Throughout all the COVID mess, I’ve been following travel bloggers and Instagrammers for their thoughts on the pandemic. And there’s one thing I’ve noticed that’s not mentioned: bathrooms. National attention was paid to the TP shortage but why is no one talking about how the pandemic affected access to bathrooms?!? Case in point: on a trip to Upper Peninsula Michigan in 2020, we were having trouble finding a roadside bathroom that had been maintained in the last century. Maybe that’s normal even during non-COVID time, but I’m guessing it was more likely the result of reduced staffing. Either way, I got desperate somewhere along Hwy 41. I thought I’d done well with my lightning speed and the long sleeve door opener method, but when I got in the car the stench had followed me. And I totally had a Seinfeld moment when in panic mode I told Eric “the stink is on me, it’s on me Jerry!!!”
“It’s a moment that I’m after, a fleeting moment, but not a frozen moment.” ~ Andrew Wyeth
I’ve been waiting for a chance to use this quote and I’m woefully late in writing about our Michigan trip back in September. Considering that I’m writing this in the midst of a rare snow/ice storm in southern Louisiana, it seems that moment has arrived.
We went to the Oregon coast to refuel our mind, body & spirit. And it worked. Hope was restored. But this was in August and 2020 was not done with us yet.
