Month: July 2020

RV Rental and Vacation

Posted on by paulasommers

Have you ever thought of renting an RV? We did an RV Rental a few years ago through RVShare and it turned out to be a great trip so we have always toyed with the idea of doing it again. My husband is a pilot for a major airline and doesn’t get time off in the summer, but then COVID-19 came and the airlines were cutting back on flights. We had a week to go on a mini-vacation and decided the RV rental was a good option for us. We usually fly somewhere but we fly stand-by and that’s really difficult now since they cut back on flights the planes are full.

I searched all over RVShare and couldn’t get anyone to respond to my requests to book. So I went to Outdoorsy and found a great RV with availability when we needed. This RV was owned by a family and very loved, I wanted to rent from a person instead of a company because I think they would be more invested in keeping the RV in perfect running shape.

We picked up the RV and drove it home packed it up and were on the road in 2 hours. We brought our own bedding, pillows, coffee pot, some utencils, paper plates, BBQ and movies! We brought a cooler for our drinks and that really helped with the small refrigerator. I brought my Dream Dinners frozen and put them directly in the RV freezer, then when I wanted to defrost I would put it in the sink that day and it would be defrosted by dinner. It was so easy to hand my husband the meat and he would BBQ! We brought all of our food so we wouldn’t have to stop and get food.

Before we left home we plotted our trip and my husband only wanted to drive 4 hours a day. I looked for KOAs because they were open, due to COVID-19 the National Parks were not open. We have found that KOAs are nice and clean so we booked our spots are were ready to go.

While driving we took turns in the co-pilot seat entertaining the driver, playing games, reading and maybe a quick nap.

Our first night was in Flagstaff Arizona. It was a 4 hour drive from our home in Tucson and at least 30 degrees cooler! I was happy to  walk around the Flagstaff KOA without breaking into a sweat. My boys had fun riding scooters, skateboards and bikes. My husband was happy to have a beer and relax.

 

Then next day we were off again. We left Arizona and drove to Bryce Canyon Utah it was a beautiful drive but a little longer then we thought it would be. We were all ready to get out of the RV when we arrived. The campsite was not as nice as Flagstaff KOA but it was good for 2 nights. We were able to have a fire and make smores so the boys were happy.

Last time we rented an RV my husband didn’t enjoy unplugging everything then driving it through the National Park and re-plugging everything in when we got back. This time he  found an app called TURO where you can rent a car from an owner, like VRBO for a car. He found a car near us and they owner dropped it off at the KOA camp sight and then picked it up the next day.

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Bryce Canyon was beautiful! We drove to the end of the canyon and did a small hike, had a picnic then stopped at the sights on the way back.

We left the next day for Zion National Park Utah, this was a very short drive and the KOA we stayed at was much better. They had a pool, small putt putt golf course, and a nice road the boys could ride skateboards and scooters.

Again we used the TURO app and found a car for 3 days. It was great to have a small car to get to Zion National Park. The park was very busy with cars and the roads, tunnels and parking would have been difficult with the RV. We had a great day driving through Zion and took a couple of hikes. The first was on a wall of  sandstone the second hike was after our picnic lunch we hiked down to a river. It was a very hot day so the water was really refreshing.

The boys were begging for a water day after driving by a beautiful lake near the campsite. We did some research and my husband found Sand Hollow State Park Lake with cliff jumping and wave runner rentals. We took the car to the lake and My older son and I rented a wave runner while my husband took the car to the other side of the lake for some fun cliff diving with the crazy younger boy! We all had a fun day and enjoyed lunch at the lake restaurant.

 

After all the fun we had in Utah it was time to go home. We stopped again in Flagstaff because it was half way and unfortunately the road to the Grand Canyon was closed. I really wanted to stop at the Grand Canyon since we haven’t been there in several years, but we decided we were ready to get home and we would go there on our next trip.

All of the driving, hiking, camping, and together time was fun. We were really happy that we went on this little adventure but it is always nice to go home. We would definitively rent an RV again.

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My Covid-19 Experience

Posted on by paulasommers

Let me start off by saying that I am not a doctor!! I have absolutely no medical certifications. This is my personal story and I don’t want people to think they will be fine if they get Covid-19.  It is a scary disease.

I was fortunate that I’m young-ish and healthy. I have never had pneumonia and I’m not a smoker. I never even had chicken pox so I assumed I had an amazing immune system that would kick Covid-19 in the ass and spit it out. Well Covid took me down for a week and it was awful. I’m not going to sugar coat it! High fever 100.4- 101.4 most of the day, cough, no appetite, I couldn’t taste or smell anything, vomiting and diarrhea!

My symptoms started on Tuesday with the fever out of no where! I immediately quarantined myself to my bedroom and took some Aleve. This helped a little but I was still sore, achy, and exhausted! Wednesday I still had the fever but now I had a cough! Thursday I decided it was time to go to Urgent Care to get tested.  I had read about a woman that had died who didn’t get medical help until it was too late.  I vowed that wouldn’t be me!

Urgent Care was great, I got a flu test (negative) and chest X-ray that showed the Rock glass they have found in Covid-19 patients. They tested me for the Covid-19 but said it could take 2-10 days for my results! I was sent home with 2 antibiotics and told to only take Tylenol and go directly to the Emergency room if I have shortness of breath. My results did come back in 2 days and it was positive for Covid-19.

I had a routine while I was sick, I would wake up and my husband would bring me breakfast! I had a 1/2 a muffin and hot tea. I love this Citrus Sunrise because it has 200% vitamin C! Unfortunately I couldn’t taste it.   In my “mind,” I loved it and it hit the spot!

 

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After breakfast in Bed I would hop in a warm bath. I had a good warm soak to help open my airways and then I would change into my clean pajamas! I would take some Tylenol for my fever and hop back into bed for some Today Show or whatever I could find.

My family would make me lunch and bring me water and Vitamin water. Again I really tried to up my Vitamin C and the Lemonade Vitamin C water is good.

After lunch I would lay on my stomach on a pillow and watch a movie. I was told to spend most of my time on my stomach to help open my lungs. I like funny romantic movies so I would watch something to put me in a good mood.

Then I would take a nap, sometimes during the movie.

I tried to take another Tylenol before Dinner to help bring the fever down. Again my amazing family would bring me dinner, fortunately I couldn’t taste it and wouldn’t complain because I was being well taken care of! I am thankful for Dream Dinners, so easy to freeze, thaw and prepare!! My husband used a Dream Dinners Meal almost every night!

After dinner I would try and drink more fluids, water, vitamin water, or sparkling water. I enjoyed catching up on The Crown on Netflix then I was ready for bed!

Before I went to bed I used my Breath oil  in my diffuser. It helped me breath and sleep through the night. Plus I took Nyquil to really help me sleep.

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After 7 days of Fever, Cough, and other fun symptoms It was GONE!!! I stayed quarantined in my room for another 7 days. None of my symptoms came back and everyday I felt a little better. My family started having outside dinners together and I really enjoyed (socially distanced) meals together again.

I waited another 7 days until I left my house. I also signed up to give platelets to the American Red Cross. I did an interview for the local news about my experience and why I wanted to donate, I really hoped that my experience could help someone else! If you can please donate blood and platelets, they really need it!

That is why I’m writing this. I have written and deleted it several times because I don’t want people to think this disease is not serious.  Well if you know me, I had it and trust me it was serious.

I had my family get the antibodies tests and my husband and boys Did NOT have the antibodies. I don’t know why, if they have better immune systems or they just got lucky?

I hope this can help you and your family.