ALPENA — Coming home from vacation can be exhausting, but it’s not supposed to cost you $1,000.

Presque Isle County resident Andre Nadjarian is afraid that will happen when he leaves Florida at the end of the month, when a downstate driver’s license and a governor’s order meant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus may butt heads, standing between him and the home to which he longs to return.

Nadjarian and his wife, Connie, live on 41 acres on Black Lake most of the year.

They also own a small apartment in Rochester, north of Detroit, where they run a business.

In winter, the Nadjarians flee the snow for the warmth of Florida.

On April 30, their Florida lease is up, and they’re scheduled to head north to Onaway, which they’ve called home for years.

On Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended her stay-at-home order, including a provision that prevents people from moving from one Michigan residence to another. Violators face a $1,000 fine.

People are still allowed to travel to and from their homes across state borders.

The overwhelming majority of Michigan’s nearly 26,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, have been reported in Southeast Michigan. Many public health officials Up North, where infections are relatively rare, have worried returning snowbirds or folks escaping to northern cottages could spread the disease here.

The Nadjarians consider Northeast Michigan home, living here a third of the year, but, Andre Nadjarian said, he never updated his driver’s license to claim his Onaway home as his official residence.

After learning of the governor’s order, Nadjarian is frightened of being pulled over by police as he drives north through the state, his vehicle stuffed with luggage and bedding, a bicycle strapped to the roof, and a downstate license in his wallet.

“I’m going to have a problem, then,” Nadjarian said nervously from his Florida rental home.

The couple owns a bed-and-breakfast-style cabin on their home that’s usually rented out in the summer. It’s been booked for a year, he said, along with a “man cave” above their pole barn.

That’s changed, he knows, plans being upended for him, for the travellers who were relishing the idea of a trip Up North, for pretty much everyone.

Just wait, he’s told his wife as they contemplate what to do about the cabin rentals. Wait and see what happens, wait for the governor’s next decision, wait until everything stops changing.

For the time being, Nadjarian is staying in Florida. Michigan State Police have offered to talk to Nadjarian to help him navigate his way home safely.

In the meantime, he thinks about his driver’s license and police lights and a car full of his belongings, and worries.

“I just want to go home,” he said.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.