Keeping Ahead of Closing Gates

We were on our way to join a 21 day cruise to the Amazon.  This was January 2020 while the midwestern USA was bracing for winter storms.  We flew from Los Angeles, with a layover in Chicago, then on to Fort Lauderdale.  When we landed in Ft. Lauderdale, we learned that 1200 flights from Chicago had been cancelled just as we left.  We could have been stuck in snowy Chicago.

Our cruise went on without a hitch.  While on board we saw news about cruise ships being quarantined because of COVID 19 spreading.  Ships were not allowed to dock and airports barred passengers from arriving.  On Feb 10 we arrived in Rio de Janerio and spent 2 days sight seeing and enjoying the city while the Asia  was in a COVID 19 panic.  We flew to Houston, Texas  on our way home stopping for 2 days because we could not get a flight to LAX sooner.  We learned the day after we left Houston the city was hit with a flood.  A few days after that, Rio de Janerio was shut down because of the first identified case of COVID 19.  Had we been delayed a more few days, we would have not been allowed to enter the USA coming from a COVIG19 country and would be held in quarantine somewhere.

Two weeks later, we had an appointment to renew my GOES card at McCarron airport in Las Vegas.  We made it a 4 day timeshare vacation at the Trump Hotel since we were going there.  Although the news was filled with COVID 19 warnings and stories of people stranded somewhere or quarantined, Las Vegas was doing business as usual. After we returned safely to our home in California, we learned Las Vegas was shut down totally because of COVID 19.  Hotels, casinos, restaurants, bars, and malls were closed.  We just missed being stranded again.

The Lord’s timing is impeccable.

We subsequently cancelled our Rhine River cruise as not to be quarantined somewhere in France.  We got a 100% voucher for future use.  We then cancelled our Hawaii trip as Hawaii was requiring 14 day quarantine for any arrivals in Hawaii.  We were refunded all our money, timeshare points, plus an extension for use for another year.

We are now sheltered in place at home.  Last year at this time, we were moving.  What a nightmare it would have been had we planned to move this year.  Our children are close enough to look after our needs (mostly groceries) and we are blessed.