A few weeks ago – on our first Mammoth ski trip- Erin got very sick with something (not covid, though). Then, I got it. It was pretty rough whatever it was! Then, about a week after recovering from that, I -Patrick- woke up with a sore throat and decided to do a rapid test on myself. This time, however, it was positive. So, I isolated myself on the couch, followed droplet precautions, and called into work to tell my supervisor the news.
At the time of me contracting COVID, the federal government had released new guidelines. Confusingly enough they released new guidelines two days in a row. Along with CA separate regulations, this caused some confusion in terms of figuring out proper procedure for return to work. Eventually, though, we figured out that both Erin and I would have to quarantine and isolate for 7 days. Then, we could test again and return to work the following day, if we tested negative. Our PA readers will note that this is different from the regulations in PA. Regulations are also different for healthcare workers.
I stayed on the couch, followed precautions to limit the spread of droplets, and waited. I have the Pfizer mRNA vaccine, with my third dose given on October 7th, 2021. Thankfully it was pretty mild for me, although I was exhausted for a full day on day 2 of sickness. I think I got up twice to pee, and that’s it! Otherwise, I spent my days on the couch or sitting on a chair next to the couch. I went outside once or twice a day to soak up some sunshine too.
Erin tested negative on day 7, but I was still testing positive. This was the case all the way until day 10, when I finally tested negative! Erin was able to get back to work on day 8, but I had to wait ‘till day 11.
Fortunately Erin and I have an “emergency fund” of cash savings to cover for times where we cannot earn an income or something unexpected happens- like covid. We are fortunate to have the ability and understanding of how to do this. For those less fortunate, it may not be feasible to save an emergency fund. It was sad to see a complete lack of a social safety net for folks getting COVID now as compared to at the beginning of the pandemic. If it wasn’t for the state of CA mandating accrual of sick time based on every 30 hours worked, I wouldn’t have had any income for almost two weeks. I had only accrued a grand total of 12.4 hours anyway… I can only imagine how hard this situation might have been for someone who did not have an emergency fund saved.
In any event, I finally tested negative on day 10 and was able to return to work on day 11… 5 days before our planned long weekend trip to Mammoth Lakes!!!
We picked up the weekend shift to make up for lost time due to COVID, and dreamed of the mountains! On Wednesday of last week we loaded up the car, stopped at the optometrist for a check up on Erin’s eyes, and hit the road!
After very good early season snowfall, the Sierras have seen little snowfall over the past month. This means awesome weather- at least when the wind stays under control- but no fresh snow. The groomers were awesome and fast! The GPS tracking app was pretty buggy but I clocked in at 41mph on Saturday, which is much faster than I would have predicted I was going!
Mammoth Lakes (where the Mammoth ski area is located) is about 7 hours away by car. In the summer it might be closer, but the passes are all closed throughout the winter. In order to get there we needed to drive around the southern tip of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and then head north. Mammoth ski area is actually only about 30 miles away from Yosemite valley as the crow flies.
We had 3 full ski days. Our first day was a glorious warm and sunny day filled with fast hard packed groomers and no lines. The second day was considerably colder, with a high wind advisory. We decided to explore the other side of the mountain, and found ourselves in 50-60 mile an hour winds. On a solid blue groomer it was difficult to keep forward momentum the wind was blowing so hard! Needless to say we got off the face of the mountain and relaxed the rest of the afternoon.
Day 3 was cold, gusty, and sunny! Another fast and hard groomer day. Being a Saturday, however, it was much more crowded. Mammoth is within a 5 hour drive of LA, meaning that the crowds swell dramatically on weekends. Thanks to this fact, Mammoth is officially the most expensive place to stay in terms of lodging that we have ever experienced! That’s another CA memory 😀.
Once again, thanks for reading. As many of you may have noticed, we have not posted in a while due to the aforementioned month of Illnesses and making up lost shifts. Please let us know in the comments (or just text/message us) if there is anything in specific you want to hear about! I do actually read all of the comments, now that I have to manually filter out the spam. Oddly enough the most recent wave of spam has been related to an online pharmacy selling Cialis without a prescription… written in good English and with separate Gmail accounts attached to each comment. Someone must have paid good money for those bots!
Happy both of you are well and were able to ski. I enjoy reading about your adventures.