Today was strange. It really has been. After breakfast, I packed up all our things into my suitcase and backpack, threw a sleeve and a half of diapers and a thing of wipes into a crate, and put it all into the back of my parents’ car. Road Trip!

Yup. Little Man and I joined Papa and Auntie Bailey for a drive back to the suburbs. We’re doing Easter at the other house, because my one brother is working, and we want to all be together for the holiday.

Now, it was strange to be leaving the lake. Yes, I’ve left 3 times over the past 3 weeks, to run into town to get whatever supplies I needed, but this was the first time Little Man has been in the car since we drove up. He was all excited to have Auntie Bailey in the backseat with him, and she gave him kisses as we were leaving. We stopped at a neighbouring farm to pick up a few dozen fresh eggs (they are so much better than anything you pick up from the store), and then it was time to go. I noticed that the few towns we drove through before getting onto the interstate, that there were very few cars in the parking lots. Gas was pretty expensive; from what I’ve been hearing about, we had higher prices than most places. The cheese plant was closed (it is Good Friday, so I’m not sure if it was due to the holiday or because of what all is happening in the world). There was no traffic as we drove east on 20.

Once we got on the interstate, it was a different story. Yes, there were cars and SUVs going in both directions, but the majority of vehicles were semis. Little Man had fun as we would look for a blue truck, or a red truck, etc. We had plenty of trucks to choose from. But it was so strange to see so few vehicles driving. As we got into the suburbs, traffic definitely increased inbound towards the city; there were still just a handful of vehicles headed west.

When we got off the interstate and were on the last few miles to the house, I was keen to observe that it did not seem any different, traffic-wise. There are still a shit-ton of cars driving around. Yes, parking lots for most stores were less packed than they would usually be, but there were still a ton of people out driving around. The restaurants we drove by had long lines in the drive-thrus (come on people, it’s not that hard to cook at home). Yes, we did stop at Culver’s for some chicken fingers for Little Man and fish for my dad and I, but that was out in the boonies, and we ate it as we were driving back. It was definitely an experience to sit and balance the container with my fish and fries as I cut and ate it all.

Is it just a fluke, because it is Good Friday, or are people still not paying attention to the recommendations to stay in? Are more people sitting at home, or are they still going about their usual daily business? I don’t know, but I can tell you I cannot wait to get back to the country next week.