Hitting the Open Road During Covid
It is always a risk to pack up your life and drive across the country. With an image of a building and a vision to create something beautiful, we set off with our mutt to try to change a piece of the world. We gave ourselves a lot of time to complete the drive, five days to be exact. We knew that it would be iffy but it turned out to be a much better and smoother trip than we expected.
The drive started great. We left LA with two of our close friends seeing us off. As we waved bye from the car as we pulled out of the driveway, we quickly realized that we were finally setting off on a grand adventure. We were getting ready to embark on a quest so many wish they could do themselves. After months of preparing, organizing, planning, and stockpiling, it was time to leave the comfort of our home and make our way to Appalachia. But first, we had to get tested for Covid.
Covid testing at the LA Dodgers stadium on our way out of Los Angeles.
This first leg of the drive was an easy one. A quick stop in Las Vegas to see the rock sculpture and giving Havarti a chance to stretch his legs was the only time we got out of the car and it is clear that the sweet pup enjoyed his time.
Chris and Havarti enjoying some time out of the car at the Seven Magic Mountains outside Las Vegas.
This part of the drive also gave us the most stunning moment of our drive as we made our way through some of the most magnificent desert mountains we’ve ever seen. It was one of those unexpected moments of pure natural beauty that you just don’t see coming until you are in it. We were speechless as we drove through the winding asphalt that carved a path through the towering giants rising on either side of us.
The first stop was, well, a nightmare. Despite requesting a pet-friendly and disinfected room, the Ramada in Cedar City, Utah seemed determined to create a super spreader event. There were no masks worn by guests as a group of bikers used the hotel’s restaurant for a raucous and no-mask celebration. Fortunately, this was the only uncomfortable moment during the trip. We checked into the room they had to reassign us to that was pet-friendly and every surface was wiped down and sprayed with disinfectant to make sure we were safe. We were up and out of that room very early the next day.
Our second leg of the drive took us from Cedar City, Utah to Denver, Colorado. We had actually been planning to visit the Mile-High City for Jorge’s birthday, which is in April. Covid quickly killed that plan so it was a chance to see the city. However, what would have been an eight-hour drive turned into more than 11 hours on the road because of a longer than expected detour in the desolate and very off-the-grid Utah wilderness. We left the freeway to see two things deep in the Utah desert, Butch Cassidy’s Childhood Home and The Trembling Giant.
Butch Cassidy was one of the most famous outlaws and his home is deep and isolated in the Utah wilderness.
We lost cell phone service and our turn-by-turn directions stopped working. We were left looking at the map on our phone and trying to make sure we could figure out where we were going. It was a time of frustration and jaw-dropping landscapes as we tried our best not to get lost in the hot and unwelcoming desert environment. We got random seconds of cell phone service when we would find ourselves in towns that were home to hundreds of people. There is still debate within the family as to whether or not it was worth the detour to see The Trembling Giant, a forest that is the largest living organism in the world as all of the trees are connected to a single root system. It was beautiful but did add hours to our drive.
Chris and Havarti standing in The Trembling Giant, (Pando) one of the world’s largest single living organisms in the world, is about 80,000 years old and way off the beaten trail while driving through Utah.
Finally arriving in Denver at night was a welcomed sight. We were grateful to the woman who checked us into our hotel for not charging us a pet fee. Such a sweet gift after an exhausting drive. This is where we admit to you all that we didn’t know that during the time we were there that pit bulls were outlawed in the city. Thankfully Denver changed that law when they voted in November 2020. Yay!
Despite the need to get on the road, we did still enjoy some Covid-friendly tourist traps. First, we did make it a point to visit the plaque for the Denver Omelette, a classic breakfast born out of the city. Obviously, we also had to pick up an omelette to enjoy as well because, when in Denver, right? Oh! And you should definitely check out the Unsinkable Molly Brown house if you are in town. We only got photos of the outside, but it seems like a stop worth making.
Molly Brown famously survived the Titanic’s sinking and went on to create a life and name for herself with her new fortune.
From Denver, we start the drive to Kansas City, Missouri. Aside from the endless stretch of flat farmland and tiny communities surrounding churches, we did find two fun stops. Randomly, Goodland, Kansas is home to the World’s Largest Easel. We know. How stereotypical to see any “World’s Largest” things on a cross-country road trip in the U.S. Look. Jorge’s favorite mask matched the Van Gogh painting on the easel, so it was meant to be.
Jorge literally planned to wear his flower face mask to match the World’s Biggest Easel’s Van Gogh print in Goodland, Kansas
Our second tourist stop that leg, which was in Topeka, Kansas, was The Equality House. As two gay men who grew up in small, rural towns, we love this kind of representation. The house stands as a symbol of resilience in the face of hate and intolerance, something that must be confronted head-on. It’s clear that we were very excited to make this stop and bask in the glorious energy that is LGBTQ+ love and light.
Chris voguing in from of The Equality House in Topeka, Kansas is, indeed, a mood.
Arriving in Kansas City, Missouri was fine. We did not have parking, which was unsettling. We had no choice but to park our car on the street and we just had to hope that no one would break into the car. Remember, we had stuff that we considered important enough to drive across the country in that car. The next day our only goal was to get on the road as soon as possible. We quickly took a photo of a Frankl Lloyd Wright church and left for Kentucky.
One common thing we do when we travel is to visit architectural points of interest and Frank Lloyd Wright is one of our favorite architects.
We were heading to our next stop, Louisville, Kentucky. The Derby City was in the middle of racial unrest after the killing of Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers who broke into her home. The city had experienced days of unrest and we arrived the day the curfew was lifted. Yet, our hotel was within a part of downtown that was behind a police barrier.
When we got to the city, we had to interact with a police officer in order to get to our hotel. We had to show ID and our hotel reservation to prove that we were staying there. The officer we had to deal with was arrogant and rude. Not to us, but to another car of people. He dramatically made his way to our car and said that he was going to talk to us because he didn’t want to deal with the “idiots” in the other car. Without a mask, he leaned into the passenger side window and made a point to talk with us long enough for other officers to handle the other car. If he is representative of the Louisville Metro Police Department, there is a lot of work to be done in that squad to fix the policing issues.
The streets on this part of downtown Louisville, outside of the Seelbach Hotel, were a ghost town during the protest creating a surreal experience.
The part of downtown Louisville where we were staying was void of life. You could feel the energy of a grieving and angry city around us while we existed in a quiet, alternate Louisville. We walked around to get food and marveled at the absolute lack of life as the city was being ravaged by Covid and racial injustice. Black Lives Matter and they must be protected at all costs.
Black Lives Matter and it is important that everyone fights to protect the rights of every human, regardless of race.
By the time we left Louisville, we just wanted to get to Ronceverte, so we loaded up the car, got breakfast, honored Colonel Sanders (yes, that Colonel Sanders), and got out of there. We will definitely be back after Covid to check out the Louisville. Our shortest leg of the drive ended with us finally arriving in Ronceverte, West Virginia.
Definitely worth the time if you are ever in Louisville.
Chris’ parents did all of the legwork for us and had our apartment completely furnished, cleaned, repaired, and painted before we moved in. It was so nice to be able to land in a nest already done up. After five days on the road, we were all ready for a little bit of rest before we got to work on the building.
This building is the reason that, during a pandemic, we uprooted our lives and drove cross-country.