Snowbirds’ return home becomes quite the adventure

Craig Bakay | Apr 01, 2020

Since retiring three years ago to the the home they’ve owned on Lake Mississagagon for 40 years, John and Tory Grindrod have become snowbirds, spending their winters in Sarasota Florida.

Normally, they take their time when going to and from Florida, stopping to see some of the sights, visiting friends along the way. (John had a long career in the international oil business and knows a lot of people in the Southern U.S.)

But this year, given the uncertainty of travelling during the covid-19 pandemic, they decided to take advantage of an Amtrak deal whereby they could put their vehicle on a train, while riding along in a sleeper car further up the train.

“It started out great,” Grindrod said. “We had a family room at the back of the car and there was a bench that went across the entire width of it.”

The plan was to take the train to Washington DC and then drive home from there, stopping in Syracuse to visit friends overnight and buy groceries so they could go directly to the lake for the mandatory 14-day isolation period without having to stop anywhere.

“I was sitting up on the bench hoping to see a bit of the ocean while Tory was lying down,” he said. “I noticed a sign with ‘50’ on it, which I assume was a speed limit for the engineer.”

Just at that moment, he heard a loud “Bang!” and was thrown into the window.

“The train did an emergency stop and the conductor went outside the train with a flashlight,” he said.

As it turns out, they’d had a derailment at the back of the train, including the car carrying the Grindrod’s vehicle.

“The staff on the train told us exactly what had happened and that they’d take care of of,” he said. “Naturally, people on the train were speculating as to what had happened and what would happen to us.

“But the conductors told us exactly what was going on, along with the assurance ‘we’ll make you right.’”

When they arrived in Washington, he said, they were taken to a parking lot where Enterprise Rent-a-Car employees along with many vehicles were waiting.

“I told them we were going to Canada and that we’d need an SUV because there was still some snow where we were going,” he said. “They fixed us up, told us not to worry, that they’d arrange to pick up the rental vehicle and get our vehicle back to us.

“They even gave us some pre-paid credit cards.”

“We were very impressed with Amtrak,” Tory said.

Grindrod said he thinks it’s unlikely their own vehicle will ever be back on the road.

“When you see a car-carrier on its side, it doesn’t look good,” he said.

But, knowing they’d have to self-isolate when they got back to North Frontenac, their car was full of groceries and such, as well as Grindrod’s beloved Taylor guitar.

“I’m glad I left my (vintage) Martin in Florida,” he said. “It’s getting kind of old and I was a little worried about travelling with it too much.”

Luckily, the Grindrods have friends in upstate New York and were able to stay overnight there.

“In the morning, they took us to a grocery store that was open at 6 a.m., so we loaded up with $500 worth of groceries,” he said. “And the pre-paid credit cards came in handy at the liquor store where I got a case of wine.”

At the border, even though there was only one kiosk open, Grindrod said they went right through.

“I told them who we were and where we were going,” he said. “They gave us information about the mandatory self-isolation and asked us what we had in the car.

“I thought I’d probably have to pay duty on the wine, but they just waved us through.”

Back in Canada, he said the 401 was like a ghost highway with precious little traffic. One curious thing though was they both got alerts on their cell phones reminding them that they were identified as at risk for covid-19 and reminding them to self-isolate for 14 days.

“I wonder how they figured that out,” he said.

But now, home safe and sound, he said they’re happy to comply with the self-isolation order.

“We got a fire on, even though it’s raining, it’s still beautiful up here,” he said. “On the way up, there were hardly any cars on the road and we didn’t see anybody.

“North Frontenac gets it (the social distancing). Florida doesn’t get it. It’s going to be the next hot spot after New York.”

And, despite what happened this year, he said they’ll probably do the train thing again. Even with the derailment, he said it’s better than driving.

“The eyes aren’t as good as they used to be, the reflexes aren’t as good as they used to be and the butt isn’t as good as it used to be,” he said.