The pandemic has really limited our travel this year. We cancelled our trip to Missouri in April, and our Alaskan cruise that we had scheduled for July was also cancelled. However, we needed to see our granddaughters so when travel restrictions lightened we booked a trip to Kansas City for the beginning of August.

Overjoyed is an understated word to describe the elation these two munchkins expressed as we approached the door. Amelia, the youngest, had been thinking we would arrive two whole days before our flight. It took Facetime calls to Grammy to convince her otherwise. Elizabeth was equally excited to share all her new dance moves and how prepared she is to enter Kindergarten.

The silver lining of the pandemic was that we could really only spend time with people in the bubble of our family. That gave us lots of time to play, watch movies, and dine from everyone’s favorite take out restaurants. Our son Erik and his wife Amanda have a wonderful home that is filled with love and happiness.

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Of course our family bubble included my my brother Dave, his wife Jen and their daughters Devyn and Gracyn. Having just moved to a new house they were extremely excited to show it off. It’s simply gorgeous!

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Usually we stay with them, but since they’d just moved we chose to stay in a hotel. This was the scariest part of the trip. While giving lip service to the pandemic, they didn’t adhere to most of the guidelines. Because of that we confined ourselves to our room and to the homes of our family members.

No trip to Missouri would be complete without paying a call on my mother. Fortunately, she takes the situation seriously. Our stay was limited to her porch and fully masked! I’m glad she’s attentive to recommendations of medical advice!

Our visit was over too soon. The girls were very disappointed we needed to leave. But my job was already encroaching on our family time. In this time of remote work, we can perform our duties from just about any place on the globe.

Both our trips to KC and back to Boston were quite different than what we’d experienced in the past. Airports were virtually empty, our flights were less than half full, and all health guidelines were strictly enforced.

It’s obvious we live in a different time right now. I was required to quarantine myself for 14 days upon returning which meant I was forced to work from home once again. Knowing this, I doubt we will do much more travel out of New England until the crisis passes. Until such time it appears I will have to content myself with local adventures right here in New England. However, I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be restricted to.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller