A year ago today we arrived in San Clemente after driving across the country from New York.
We left the city in early March of 2020 for what was initially a 2-week Airbnb in the Catskills. We had already outgrown our apartment (see my Bathroom Diaries Highlight on Instagram) but more than that, our apartment lacked gas since November 2019. A gas leak in the building left us without heat, hot water, a working stove or oven for what ended up being a full year. Not an ideal spot at which to “shelter in place.”
We extended our Catskills stay to a month, then to a second month, then decided to drive west. My parents have a small beach house in SoCal where we could stay for a while.
We packed our car with our same two weeks of clothing plus a week’s worth of food and made the trip cross-country. It was the height of uncertainty during the pandemic so we hit as few touch points as possible during the drive. National parks and campsites were closed so it was remote Airbnb’s that we cleaned thoroughly upon arrival plus picnics on the side of the road. I think we made the trip in records time for having a 17-month-old and large dog in tow.
I’d long dreamed of a road trip to return to California, though this was definitely not as I’d imagined it. But it was certainly memorable! I Here’s a view from the passenger seat window.
I was immediately struck by the digital road signs. Every state had their own pandemic messaging. It made the eerie drive on empty roads feel that much more surreal. I kept my camera in my lap the whole trip, ready to capture them all.
