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Pandemic Stories: Racing the coronavirus

Kris Kruid

Kris Kruid was halfway across the world and had to race the coronavirus to get back to her home in Honor.  Borders were slamming shut behind her. She was in 13 airports in 8 days.  She told her story to Red Pine Radio producer Cheryl Bartz.

“I was in Botswana on a trip we’d been planning for a year to go on safari and then go see the great apes," she recalls. "Then my traveling companion turned on her phone and saw the news about borders closing. So then we had to get out.  South Africa was closing, and Kenya had already closed."

“I landed in Montana and quarantined there for 38 days.  When things started to look like they might be opening, I made the mad dash across the U.S. to get back home. I found out a friend was going to need some medical care, and there was a chance I might be a care-taker for that person. So I needed to rush home and get two more weeks of quarantine in Michigan. 

“Not wanting to break my 38-day streak, I packed my car and made the 24-hour drive back to Michigan, stopping only to get gas and not going in any gas stations. I slept in the car and didn’t interact with any people and was the queen of bleach and gloves in order to put gas in my car.”