Sacramento Couple Describes Journey From Cruise Ship To Travis AFB Quarantine
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Being stuck in a room has become the norm for Carolyn Wyler and her husband Ken Welton.
"One moment we were in line at a buffet being one foot away from each other and then all of a sudden boom — we were confined to our cabin," Carolyn Wyler, a Sacramento woman under the latest Travis Air Force Base quarantine.
The couple spoke to CBS13 by video chat from the place they will call home for a total of 14 days, Travis Air Force Base. The Sacramento couple was vacationing on the Grand Princess cruise ship in Hawaii when they learned a passenger on the ship's previous trip had died from coronavirus.
"Well, it stopped being a fun vacation," Welton said.
"Immediately," Wyler said.
That news prompted the ship to go into quarantine. The couple said things onboard quickly turned into a scene from the movies with doctors coming to their door in what they describe as spacesuits.
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"We expected Amy Adams was going to hold up signs and communicate with us. Like 'Arrival,' yeah," Welton said.
But, they didn't let their confinement get the best of them.
"We tried to make it good. It could've been worse. I think once we moved here; I think it is worse," Wyler said.
The couple posting their journey on social media including a video of them dancing in their room; trying to get some exercise. Then, the couple got the news they'd been waiting for, that they were getting off the ship.
"And as we walked the empty boat to get in line to disembark, it was like I remembered we were on a cruise. Because I had totally forgotten," Welton said.
Once the ship docked at the Port of Oakland, they shared their excitement with others on the bus taking them to Travis.
"I turned on The Beach Boys song, 'I Wanna Go Home' and a bunch of us sang that song really loud while we were on the bus," Wyler said.
Wyler and Welton gave CBS13 a look at their room on base. They said it's your usual hotel room; glad to have cable TV and a bigger bathroom.
"There's people cleaning like crazy; everywhere floors. It feels like we're in a Stephen King movie right now," Wyler said. "We feel like we're in prison."
"There's a fence around the place. There's guards and floodlights," Welton said.
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Wyler does have a unique viewpoint being a retired nurse when it comes to analyzing a quarantine.
"I think a lot of this is way overkill in lots of ways," Wyler said. "I understand that they need to check us out. It sounds like they are going to be doing some testing on us."
But, they have mixed emotions as they anxiously wait to be released from quarantine.
"One time or minute I want to cry or maybe two and the next we are friendly and laughing about stuff and saying how totally ridiculous everything is," Wyler said.
The couple told CBS13 they want to spend time with family and friends once they get home, but there's one thing that's at the top of their list of things to do.
"Play pickleball! We miss it a lot!" Wyler said.
Wyler and Welton told us that their family members were also on the ship.
Two of Welton's brothers from Utah were traveling with them. One brother and his wife are currently at a hospital in Oakland. The other is still on the Grand Princess cruise ship.
