COVID-19 Affecting Your Plans?

Anyone have experience buying trip insurance to cover costs of a quarantine during a trip? 2 weeks in a motel room with food deliveries can be expensive. Trip cancelation isn't a big deal since most airlines are waving fees.
 
scatman said:
I can't end up in prison, that would seriously compromise my Deputy credentials - and who would look after Dooley while I'm in the pokey?
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Dooley forgot to tell you he just signed on with the Borax team in Death Valley, he figured it would be more fun. :)
 
Rockskipper said:
Dooley forgot to tell you he just signed on with the Borax team in Death Valley, he figured it would be more fun. :)
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Dooley is a cool weather mule, the heat in Death Valley would kill him. He'd never forget to tell me something of that nature, he's brighter than you think. :)
 
Just got back from a camping trip to Bend, OR. Less than half a day's drive for us, so we jumped for it cuz I was going stir crazy at home. We had to bail on a campsite we had booked (before COVID cuz you have to book way ahead for Oregon state parks near a popular spot and Bend is popular) and do 3 days of dispersed camping. This was because NO ONE was wearing a mask but us and the place was wall to wall people (hadn't expected either of those characteristics). The other 4 nights were in either USFS sites or another Oregon state park that actually followed the rules.
Bought a newer (used) minivan while we were at it (and they followed great distancing/mask wearing rules). That was a bit unexpected all though we were in the market for one.
 
I had been thinking about driving out to the Winds to meet a friend from California for a few weeks, but it seems pretty suspect at this point. I have been out once so far in the Catskills, and will go out again in a week or so, but that’s really it. In the spring/early summer all I wanted to do was get out of the city and couldn’t, and now it seems like a good place to stay put, COVID wise anyway.


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I have a solo canoe trip scheduled in about a month through Labyrinth Canyon. I will use Tex's shuttle to Ruby Ranch, and then back to Moab from Mineral Bottom. I am not excited about being in a truck or bus for the shuttle, even though masks are mandatory. I need to be on a river, and I have not been in Labyrinth in about 6 years, so I am going to risk it. That section of the Green is not in Canyonlands National Park, so hopefully Tex's does not close before then.
 
I'm getting on a plane to Vegas next Monday and then driving 4 hours for an 8 night trip in SEKI. I hope that I won't see anyone once I get in the rental car until it is time to drive back to Vegas. Only change due to COVID is my direct flight got canceled so I have to connect through Atlanta, but flying out on Lex vs Cincinnati
 
wsp_scott said:
I'm getting on a plane to Vegas next Monday and then driving 4 hours for an 8 night trip in SEKI. I hope that I won't see anyone once I get in the rental car until it is time to drive back to Vegas. Only change due to COVID is my direct flight got canceled so I have to connect through Atlanta, but flying out on Lex vs Cincinnati
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Have a great time! Atlanta would be a concern, especially if layover was long. Cincinnati area is being hit hard with positivity rates above 6%. Hope you don't have to get in a shuttle for the rental. Those are close quarters. Vegas has a 20% positivity rate.

I was not able to find any reasonable trip insurance to cover quarantine costs if one is trapped at your destination. The most is $1500 for hotel costs from World Nomads with (for me) a policy costing $230.
 
I had to cancel my annual trip out west in May, and we had a trip planned late August for my buddy's camp north of Toronto, but they aren't going to be letting Americans in (hard to argue). Not really excited about the prospect of flying, so I've just accepted that it's going to be a year for very local trips for me.
 
Had to cancel my Alaska trip this year, but hoping I can get up there twice next year. Gonna be mostly local for me, but I'll drive up to the Winds and GYE a few more times. Avoiding any contact w/ local communities, except for pumping gas. I actually seem to be developing some better habits in regards to self-sufficiency that I'm hoping to keep around post-pandemic.
 
I’d planned to start the season in Utah in May. Did not do that. I did drive from Maine to Wyoming third week of June. Brought all my own food. Spent one night in a hotel in Iowa, arrived late and saw no one but the clerk. I’ve been spending time in the Great Divide Basin and fishing, seeing next to no one. Town, Pinedale, has been way slower than normal. Headed off to the Winds later today. My resupplies are arranged and I won’t be out until first week of September. I won’t miss the outside one tiny bit!!
 
Dreamer said:
I’d planned to start the season in Utah in May. Did not do that. I did drive from Maine to Wyoming third week of June. Brought all my own food. Spent one night in a hotel in Iowa, arrived late and saw no one but the clerk. I’ve been spending time in the Great Divide Basin and fishing, seeing next to no one. Town, Pinedale, has been way slower than normal. Headed off to the Winds later today. My resupplies are arranged and I won’t be out until first week of September. I won’t miss the outside one tiny bit!!
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Look forward to the TR. Big spike in cases recently, even in Sublette county. Unless they restart the visitor quarantine I'm headed there last week of August and won't be home until October.
 
I think the crappiest part, as far as travel plans go, is the uncertainty. September trip to CO with a friend: are we going in via X or Y? I don't know; X says they'll update in late August. Well, late August is awfully close to September. Meanwhile there's the possibility, however slim, of travel restrictions. These people are still talking about case numbers, which never meant anything to begin with. Here, our case numbers just had a big spike. Funny how that works; you dramatically increase testing, and get a dramatic increase in cases. "Drama" being key there.
Never mind the fact hospitalizations are dropping at the same time the case numbers are rising:rolleyes:
But that's the kind of stuff that can affect our plans, so it can't be ignored.
What I'm doing is planning 3 different trips, to three different states, so we'll have backups.
It's kinda fun, too, but now I want to do all of them!
 
OwenM said:
These retards are still talking about case numbers, which never meant anything to begin with. Here, our case numbers just had a big spike. Funny how that works; you dramatically increase testing, and get a dramatic increase in cases. "Drama" being key there.
Never mind the fact hospitalizations are dropping at the same time the case numbers are rising
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Good points! Most of the media presents the worst possible facts, without qualification, and ignores any hopeful signs. Early on, one could see spikes in the numbers as major increases in testing were deployed. The focus should be on Positivity Rates, which eliminates effect of growing tests. Positivity rate is what is most concerning, as it points to acceleration. Rates below 5% are what is targeted to keep it under control. Florida is near 20%. CT is less than 1%. Above 10% triggers 14 quarantine for NY/CT/NJ (other criteria too). Hospitalizations and deaths will lag.

However, positivity rates also have to be properly interpreted. If only sick people are being tested, the rate will be higher. If expanded to asymptomatics, the rate will decrease.

Uncertainty is indeed a PITA. I still plan to visit WY and spend 5 weeks in the Winds, but Lander is a major hot spot. Shared bathrooms at motel/RV park I usually stay at before and after a backpack are a risk, as is the grocery store if they don't enforce masks and distancing. Jackson had it under control, but that's no longer the case. Tripadvisor and other sources are full of reports of many not wearing masks or staying apart from others, especially indoors. Park rangers refuse to enforce recommendations (frankly, they're overloaded as it is).

Large numbers of visitors from high-infection states practicing risky behaviors in an area with limited health care facilities. Starting to see the consequences.
 
Well, 1000 Americans are dying each day, no matter how you spin it. Deaths are increasing in our area.
My heart goes out to you both for your difficulty planning your trips, @OldBill & @OwenM.
Take heart, this pandemic will magically go away.
At least that's what I hear.
 
gnwatts said:
Well, 1000 Americans are dying each day, no matter how you spin it. Deaths are increasing in our area.
My heart goes out to you both for your difficulty planning your trips, @OldBill & @OwenM.
Take heart, this pandemic will magically go away.
At least that's what I hear.
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~75,000 Americans die every day, though we have no clue how many do from COVID-19.
I've got elderly parents, and other relatives, and an immunocompromised god-daughter, live a solitary life, and wear a mask any time it's either required, or I just deem it appropriate.
Doesn't mean I buy into the blatant lies, and fake "statistics".
We're talking about the topic of this thread. What are YOU talking about?
 
Most of my plans have been fairly disrupted. I was able to visit family in Idaho for Father's Day, although after seeing how people were behaving in the area we decided it would be a while before we visit again. We have a trip to Yellowstone planned for mid-August. We reserved a campsite in Grant Village in January. If it still happens we don't plan on spending a lot of time in the campground or anywhere near a boardwalk. Then the only other thing we actually have planned is a trip to St. George over Thanksgiving. We were planning visit Zion during this trip. I am keeping an eye on the shuttle situation to see if reservations will still be required. I'm not really looking forward to being packed in a shuttle bus.

I have been getting a bit stir crazy so I have decided to relearn fly fishing after a 20 year break. If anyone has any suggestions on good beginner fly fishing waters in way up Northern Utah let me know.
 
@OwenM I am sorry you have an immune-compromised god daughter, and I am glad you wear a mask.
The title of this thread, how Covid-19 is affecting your plans?, is a good one, to see how our plans are affected. Your post appears, at least to me, that you are complaining about how your plans are being affected, and lacks any sense of empathy. If this is not the intent of your post (and by extension @OldBill ) you have my sincerest apology.
I find your use of the term "retard" to be highly offensive. That word, in the context you used it, has no place in our society.
 
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