Interesting fact as my daughter in law pointed out to me…..we began our trip this year with Covid and we will end it with Covid as well. Yes it is true…..unfortunately for Thom it would turn out to be something of a nightmare. We took Thom and Lynn into town to test prior to their return flight to the states. Lynn was negative, however Thom would test positive for Covid. Oh my! The wheels were spinning and we were trying our best to figure out how to manage the situation. So Thom would not make the flight home but once Lynn got home she would work to rebook Thom a flight. The center told Thom he could not test before Sunday which was another 5 days away and as luck would have it there were no testing sites that were open on Sunday. As the comedy continued to unravel, the flights became and issue and the earliest Lynn could get Thom home would be on Tuesday afternoon. Seriously you cannot make this stuff up. One thing after another was being tossed about and poor Thom was a man without a country. Greg and I had planned to leave the day after their original flight, but in light of the present situation we stayed to see Thom to his departure on Tuesday.
Thom and I would make the best of a not so great situation……..he loves to hike and that is right up my alley. We first did the Monument Beach walk and enjoyed have our photo taken by some cruisers commemorating the event.
We completed our walk and ended it at Kahari Resort/Peace and Plenty Beach Bar. Greg and the boys would meet us there for a beer before heading back to Paradigm Shift. We have at least five more days so we would stretch our walks out over those days.
We set out for the second part of our walk knowing that we would be climbing more of the rocky shoreline and less of the sand covered beaches. Thom exhibited great patience with me as we scaled some rough terrain. I am not as sure footed as I once was and the fear of falling in a place where the medical help is almost non existent is a real thing.
We would end each walk in the same way……at the beach club enjoying a beer and waiting on our ride back to Paradigm Shift. The days we were not hiking we were doing chores or going into town to pick up provisions. We fit one final hike in and that would mean we completed just about all of Stocking Island. We made it to the most southern part of the island and enjoyed watching the folks off the mega yacht taking in the beaches on Elizabeth Island.
Our hiking came to an end and now the day would come to once again test for Covid for his return flight home. With anticipation Thom and I would head to the testing facility and find that he indeed was NEGATIVE!!!!! YESSSSS! He was a happy camper and we were heading back to the boat with provisions for mine and Gregs trip home and to pack Thoms things for a Tuesday departure. There were a few little glitches here and there that made for some anxious moments, but we got through those and called it a night.
Tuesday was upon us and there were no farewell pictures but a lot of hugs and well wishes as well as texts at various checkpoints. Thom was home by 6:30 Tuesday evening and we were enjoying dinner at Lee Stocking Island. Life is good no matter how fast those curve balls get thrown at you!
