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My, how life has changed in 60 days. Those of you who know me, it was the end of January when I first posted on our plans to relocate to western SD from New York City. We had been planning to make another Re-con visit in late March ("Mud Season") to expand our knowledge on the lay of the land and look at realistic alternatives on real estate purchases, etc. At the time of planning, we didn't know that NOT ONLY would travel in the United States basically come to a halt in less than two months, but that ALL ASPECTS of life could change drastically. So as a result, our plans for Rapid City have been derailed. We're sitting in Manhattan, the schools have closed, the city resembles a ghost town and we're planning to decamp to our place in the Hamptons for an extended stay.
Like millions of Americans, nearly all aspects of life have been upended. And of course, for many people, the chaos surrounding Coronavirus is unreal until the time comes that it impacts your life directly. Sure, some people are selfish and go through life without caring about the welfare of others. I still believe that most people who aren't acting to limit the spread are simply unaware of the dangers they put others at risk.
I started this thread because I'd like to know how the Coronavirus is impacting on life in SD. From Rapid City to Sioux Falls and all the smaller towns in between, you will begin to find the virus spreading. Have schools closed? Restaurants? How are hospitals holding up? Have government officials called for curfews for their citizens? Etc, etc.
To date, there have been 9 people who have tested positive in SD. One person sadly, has died.
My hope is that if the virus has expanded in any way in your community, you will post it here for the benefit of all readers. Thank you. Keep those hands washed! Keep your distance and stay healthy! America will come roaring back! In 4 weeks, 8 weeks or 3 months, all of this will eventually pass. Be sure to stay healthy so you're around when we come out of this on the other side.
I am at home this week, I am being paid for my time off. The town has slowed down. The schools are closed this week. It may be longer. I really con't work from home. So I am paid administrative leave. I have 1300 hours of sick leave and almost 300 hours of vacation leave if it comes down to that.
I was skeptical that this would mess with us. I was wrong. I am going nuts sitting at home. So I went for a drive yesterday. In the car, drove around, no contact with other people. They are taking this thing pretty seriously. If it breaks out in force, we lack the facilities to care for every potential case if it were to spread. We are doing okay so far. I think in 30 days we will be back to normal. Maybe even sooner. That is my hope.
Not in SD, but close enough in IA. Sioux City schools are closed for 4 weeks. Gov. Reynolds has activated the Army and Air Nat’l Guard. No word on bars or restaurants yet. Many stores have limits on how much of an item you can get. Best wishes to people in NYC, DC, LA, etc. Good luck.
Last edited by Star691; 03-16-2020 at 01:53 PM..
Reason: Edit
I read on facebook (SDPB) that all 10 of the SD positive cases were due to travel outside of the state; none due to community transmission. There have been over 300 negative tests, so that's good
Today I went on a short hike, then toodled into town. Really, things were pretty much as normal. Stores are open and moderately busy, and so were the few restaurants I saw. Lots of people were out walking, though it's kind of a damp day. Classes at the U are completely on-line for a while. Schools are closed. I saw kids out playing football in their yards, and biking around. The local movie theater announced that they're limiting audience size to 50.
It will be interesting to see what happens this summer. Western SD is so very reliant on tourism; I don't know if there will be as many people traveling this year.
We're expecting heavy snow in most of the state beginning Thursday.
I'm just happy we have such a large Catholic population that it's fish taco season now until Easter! I lurv me some fish tacos!
I was shopping in the grocery store in Hot Springs yesterday at about 3 PM. All cash registers were busy. There were plenty of people buying stuff. The T P shelf was empty. [I still have not figured that one out} Car traffic was at least normal. The city council had a regular meeting scheduled for last night. Apparently one agenda item was whether or when to close Evans Plunge. There has been no word on that yet this morning. The rumor is that they will probably limit the size of groups that use the Plunge. This would have the most effect on swimming classes.
The latest word from Evans Plunge in Hot Springs is that all classes, water aerobics, swimming, dance classes, etc have been canceled until further notice. The Plunge will still be open for individuals to swim, lift weights, use the hot tubs, the sauna, etc, but no organized groups.
We appreciate all of your input, fellow citizens! Above, it was mentioned that a snow storm is moving into western SD in the next few days. As an aside, a few days ago, I wanted to post a pic of the local news station here in NYC but couldn't figure out how to do it. You know how the meteorologist shows the national map on their forecasting. Well, here in NYC, one of the select cities they report on is Rapid City. Probably only 12-15 cities are singled out and one of them is Rapid City. I mention it B/C like it or not, lots of us, get that gentle nudge to think of Rapid City every single day. Provincetown, the Hamptons, Miami, LA, Vegas... and Rapid City! More and more coastal folks are gravitating to the "heartland" or at least starting to think about it. RuPaul and his husband have a huge spread that goes from just outside Custer all the way into Wyoming. I'm waiting for the "RuPaul's Drag Race: The Ranchers Edition." (ha. just kidding.) Kanye West and the Kardashians just bought a 14,000 (?) acre ranch over in central WY. That's just the tip of the iceberg and at a time during a global pandemic that y'all probably don't exactly want any newcomers coming into town. I'm a real estate junkie so I am always looking for trends and as unlikely as it might seem, this could be one of them. Other than that, in the next few hours, the Mayor of NYC is expected to issue a Shelter in Place order which I see as a cuddly, Millennial-style way of saying a curfew has been invoked and no one should leave their homes unless it's an emergency.
Other than that... I know of Evan's Plunge and it's a wonderful facility! Taking a daily swim is a favorite activity and I hope we settle close enough to visit regularly. But I'm too much of a germophobe to be wanting to be anywhere near anybody's bodily fluids in the steam room atleast during a global pandemic. Bring on the chlorine! But that's me.
One last tid-bit. Gasoline here (regular unleaded) has just gone to under $3.00 a gallon for the first time in ages when it's often just under or sometimes just over $5.00 a gallon. I love to drive but there's no where to go! What a cruel irony.
I was posting a few questions not long ago in the Rapid City forum, and had even mentioned how we took a road trip and visited! (LOVED IT!!) When we got home, the Coronavirus thing was heating up, but it was still "over there".
After visiting about 6 cities we were seriously considering, it came down to Vancouver, Washington and Rapid City! We were going back and forth for a couple of days, so while sitting in our favorite Chinese restaurant, We literally flipped a coin, lol! 2 out of 3 and Vancouver it was! Then the next day, after dreaming of bison, we changed our minds again! However, aside from loving the Pacific Northwest scenery and climate, a big pull was that it was just closer to family members. Not right next door, but an easy day's drive.
So about mid February we called one of the apartments we had looked at and went forth to arrange our lease etc. etc. online. At the end of Feb. the first death occurred in Washington. Yipes! Then a week later we were like "Well oh crap, we shoulda gone to Rapid City!" In the end, it will be everywhere of course. My doc told me today to be careful as I'm... eh... high risk. I'm 61, and I have what is called "viral induced asthma". Most of the time I'm fine, but as soon as I get any kind of virus including the common cold, my asthma really kicks up and I'm doing lots of meds. So... Vancouver or Rapid, I'd still be having to take extra precautions. This past weekend we did do some socializing with just a couple of friends in quiet restaurants as a farewell, now I'm pretty much in lock down mode.
Living in California, we've always had extra canned goods water etc. for possible bad earthquakes. I've been adding to our supply over the past couple of weeks before the real panic started and now have a triple earthquake box because we wanted to have stuff when we moved in so I don't have to venture into the madness as soon as we get there! Also filled up my prescriptions cause I don't want to be hunting for a doctor in the first month when we get there either. They'll be busy enough!!
Ug, okay, going off on a tangent here, BUT lol! We were thatclose to moving to Rapid, and I really think if things were heating up just a little sooner, there might have been a good chance we'd be there! When I've told a few people, yeah, we're moving to Washington, they look at me as if I were moving straight to Wuhan or something! So wish us luck... our move is at the end of March. So far the only moving related problem is the Salvation Army has suspended their donation pick ups till at least mid April so now we need to scramble for a solution as we're downsizing, and we're giving away a few pieces of larger furniture.
Anyway, I wish all you South Dakotites health and peace, and my hubs and I STILL might get there at some point! Now that he's going to be working remote, we've been bit by the gypsy bug! That's the good kind of bug!
And Rainbow, you be safe out there yonder! I hear the Hamptons are nice! and Yup, this too shall pass! As I've heard it said recently, past generations were asked to go into battle, we're asked to sit on our couches!
I was posting a few questions not long ago in the Rapid City forum, and had even mentioned how we took a road trip and visited! (LOVED IT!!) When we got home, the Coronavirus thing was heating up, but it was still "over there".
After visiting about 6 cities we were seriously considering, it came down to Vancouver, Washington and Rapid City! We were going back and forth for a couple of days, so while sitting in our favorite Chinese restaurant, We literally flipped a coin, lol! 2 out of 3 and Vancouver it was! Then the next day, after dreaming of bison, we changed our minds again! However, aside from loving the Pacific Northwest scenery and climate, a big pull was that it was just closer to family members. Not right next door, but an easy day's drive.
So about mid February we called one of the apartments we had looked at and went forth to arrange our lease etc. etc. online. At the end of Feb. the first death occurred in Washington. Yipes! Then a week later we were like "Well oh crap, we shoulda gone to Rapid City!" In the end, it will be everywhere of course. My doc told me today to be careful as I'm... eh... high risk. I'm 61, and I have what is called "viral induced asthma". Most of the time I'm fine, but as soon as I get any kind of virus including the common cold, my asthma really kicks up and I'm doing lots of meds. So... Vancouver or Rapid, I'd still be having to take extra precautions. This past weekend we did do some socializing with just a couple of friends in quiet restaurants as a farewell, now I'm pretty much in lock down mode.
Living in California, we've always had extra canned goods water etc. for possible bad earthquakes. I've been adding to our supply over the past couple of weeks before the real panic started and now have a triple earthquake box because we wanted to have stuff when we moved in so I don't have to venture into the madness as soon as we get there! Also filled up my prescriptions cause I don't want to be hunting for a doctor in the first month when we get there either. They'll be busy enough!!
Ug, okay, going off on a tangent here, BUT lol! We were thatclose to moving to Rapid, and I really think if things were heating up just a little sooner, there might have been a good chance we'd be there! When I've told a few people, yeah, we're moving to Washington, they look at me as if I were moving straight to Wuhan or something! So wish us luck... our move is at the end of March. So far the only moving related problem is the Salvation Army has suspended their donation pick ups till at least mid April so now we need to scramble for a solution as we're downsizing, and we're giving away a few pieces of larger furniture.
Anyway, I wish all you South Dakotites health and peace, and my hubs and I STILL might get there at some point! Now that he's going to be working remote, we've been bit by the gypsy bug! That's the good kind of bug!
And Rainbow, you be safe out there yonder! I hear the Hamptons are nice! and Yup, this too shall pass! As I've heard it said recently, past generations were asked to go into battle, we're asked to sit on our couches!
Cheers!
Well hello to you, Podo!
I'm going to miss your posts! And I think your California vibes would have been a welcome addition. Washington will be lucky to have you!
There certainly is a lot that goes into choosing a new locale, isn't there? And there is so much to consider! We temper our expectations and cushion against making any mis-steps by knowing that if we should come to the decision that there isn't a good fit, we're only committing to be "seasonal" in the beginning. Travelling is important to us and we've been instilling a sense of adventure in our kids. So time will tell... As I'm writing this some of the talking heads on cable news predict unemployment rates will skyrocket to over 20%. The economy will crash and we don't even know what's around the bend. I don't think we've seen that since the Depression and it will fundamentally alter our country. How that will affect our real estate portfolio isn't yet known and as an example, multimillion dollar properties in Manhattan for instance, could lose half their value within weeks. Interesting times. The lesson here, is stay liquid. At least until you are convinced to your core that Washington is where you'll take your last stand. Stop in some time and let us know how it's going. I'm sure you have other followers here who would like to know. All the best!
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In the end, it will be everywhere of course. My doc told me today to be careful as I'm... eh... high risk. I'm 61, and I have what is called "viral induced asthma". Most of the time I'm fine, but as soon as I get any kind of virus including the common cold, my asthma really kicks up and I'm doing lots of meds. So... Vancouver or Rapid, I'd still be having to take extra precautions. This past weekend we did do some socializing with just a couple of friends in quiet restaurants as a farewell, now I'm pretty much in lock down mode. 
So wish us luck... our move is at the end of March. 
So far the only moving related problem is the Salvation Army has suspended their donation pick ups till at least mid April so now we need to scramble for a solution as we're downsizing, and we're giving away a few pieces of larger furniture. 
