Last weekend, I took a trip with my daughter and grandkids to see Aspen trees turn yellow in Frisco, Colo. We’ve taken this trip several other times with good success. The trick is to go at the beginning of October before the first frost, before the leaves fall, before one is left with stands of bare white trunks.
This year it was more complicated to do this seemingly simple trip.
This year, during this season of a lingering pandemic, the following questions arose:
- How protected are we? I have gotten the COVID-19 booster shot. My daughter is fully vaccinated. The grandson already had COVID. I’m not sure about the granddaughter. Her COVID-19 test came back negative, even though her symptoms were similar to her brother’ symptoms.
- What is the COVID-19 rate in Frisco? The scenic mountain town is a tourist haven — and has higher caseloads than more boring locales.
- Are people wearing masks? This was optional, no mask requirements.
- Is the restaurant where we ate a possible hot spot? The small restaurant was crowded on a Friday evening. But the kids were hungry, it was getting cold, and outdoor dining was not an option.
- Was the sickness I experienced that evening and throughout the night – searing headache, nausea – an early sign of COVID?
By the next morning, the leaves were obscured by snow. And the headache eased once I got a solid hour or two of sleep.. I diagnosed myself with altitude sickness, which I have gotten before. Going to a lower altitude is always the best option. So we headed home again to Denver.
After we left the Eisenhower tunnel on I-70, the snow stopped. The sun came out and we saw a rainbow on the horizon. A good omen. Plus its sighting led to a lively discussion with the 9 year old about Noah’s Ark and that God promised the rainbow would signify “No more great floods.”
I’m still allotting another three days of worry to see if that restaurant was indeed a COVID-19 hotspot. I understand that three days is the expected or median interval between exposure and symptoms
Other than that, it was a pretty good trip.
Dr. Janet Tamaren 
Thank you. You worries about COVID and the dangers of traveling go on inside you head. I our family the concerns are the same, but it’s our daughter Hannah, who got a Ph.D. in viral immunology, that weighs the risks and benefits while Susan and I go on our trips in ignorance of what we are doing. Last summer we spent a week near Stergis S.D. No one was vaccinated except us.
Al Yonas
Your first cousin and 3rd son on Benny and your aunt Blanche
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