Returned Home

Home in Roanoke

We are home in Roanoke. Because of the coronavirus, the situation in the UK, Scotland, and Edinburgh was degrading quite rapidly. We were no longer able to meet the two primary objectives for taking the trip:  lifestyle with some volunteering. A doctor friend in the US, whom we highly respect and trust, advised us to return. The President urged all US citizens to return. And, importantly, our son urged us to return.

Not only that, our son is largely responsible for the fact that we actually did make it home. Thanks to his quick and clear thinking, we abandoned our initial plan to return next week on a flight from Edinburgh. He accurately advised that flight, and virtually all other flights from the relatively small airport of Edinburgh, would be canceled; they have been. He accurately advised that a direct flight from the major London Heathrow airport to Washington Dulles would be our lowest risk option if we could get to it the very next day; we took that flight, which turned out to be the last one to be flown on that route. Our trip home involved a rather hurried effort to pack and exit from our flat, a ride on a train for six-hours from Edinburgh to London Heathrow, a non-stop flight, screening at Washington Dulles airport by TSA and the CDC, and a car rental drive to Roanoke; that train from Edinburgh, and most of the others on that route, have since been canceled. Many of the doors to get home were closing right behind us. We are now self-quarantined for two weeks.

We thank our doctor friend. We thank our son. We thank the young man who house-sat for us. We also thank the many friends and acquaintances who corresponded with us while we were in Scotland. And, we thank the many who followed us on our blog.