Shelter-in-place in Lake Tahoe
Updates from the Johnston Family! Well hasn't this been interesting? As most of you know or can assume at this point, we have canceled all the remaining travel we had planned (April 1 - June 15). I feel incredibly fortunate that we made it this far in our travels! Who knew when we sold our house last June and headed out for our year of travel how much the world would change between then and now. I am so incredibly grateful we have had an amazing adventure from then until the end of March. We are certainly still on an adventure but I am not sure I would use the word "amazing" to describe what we are currently doing : )
We’re in Lake Tahoe at the moment, not a bad place to SIP at all, however the not having stable housing is a bit unsettling and for a planner like me. And, not knowing what the future holds (for housing) is taking some adjustment. Fortunately, we have experience with the unknown in life.
To back up, when all of the shelter in place began our family was in two different states. After cancelations and grounded flights, Bill and the kids were able to fly back to the west coast but since we were technically homeless (without a home base) we needed a place to stay until we knew what the near future would hold. We decided on Reno/Lake Tahoe area short term since they could easily fly into the Reno airport and avoid SFO. And, I was able to find a place for them to stay for a week (quarantining themselves post flight just in case) and then I would join them and we would all head to Incline Village to stay for a month and wait this out. Then, we would head to Pismo Beach for the month of May and rent a friend's vacation home. Great plan, right?
Well, that was the plan. It changed numerous times--to many to count. The first condo closed and didn't bother to call us and let us know. The second place gave us 24 hours to pack up because they suddenly had to close. The lodging situation was a mess, people didn't know what to do, and rules kept changing, daily. We tried to rent a place for a couple months in Marin. But, we had no luck because we didn't have proof of residency (ID still has Sonoma address). We tried the Sonoma Coast but they wouldn't rent to us because we were not residents (despite our IDs saying otherwise). Each airbnb, vrbo, hotel, condo, etc had different rules and everyone was scrambling. Responses to our requests changed daily and repeatedly explaining our incredibly unique situation became exhausting.
We were finally able to work out an arrangement to stay in Incline for 3 weeks and then move to a condo in Stateline where we currently are for another few weeks. Today I was able to get confirmation that we will be allowed to stay here until the end of the month (May 31). Phew! It is definitely an odd situation and a strange time to be in Tahoe, not being able to be out and about to enjoy all it has to offer. But we are extremely grateful to have a roof over our heads, space to move about in the condo, a washer, kitchen and grocery delivery. We are actually quite comfortable. The best part is the balcony where I spend the majority of my time. It is like being in an actual treehouse. I am thinking I might even have to name my tree friend. This is what isolation does to people : )
As for future travels, well we had dozens of hotel reservations and at least ten different flights scheduled that all needed to be canceled. We received refunds for a lot but not all. We have several credits to use so I have already booked an October trip to Canada and a November trip to London. Working on Boston for March now. More challenging on one hand because I now need to plan around an actual school calendar, but on the other hand, feeling freedom in just going for it, knowing that the airlines are offering so much flexibility in future cancellations. We shall see how it all works out but for now we are staying put. Mid - June we hope to return to the Bay Area and stay put for the summer months while we wait and see how the SIP plays out and while we figure out our next steps.
Stay safe my friends, use your purell and hope to see all your lovely faces (not on zoom) ASAP!
