Snowbirds: Should we stay or should we go?
Photo courtesy of Christine Shaw
Gloria and Duncan Parkinson have been living in their mobile home near Orange City, Fla., since November. They are not sure when they will attempt the drive home, as they fear traveling could expose them to coronavirus.
Photo courtesy of Pam Rose
Caution tape signifies the closure of the pool area of a mobile home resort in Mesa, Ariz., where Mike and Pam Rose have been staying since October.
Photo courtesy of Pam Rose
Due to the pandemic, tennis courts and community areas have been closed at a mobile home resort in Mesa, Ariz., where Mike and Pam Rose have been staying.
Photo courtesy of Pam Rose
Mike and Pam Rose have been in Mesa, Ariz., since October. Because of the spread of COVID-19, the snowbirds aren’t sure when it will be safe to travel home in their RV.
Gloria and Duncan Parkinson have mastered the details of their annual stay in Florida, as they’ve been making the trip for 17 years.
This year, however, no one could have predicted the decisions that the couple, who call Washington home, had to make as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were planning on coming back May 4,” Gloria said. “Now we don’t know what we’re going to do.”
It’s a decision snowbirds across the nation are facing – to cut their sunny stays short, or to wait out a still-growing pandemic, uncertain when they’ll be able to return home or see their families.
The Parkinsons, who are in their 80s, don’t have many options, so they’re going to “play it by ear,” Gloria said. They own a mobile home near Orange City, where they’ve been staying.
“After we retired, we decided we didn’t like the winters, so we bought a mobile home down here,” Gloria said. “It’s very quiet and most of our neighbors are snowbirds, too.”
No one in the mobile home park has tested positive for the virus yet, she said, and they’ve all been socially distant. The swimming pool in the park has been closed, and most of the golf courses aren’t open as well. They also have a friend and neighbor doing their shopping for them.
They don’t live in a touristy area, so the Parkinsons suspect they’re probably safer where they are than they would be if they attempted the drive home.
“We don’t know what’s open and what’s not or what the virus is going to be doing by then,” Gloria said. “You don’t necessarily want to stop at the rest areas because you don’t know what you’ll run into.”
Her daughter, Christine Shaw, of Zanesville, Ohio, said she’s glad her mother and stepfather are being careful and staying put, especially because they are in a higher risk category.
“Yes, they are further away, but this is better than having them take risks,” Shaw wrote in an email. “I’d rather be able to talk on the phone with my mom than to hear she traveled, contracted the virus and perished while being alone in some hospital room.”
Lou and Betty Serafini, of Pittsburgh, will probably have to prolong their stay in Bradenton, Fla. They made the trip Jan. 1 and planned to stay until the end of April.
But they traveled by Amtrak Auto Train, which runs from Lorton, Va., to Orlando, and it’s running on a reduced schedule due to COVID-19. Some trains have even been suspended. Lou suspects it will be difficult to book a trip home.
“It’s always full and crowded with people, and I don’t think they’re going to let that happen,” he said.
The Serafinis have their own place to stay, so they’ve pretty much kept to their home, aside for an afternoon walk. They stay busy by watching Netflix, reading good books and drinking wine, Lou said, because all the beaches and restaurants are closed.
“Most people come down here for the weather,” Lou said. “It’s very quiet, and when we walk, we only see one or two people.”
Hot temperatures may drive Mike and Pam Rose back home to Houston. They set out in their RV for Mesa, Ariz, as they do each October. Pam was a Peters Township High School teacher for 36 years before she retired in 2012, when they got the RV.
As of Wednesday, the weather in Mesa was sunny and in the 70s, but if they’re forced to stay past April, they could see multiple days in the 100s.
“If things start getting hot, we’ll have to think about coming home,” Mike said.
Their plan was to come home in April, but the pandemic looks much worse for Pennsylvania than it does for Arizona, which just went into lockdown last week, he said. When they do decide to pack up, the trip itself could pose other problems.
“We heard that camping is pretty sparse, and we travel in a RV,” Mike said in an email.