That's the plan.

We have 3 priorities before buying:
No flooding areas
No trains close by
No trashy neighbors.

And if M has his way no neighbors what so ever

That's one hell-of-a drive! I guess it helps if you share it between the two of you.

I just can't imagine having this conversation at the check-in desk - "(cough, cough) Hi, my name is Smith; I have a reservation (cough, cough). We have Covid so we need ... and ...."! How do they respond?

I strongly recommend that you rent for at least a year, so you get a sense of what the entire year is going to be like in a specific area / neighborhood. The problem right now is, you don't know what you don't know; your experience is probably all Texas-based, so you don't know what delights are in store in this new environment.

I guess we were lucky with our hotels. We called when we arrived while still in our car and explained the situation and it was handled very professionally. The Fairfield Marriott we stayed 3 nights in were amazing. Obviously it happens often and the staff are trained to be discreet and help keep their customers safe. As I said, I had feelings of guilt but when you leave home healthy and get sick hundreds of miles from home it is good to know there are some helpful and understanding people out there.

Yes, rent is an option. We will be staying with our daughter to start with anyway so there is no rush.

That's good to know! I hadn't thought about calling from the car outside! It's often a challenge these days reaching a 'front desk' because they want to route all calls to a central call center. But once I got locked out of my room and I didn't want to head back downstairs and did manage to find a local number that connected me to the front desk, so I know it's possible. Marriott's tend to be well run, too. Probably better off there than in some of the more 'discounted' chains...

I wonder if they keep the room empty for a day, so they don't have to send the cleaning staff into the room immediately after you depart. I don't even know what the 'lifespan' of Covid virus is meant to be these days; maybe leaving the room empty for a couple of hours is sufficient. I'm tentatively planning a big trip in September, and it's these thoughts that keep me from pulling the trigger ...

Not having close neighbors is good. Finding a place just beyond the daily commute radius is usually cheaper property cost and getting a few acres is affordable. I had rather have a big city a couple hours away rather than live in one which I could not bring myself to do. During your back road drive back to Pittsburgh if you come near us in Lynchburg TN look us up.

I might be asking your opinion on routes!

Ill get back to you soon

Today's big adventure was selling our Ram 1500 truck. We decided just to take our small SUV, a Hyundai Santa Fe, with us and then purchase a second vehicle when we are settled somewhere.

It actually turned out a little different. One of the local dealers offered us a good selling price for our 2011 truck that we agreed to but looking on their website they also had a new 2022 Toyota Highlander for sale ....so long story short we traded both the Hyundai and the Ram and are now owners of a bigger SUV. It was an interesting day. Most of the dealing was done online from home without contact. We had test driven a Highlander earlier this year so we knew we liked it.

So much for resting for a few days but also how scary really that you can trade and sell and buy sitting at home with your PJ's on and drinking tea! At least it is one more thing sorted though. 10 days to go to being homeless

Enjoy the new car

I have to admit I went looking online for houses for sale near Pittsburgh for you

Thanks mate. I need all the help I can get!

Exciting times! The bigger SUV will be useful when setting up a new home and I trust you have gone for the AWD for Pennsylvania winters and Pittsburgh roads?

Yes. We are prepared

This should be our last weekend in our house. I still feel something will hold up our sale though...ever the pessimist I guess

We are just chilling out. Everything that needs packing and we can do without for the next 6 days is packed up. Everything is numbered and labeled and on a list! I have never been so organized

Covid symptoms are pretty much gone now but I still can't get a negative test. I had to go the doctors office yesterday for a blood draw but I didn't want to sit in there with Oncology patients. I called before we left and explained I was still testing positive. They told me not to worry and obviously keep my mask on and as long as I had no fever, sore throat or cough it would be fine. Apparently some people test positive for 2 months or more afterwards. Mind you I was the only one waiting in the blood test area so that made me feel better

Countdown really does begin now!

Everything crossed for a smooth finish to the sale. Bugger about still testing positive, you must have had a good dose of it. I have no scientific basis at all for that comment

I really don't know if even the experts know about this virus and how it can be so different from one person to another. My other 3 fellow sickies have all now tested negative and typically I had to be the odd one and stay positive

Decided to order BBQ today, because good Texas BBQ will probably be something I will miss

A few months ago my daughter came down with Covid, but all tests were negative. IMO she caught it from her daughter, who had a mild infection for a day or two. My daughter had all the symptoms, her joints ached so bad she couldn’t climb stairs and slept on the sofa for almost a week. She couldn’t keep food or fluids down. 6 days in, she spoke to an ER doctor who specializes in Covid patients. He said she had Covid, prescribed meds and said if she couldn’t keep fluids down after 48 hrs, she would need to be admitted to hospital and put on an IV. Fortunately the meds worked, after 10 days she felt much better.