Let's take a walk through a brand new day.
New Beginnings
The Corona virus is a thief.
Covid-19 stole three big trips from me: Hawaii with my daughter, South Africa with my son, and Alaska with my husband.
The good news is that we are all healthy and the dreaded Covid hasn’t robbed us of our health or life. We are blessed.
My son, David, also thought that he had been robbed. His plan for 2020 was to hike the Pacific Crest Trail … a 2,650 mile trail that begins at the border of Mexico and ends at the border of Canada. But, officials told the would be PCT hikers to stay home. So, he did.
Then in May, word quickly spread that the trail was slowly opening back up and hikers were welcome.
David got his gear together, invited me to head to San Diego with him, and off we went. We were a little nervous about the airport, the people, the masks, and social distancing but we believed in our ability to “be smart” as we traveled. The airport was a ghost town and so was the train. The airplanes were half full and impeccably clean! Food was given to us in ziplock bags and everyone wore face masks in the airport and on the plane.
We arrived in San Diego and found that airport to be empty as well. It was a strange feeling. We quickly adapted and began to enjoy the few days we had together before David would spend the next 5 months in the desert and mountains of California, Oregon and Washington.
We went to Coronado Island and had some excellent Mexican food at Miguel’s.
We were saddened to see that the fabulous Coronado Hotel which opened in 1888 and has been continuosly open for 132 years was closed due to Covid-19.
Heading back across the bridge into San Diego, we had some free time to enjoy some of the restaurants and breweries
Then, on National Trails Day, with a loaded down pack and 5+ gallons of water, I dropped my son off in the little desert town of Agua Dulce. It was a small community with lots of horses on both sides of the canyon road.
To get to the trailhead, it was up a gully washed rutted road that went straight up. Once there, I knew it was only minutes before he headed off into the desert alone to fulfill his dream of hiking the PCT. There was only one thing left to do…take as many pictures and get as many hugs as I could before I said, “Have a blast and hike on!”
See that dot of blue headed into the desert? That was my final visual. It was a happy and sad sight all rolled into one. David living his dream. Me missing him already.
As I drove away, this was the first sign I saw as I stopped at the red light. I hope it’s a sign of good things to come for my first born and favorite son.
If you would like to follow his journey for the next five months, you can find his blog at www.rutteric.com.
If you feel like sending up some good wishes, prayers, or positive thoughts into the universe, they would be greatly appreciated.
Karen