed due to Covid-19 precautions, Barry enjoys taking his 3.5 mile walk daily within the park on the wide, paved streets –NO DUST! Much more enjoyable over walking at Pio Pico.
I am able to continue to play pickleball since we are not close. Several of us have started to wear gloves since we all touch the balls. We play with the same people each day, so that helps, too. Gordon and I talked this morning, and may put out a system with a couple small buckets to disinfect balls after each game. One small container would have water, dish soap with a splash of bleach to put the ball(s) in, then placed in a large water only bucket for a rinse of the soap, and then hung on the fence to dry. Those ready to play take a “fresh” ball from the fence.
The golf course has a driving range accessible for use, and the course itself is using the honor system for playing 9 or 18 holes. Barry and I actually got a couple baskets of balls the other evening, and hit the driving range. First time we have swung a club in several years. We did OK. No one else was at the driving range or on the course at this point, so we took a couple of the balls and teed up on a nearby hole and played it. As we turned to leave, Barry stopped and said “Wow. It’s like we have our own private golf course!” How cool is that!?!
We are thrilled that we can stay active, yet not be surrounded by people who could be spreading the virus to us. We are sad we won’t be seeing our grandkids in person for this extended time, but we all need to stay healthy. We plan to FaceTime a little more for short sessions till this crisis passes. Unfortunately, we have no idea how long that may take. It may cause changes to our summer trip plans. The good news is that we are flexible.