Traveling During a Time of Tyranny

A tale of peaceful non-compliance

This story reflects a time that’s old news at this point — a year ago Mar. “Snot pouch” “mandates” were old hat by then. The elected and unelected power freaks were on to their next “recommendation” — the “vaccine”. Two of these concoctions used a technology never before used in humans. Thanks to those busy little beavers at companies like Moderna — slaving over a hot desk to “hack the software of life” as Moderna’s CEO crowed — Americans could line up for a new operating system. Masks schmasks. Who needs those when folks can get a new operating system? This latest thing would surely keep everyone safe.

But I digress.

After leaving my job (detailed in this post), my husband and I made plans to visit the free state of Florida. While Florida had been on “the list” for a while, actions emanating from the D.C. crime syndicate and its affiliate offices in State capitols across the fruited plain told us we’d better get a move on, as it were. My husband’s growing distaste for the New England cold also had a role to play, but the unlawfulness, the disloyalty to liberty, and the constraints on every day life that we witnessed throughout the northeast drove us (pardon the pun) to make our trip.

During happier times when we discussed an exploratory visit to the Sunshine State, we had planned to fly and then rent a car when we got here. (We were avid flyers.) Unfortunately the cooperation with snot pouch “mandates” by order-followers like Ed Bastian, Doug Parker, Scott Kirby, et.al. turned our planned aerial trip into a ground adventure.

Before this, I think the longest road trip I’d ever been on was about 315 miles. This one? Multiply by five and you’re getting close. It was actually just over 1,600 miles one way, a good chuck of which would be through enemy territory in the country that no longer felt like my own. (BTW, sidebar: Texas has more “sunny” days than Florida; in fact, the “Sunshine State” is 6th on the list of the sunniest states. Just a fun fact…)

My husband plotted our route taking us from a far north location in the state¹ formerly known as

all the way to “L.A.”, “Lower Alabama”, a.k.a. the Florida Panhandle. While tyranny had reigned across the country, the enemy states we had to traverse included Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. We only dipped into West Virginia. Tennessee was coming around on its mask “nonsense” and rescinding its tyranny, so she was less of a concern. (By the way, Tennessee lives up to its reputation for beauty. I loved it. Those rolling hills!)

The Great Smoky Mountains - Tennessee

Driving through Tennessee, cutting through the northwest corner of Georgia then straight through “the heart of Dixie”, Alabama, into the northwest corner of Florida.

Because I knew all of the “mandates” were unlawful — regardless of the governors’ executive orders (EO) — I knew we had the inherent right to go without this medical intervention. (The vaunted CDC tells us that any intervention/device used as a means of “source control”² is considered a medical intervention. No governor, no “public health” dweeb has the lawful authority to order medical interventions across an entire population. Among other things, it’s called “practicing medicine without a license…Against the law, boys and girls.)

That said, I also knew that most of the inhabitants of this country would obey, would enforce, would act out their disloyalty to freedom — theirs and ours — consciously, unconsciously. So, what to do? How do we travel more than 1,600 miles while standing peacefully for our natural rights, remaining non-compliant, and resisting this tyranny?

“Resist the first approaches of tyranny!”

Quote from Mercy Otis Warren, Barnstable, MA. Considered a “genius” by Thomas Jefferson and called “the Conscience of the American Revolution”

With the route established, I went on to the website of every State and found the governor’s or the “public health” person’s EO. I printed out the ones I thought we’d need. In every single one, exceptions to the “rules” followed the “rules”. Here, for example, is New Hampshire Governor Sununu’s exceptions covered in Section Five of his “order”:

“This Order shall not apply to the following:

a) Educators, students, and staff within K-12 schools;

b) Any person with a medical condition or disability that prevents wearing a mask or other face covering;

c) Any person consuming food or drink or sitting at a restaurant or table to eat or drink;

d) Any person engaged in physical strenuous physical activity;

e) Any person giving a religious, political, media, educational, cultural, musical, or theatrical presentation or performance for an audience;

f) Any person who is deaf or hard of hearing, and any person while communicating with an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing or who has a disability, medical condition, or mental health condition that makes communication with that individual while wearing a mask or face covering difficult;

g) Any person obtaining or providing a service that requires the temporary removal of a mask or face covering;

h) Any person asked to remove a mask or face covering to verify an identity for lawful

purposes; or

i) Any public safety worker actively engaged in a public safety role and when a mask or face covering would seriously interfere in the performance of their public safety responsibilities.

And here is my favorite part — Number Six of the “order”

6. 𝑨 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆, 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

So, who exactly in the “Live Free or Die” state actually had to don a snot pouch? Hmm? Who can read those weasel words — You must, but actually you don’t have to — and fail to realize that they also knew they no authority for this at all?

Other examples:

Vermont:

“𝑨 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆, 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.”

New York:

“𝑭𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆.”

Massachusetts:

“𝒂. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏; 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 3³;

𝒃. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒅𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚”

I’d go on, but I think I’ve made the point. Who, exactly, had to wear a snot pouch of any kind? Virtually every person who took the time to investigate such a sweeping “order” would have learned that everyone had a reason for going without a snot pouch — or those clear Darth Vader shields. If you read the article in Footnote 2, it admits that the “rags” — whether the blue plastic things made in China or the floral one you made for yourself — did not “work”.

Which leaves us with the following very distressing question that leads to a very distressing answer: Who enforced this? Who made “everyone” endure these demeaning, ineffective, unhealthy “face coverings”? Not the governors. Not the “public health” directors. Not even “law” enforcement (unless called by some weeny to complain about a naked face.) Nope. “Americans” enforced this. “Leaders” of corporate “America” enforced this. “Americans” busted the chops of their fellow Americans through their cowardice, incuriosity, obedience, and disloyalty to liberty. Who needs law enforcement when you’ve got citizens like this?

An example: At this coffee shop in Nashua, NH (essentially a suburb of Boston with all the negative connotations for freedom that that implies) well before our Florida trip, a young woman (a girl really — maybe 16) denied me service. I was the only person in there on a busy Saturday morning without a snot pouch. All the “Live Free or Die” residents of the Granite State were proving that motto meaningless.

I explained to her (a poor young thing who looked scared) that I didn’t actually have to wear a face covering. She actually backed away and turned to her left, looking wide-eyed for her manager. The manager, a “Live Free or Die” “patriot” came over and sternly “clarified” that I needed to wear a mask in order to be served. I calmly explained that the actual case was the opposite. The “patriot” was undeterred.

I’ve got a soft spot for young people — especially since this “COV!D” crime and seeing just how badly “adults” in this country screwed them over. Seeing how the young woman was becoming anxious over the whole thing, I acceded — but not before calmly explaining exactly why I was going to leave, why I would not “just go to the drive-thru”, and how the manager and the server were in violation of the law. For whatever it was worth, I walked out looking side to side, making as much eye contact as I could with the masked wonders whose preference for obedience enabled them to accommodate the idiocy of needing to cover their noses and mouths while ordering through plexi-glass, but not while seated sipping their lattes — or whatever.

There were exceptions to the people I’ve just described. Like “Suzy” (not her real name) in Carlisle, PA at the hotel where we stayed our first night. I’d called ahead and “Suzy” answered. I complimented her on the hotel property, but explained that neither my husband nor I were able to wear masks safely. Would your property be able to accommodate us? “Yes, of course, we can accommodate you!” Really? “Yes,” she repeated. “Don’t worry. We’d be happy to have you.” And she was — and she was there when we checked in — and she remembered me. I shall always remember her.

We also ate at a fabulous, locally-owned restaurant nearby — without covering our faces to gain entry. I’d give the name to give them a shout-out except I worry they might get harassed. Yes, I still worry…On the return trip, we stayed at the same place and made sure to patronize that same restaurant and bring home two jars of the best homemade apple butter I’ve ever tasted.

So, back to the road trip. We left northern New Hampshire at three below zero on St. Patrick’s Day. I had all of the EOs with me, ready to take out at any point. We made it a point to travel as far as we could without stopping.

On our first day, we made a pit stop in Vermont and then drove straight through into Massachusetts (not stopping), through Connecticut, then hung a right to head into New York State (my home state) for our second pit stop. We’d packed a cooler with food and water, needing only to stop for a stretch and “bathroom breaks”. Every rest stop building had a sign telling us "face coverings” were “required” — except we knew they weren’t. In those instances when a masked human or humans gave me or my husband a “look”, we looked back. It must be said that the further south we went, the more comfortable we felt and the fewer looks we got.

We stayed in Pensacola in a gorgeous AirBNB. No face coverings. Publix Supermarkets had their “face coverings” sign on their doors, which we promptly ignored. We made several trips to the one near us (Publix are gorgeous grocery stores). We were genuinely happy to be in the Sunshine State, so it was easy to smile at people, including the lovely employees at the check-out. All masked up (which really does break my heart), but to a person, they smiled back. Not one made a single comment about our naked faces — except for one delightful cashier, a young woman who said something along the lines of “Y’all look good…I know you all are older, but y’all look gooood.” ❤️ Compliments like that are verboten “up north”. I think I knew then we’d be moving…

Escambia County had a “mandate” and the Mayor of Pensacola had issued one for the city. I wrote the Mayor — copying every person on his staff — to let them know we were coming and that we would go everywhere unmasked and fully expected to be left unmolested. We did and we were. We splurged twice on Alice’s Restaurant —first by ourselves and then with two friends we know here. A must if you’re ever in ‘cola, as she’s affectionately called. Superb.

We spent two weeks in “L.A.” We talked on the way back about the experience. Staying once again in Oak Ridge and having dinner at the Outback, we sat at the bar. Our server was another adorable young woman. We got to chatting. We told her where we headed and where we’d just been. “Florida? I just got back from there,” she said. “I loved it. Had so much fun.” No kidding? “Yup. Once I finish school, that’s where I’m moving.” Funny that…looks like we are, too.

And we did.

Sunset at the Gulf Islands National Seashore

1. https://newengland.com/today/living/new-england-history/live-free-or-die-new-hampshire-motto/

2. https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2020/09/08/source-control/ Read the section under the “Source Control” heading and try to make heads or tails of that conflicting “information”.

3. Section 3 of Charlie “Parker” Baker’s “order” referred to places of employment and schools. So while Sununu spared the schools (but incurious and/or scared Granite Staters forced their kids anyway), “Parker’s” exception had an exception for employers and schools.