Greenville, NC
The trip home, much to our surprise, went without a hitch, without delay. Saturday night’s stay in the SFO airport didn’t yield much sleep, but that was as expected. Our flight from SFO to CLT was different than the one from HNL-SFO, the difference seemingly one of the airline policies. American wasn’t nearly as careful about distancing passengers, and there were people in every row, though alternate sides. Of course, they’re needing to pay for these flights, and want to put people in the seats; but many people were not wearing masks, which just seemed oblivious to the obvious.
The real surprise was in the CLT airport, where no workers—none—were wearing masks, and perhaps 25% of passengers were. Our final flight home to Greenville was about half-full (perhaps 20 of 35 seats taken), with less than 10 of us wearing masks, but not the pilots or flight attendant. The realization that NC, the airports, and the airlines are so lackadaisical is disconcerting, to say the least.
We were back at home before 5:30pm, and pretty tired. A beer, opening a few of the boxes we’d sent to ourselves over these past months, and by 9 we were in bed. And, oh, how we appreciated our own bed. A very healthy night’s sleep, I didn’t get up until 830, Pattie put in a few more hours.
Monday was about unpacking everything, going through piles of mail, and beginning the process of bringing things down from the attic. First step was just clothes, which was plenty. We were amazed at how little we were traveling with—happily so—and now wonder what we need all these clothes for!
A run to the grocery store to stock up was a bit more reassuring in terms of taking health-cautions. A masked worker right at the front door was wiping down each cart and handing it out. Most people in the store—and all workers—were masked and keeping distance. Took it slow and really restocked our kitchen. Slowly getting back to our basics.
Towards the end of the day I took the bike out for a ride and ran into neighbors and friends on the way. What a treat to see them; just so weird to not be able to hug ‘em, but great to see smiling faces, happy and growing children, and everyone healthy.
