What is your opinion of vacationing right now?

[mommyoffive]

What is your opinion of vacationing right now?  Is it ok or not?  

Are some vacations ok?  Are socially distanced vacations ok?

[marbel]

I would camp or stay in a cabin, take my own food and other needs, and stay away from people.

My state park system has nice furnished cabins in many of the parks. If I was going to vacation right now, that's where I'd go. 

[rebcoola]

We've gone camping.  We go to places with no services and rarely see other people. 

I think some other kinds might be okay my sister came to see my parents.  She drove straight through it's 14ish hours.  Packed her own food and used pee bags.  She just hungout with them for a few days.  Thandrove back the same way she came.  That seemed okay.

[Pam in CT]

11 minutes ago, marbel said:

I would camp or stay in a cabin, take my own food and other needs, and stay away from people.

My state park system has nice furnished cabins in many of the parks. If I was going to vacation right now, that's where I'd go. 

This is more or less where we are.  Drive only, carry everything in, once there stay put / limit activities to wide open outdoor spaces (hiking, kayaking, sailing with just-our-bubble-family, widely spaced swimming).

I'm trying to figure a way to do this sort of model *with my mother,* which would entail widening our bubble to include her and then after the vacation returning her to her residence which (to my gratitude) has quite strict protocols in place. The only way we can manage it is to have all of us tested beforehand, and her tested upon her return to her residence. Which to my mind is 100% worth it, but other family members aren't quite there yet.

[kokotg]

We have a travel trailer and have done 2 short trips with it this summer that felt mostly okay. We only did take-out, avoided public bathrooms as much as possible, stuck with outside stuff (SO MUCH HIKING), etc. so that it didn't seem much different than what we'd do at home. I would also consider something like renting a beach house less than a day's drive away. I personally wouldn't fly right now (although I am putting my kid on a plane in a few weeks to go back to college, assuming his college actually has in person classes--it was that or 4 days of driving round trip and multiple hotel stays). We were supposed to do a 6 week Michigan trip, and we canceled it (after shedding a few tears). Hoping for next summer!

[Annie G]

Oldest dd and SIL recently celebrated their 15th anniversary and we kept the kids while they went to Charleston.  They were mostly outside walking and looking at the sights. They did go to the beach one day and it was deserted due to the weather. They dined outside when they could, and got take out sometimes and went off alone to eat.  All in all it seems like they did a pretty good job trying to protect themselves and others.    
‘Dh and I are going to visit friends this month-13 hours away. We bring our own road food anyway, so we’ll just need bathroom and gas breaks. Masking up and sanitizing hands and such is about the best we can do. It’s a necessary trip- we have our last cardiologist and doc visits in our own town before we lose our old insurance. So staying w friends seems safer than a hotel.  

[Pawz4me]

We're choosing not to. It just doesn't seem worth the hassle, and it doesn't seem that we would get much enjoyment out of a restricted vacation. No visiting attractions/stopping anywhere that catches our attention, no enjoying nice restaurant meals--those are the things that make a vacation for us. And FWIW we have a RV. Still . . . we haven't even considered going anywhere.

[Ali in OR]

We do hear on the news that the majority of our local cases at the moment can be traced to travel. So we do need to be careful. Personally, we are comfortable with traveling by car to outdoor type destinations and have a 1-nighter planned, staying in a cabin. Don't want to fly or travel to an area with worse numbers than we have (eg CA, TX, FL). Don't want to be in close quarters with other people.

[ktgrok]

I think people in hot spots should not be traveling to places that are not, and spreading it there, if at all possible. (so a vacation would not be a good reason, in my opinion)

I think people in hotspots should b staying home, honestly. The spread it too high here to justify anything that increases spread that you don't have to do. But no one agrees with me it seems. 

And visiting people/family/friends, goes agains the idea social distancing as far as I can understand it, but people are doing it everywhere anyway. (if people can quarantine first to some extent, okay, but they are not)

I'd think RV vacation would be ideal - self contained, no need for public restrooms, etc. 

[JustEm]

we went camping at the beach in June.  For us, we are comfortable with that because it was easy to socially distance and have a fun and relaxing time.  We did avoid a few normal things we'd normally do on a vacation like that like mini golf, eating in restaurants, going to the boardwalk, etc.  Because we weren't comfortable with that level of risk

[happi duck]

I think normal touristy travel is too much of a potential for spreading the virus and should be avoided.

Being truly self contained in an rv or driving straight thru to be a bubble with family seems different.

This July was going to be our first big vacation in years.  We would've cancelled anyway but since it was US to Canada it was definitely off.

[kokotg]

24 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

We're choosing not to. It just doesn't seem worth the hassle, and it doesn't seem that we would get much enjoyment out of a restricted vacation. No visiting attractions/stopping anywhere that catches our attention, no enjoying nice restaurant meals--those are the things that make a vacation for us. And FWIW we have a RV. Still . . . we haven't even considered going anywhere.

We mostly enjoyed our short, close to home RV trips, but they made me glad we didn't try to do a long one. It's one thing to go on yet another hike every day...it's another to go on yet another hike and not even be able to follow it up with a leisurely restaurant meal. And a rainy day is just a day you're stuck in the trailer instead of a day you find a museum to go to. The change of scenery for a few days was still nice, though. It was also killing me not to use the trailer this summer AGAIN after our big trip last summer was to Ireland/England. I hate making payments while it sits in the driveway! 

[PrincessMommy]

We're at a beach rental with our family, so it's a definite yes.  We go to the beach and stay away from other people... although there's always someone walking by if you're at the water's edge.  The law is we have to wear a mask if we're on the boardwalk, but we have opted to stay away from it anyway.  We've brought almost all our food and have had insta-Cart deliver as well.   There's too many of us to go to a restaurant even in non-covid times, so we've always taken a night to fix dinner or done carry-out. 

Otherwise, we're staying together and playing games at the house.  Esp. today since the hurricane just blew through.   We did have one son and his family leave yesterday . They felt the beach was too much and they didn't like people walking by them, even though we sent them photos of the beach.  There's something about leaving within 24hrs of possible exposure that they're following.  The rest of us were fine with the beach (including people involved with no-covid health and medical research) yesterday.   

If we have to go into a store for any reason we'd wear a mask.

[athena1277]

I would go camping, to the beach, or other places where activities are mainly outdoors.  My biggest issue with vacationing right now is so many attractions are partially closed and everything indoors and outdoors requires masks, which we don’t want to wear all day.  

[medawyn]

I would prefer not to, but we started renovations on our house well before Covid/quarantine, and we are reaching a place where we can't finish without being out of the house.  I really need my kitchen back, among other things, as well as removing all the temporary walls we've constructed to have a quarantined work space.  To that end, we have rented a house for a month about two hours away from home.  We'll be driving up with groceries for a few days.  We will quarantine there just like we have in our home town, although I do see us hiking more frequently since we will be in close proximity of more trails.  We will do our best to limit our trips to our usual weekly grocery run.  I'm simultaneously wishing that we didn't have to leave and looking forward to different scenery.

[SereneHome]

It sounds exhausting to me.  I can't even think about it. I am just saving our "vacation fund" for when this stupid stupid virus is over so we can actually go and enjoy ourselves.

 

[YaelAldrich]

We went on a lovely vacation with my parents. But I broke my leg on said vacation, requiring emergency surgery.  I wouldn't suggest that.

[regentrude]

The question makes no sense because it totally depends on the kind of vacation.

Cruise, crowded theme park, overseas air travel? High risk. Bad idea.
Renting an airbnb with your family and going on hikes? Very low risk.
Backpacking in the desert or the mountains? You can't get further away from people than that. 

We went backpacking in June, did a few local float trips, hike a lot.
We canceled our Germany trip. 

Edited August 4, 2020 by regentrude

[ScoutTN]

We went to the beach. Personal home, not a rental. Not a crowded beach at all. Family area, no touristy attractions, just the beach. We took food, picked up curbside from the grocery, and got take out twice. 

We took our own food on the road, used good hygiene for quick restroom breaks, wore gloves when pumping gas etc. 

We did have one excursion to a cute shopping area to get souvenirs. 15 minutes in a store, all employees and customers masked, and limits on how many people in the store at once because it was small.

Totally worth it for a super inexpensive week at the beach. We needed the change of scenery and pace. The ocean is always restorative for me.

 

[Loowit]

I think low risk trips are fine, and for some people good for their mental health.  I think high risk trips are a bad idea.

We are going on what I consider to be a low risk trip next month.  We will be staying in a isolated home and bringing our own food.  We will be doing hikes, as long as the trails aren't too crowded, and just getting a new scenery.  It is not my ideal vacation by any means.  I would much prefer to be able to eat out and not have to cook, but I am making the best of the situation.  We will bring our food from home, so as not to need to go to the grocery store in the area we are vacationing.  We may, if it seems safe, do a bit of takeout food while there, but we are not planning on that.  I also picked a place close enough to home to hopefully avoid public restrooms, so just stops for gas if needed.

DH and the boys are also hoping to go on a tent camping trip in the next month or so.  They pack in their own supplies, and would be in a campsite distanced from others.  The problem is finding such a spot that is open to the public and yet not crowded.

[Lady Florida.]

I think it depends on the type of vacation. Our middle grandchild turned 6 last week. Dss and his family rented a cabin in North Georgia in the middle of nowhere. It gave them a way to celebrate his birthday by doing something but without having other people involved. I wouldn't go to a crowded tourist destination right now but I'd take the kind of vacation they took. 

[QueenCat]

We've gone twice to uncrowded beaches. We brought all of our breakfast, lunch, snacks, and beverages with us. Did Curbside and take out for our dinners. It was safe.

[kristin0713]

I think there are ways to vacation safely right now, such as camping or staying somewhere that has a kitchen. I personally have no interest in a vacation when we can't do the things we normally do.  We like to eat out, visit historical sites, spend a couple days at a theme park, and just do interesting and new things in a new place.  Since we can't do any of that, any vacation we could take would consist of me doing all the work to feed and entertain my family.  No thanks.  Plus, NJ has asked people to quarantine from I think 34 states when coming back. 

[Bootsie]

It depends upon what is meant by "vacation."  If we owned a beach house or a lake house and we drove to stay in that house for a week for vacation, it would be no different than staying in the house where I am right now.  I wouldn't fly to Florida for a Disney vacation or fly to New York for a week of sightseeing.  I wouldn't go on a cruise.  Going on a camping/hiking vacation would be less risky than doing a staycation of visiting bowling alleys, visiting crowded shops, and going to a crowded museum--but camping isn't really a vacation for me.  For the most, part anything I would be comfortable doing on a vacation right now, I can do at my home or locally with much less hassle.  Although some fresh ocean air sounds nice--that would be possible to do as a long day trip from where I am, but I would want to have some idea of what the area I was visiting like was as far as crowds and outbreak before I would do that.

[QueenCat]

23 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

I think there are ways to vacation safely right now, such as camping or staying somewhere that has a kitchen. I personally have no interest in a vacation when we can't do the things we normally do.  We like to eat out, visit historical sites, spend a couple days at a theme park, and just do interesting and new things in a new place.  Since we can't do any of that, any vacation we could take would consist of me doing all the work to feed and entertain my family.  No thanks.  Plus, NJ has asked people to quarantine from I think 34 states when coming back. 

It sounds like you would like visiting my town,  Williamsburg VA... when you feel ready to tra.

[kristin0713]

1 minute ago, QueenCat said:

It sounds like you would like visiting my town,  Williamsburg VA... when you feel ready to tra.

 

We just did Williamsburg last summer and loved it!  One of our favorite vacations.  We also spent time in DC on the way down.  I'm so glad we did that last summer!  Who knows when our next trip will be.  😔

[SKL]

I think it's fine as long as you aren't in close quarters with others most of the time.

Yesterday I was talking to a friend who is heading off for a vacation this week.  She wanted to stay at one of those treehouse resorts, checked all the places in 3 states, and the are all booked up.  Makes sense - that would be great for socially distancing while still having fun.

My idea of a nice vacation is to get away from everyone and everything ... hard to blame Covid spread on that.  But the people I live with have other ideas, generally involving airports.  We aren't even talking about planning our next trip at this point.

If I wasn't so behind on my work, I'd consider renting a camper and doing a road trip.  I don't worry about using public bathrooms any more, as I don't think Covid spreads from surfaces generally.

[Amccracken]

We rented a beach home for a week. We had our own walkway to the beach.  The beach wasn't crowded, so we didn't get close to any other families - well over 20 ft. apart.  The house hadn't been rented since before the pandemic.  I know this because I know those who work at the vacation rental company and I know the people who own the home.  I spent the first two days cleaning the house - partly because COVID was still on my mind  and partly because it was very, very dirty.  We did grocery pick up from Walmart.  The only outing we did was pier fishing one night and put-put one day.  The put-put course was limiting participants and sanitizing everything.   Other than that we cooked in and stayed-in.  This was the only way we could think of having a vacation and feel like we were doing our best to social distance.   

[73349]

I can't think of anywhere I'd go.

I won't fly. Normally I love the train, but I wouldn't use it now. Many states, including where I might go to visit family, prudently have quarantine for people arriving from here anyway. DH can't be away from work that long.

Even within my state, the beach and the mountains are too far for me to travel without bathroom breaks. Everywhere within a reasonable drive even with one bathroom stop each way is fairly hot and humid and thunderstormy after 2 PM. If I'm going to sit in the air conditioning and read, I can do that in my house. If I'm going to walk on a trail through the forest early in the morning, I can get to one without leaving town. I might consider a day trip to the beach in a couple of months, with masks at bathroom stops and food brought from home. DH hates camping, and I'm not really into it, either.

We can't reliably get restaurant food that's safe for all members of our household to eat even when restaurants are doing well. If I have to bring and make all the food, my own kitchen is better than a rental's.

 

 

[pitterpatter]

I've been trying to plan something for the past several days. The best I can come up with is to rent a travel trailer (and clean the heck out of it) and head to some state parks. We would take food and do all our own cooking. (We haven't eaten out or gotten take out since the beginning of March.) We would pay for gas at the pump and use the toilet in the travel trailer. We are limiting ourselves to driving to border states with similar infection rates as our own. The plan is to hike, which we do locally and enjoy, visit some outdoor historic sites and whatever other low-risk outdoor attractions I can come up with, and maybe some kayaking and horseback riding. I'm trying to decide how risky those last two are. I'm leaning toward the Tennessee state parks that are a couple of hours west of the Great Smoky Mountains. We might take a jaunt over to the mountains themselves one day. If we decide to stay a little closer to home, we may stay in the Land Between the Lakes area in Kentucky. We considered Indiana Dunes or Starved Rock State Park in Illinois but those seem too high risk due to being located so close to Chicago.

I've tried looking online for Covid vacation ideas, but I didn't find much. I was hoping some travel bloggers had come up with some creative solutions. Part of me says to just stay home, the other part says this may be reality for quite a while and to adapt.

ETA: Well, Tennessee may be out. The seven-day average for Covid cases there is outshining my state. Apparently, all counties except one are going up, up, up. I didn't realize that area was popular for east coast city dwellers. Looks like we might be back to the visiting state parks in our own state.

Edited August 5, 2020 by pitterpatter

[pitterpatter]

This is our problem too. We would love to do some day trips across the state to hike some state parks we haven't been to, but we don't know what to do about the bathroom situation. If only I knew where all the little used park bathrooms were along the way. The ones where the doors are always open and are vented at the top. I think will the proper precautions, those would be pretty safe.

56 minutes ago, whitehawk said:

Even within my state, the beach and the mountains are too far for me to travel without bathroom breaks. Everywhere within a reasonable drive even with one bathroom stop each way...

 

[TABmom]

Well, we did it. We went to visit my parents. We drove but did stop at a hotel and to use the bathroom. Once we got there, we didn't go do lots of things, we just hung out at their house/my sister's house. It wasn't risk-free, but we were traveling from one rural area to another- neither hard hit (yet). It was a risk we were willing to take because we wanted to see each other before things get any worse. I wouldn't travel to an amusement park or something. 

[G5052]

Yes, I had planned to visit a relative that required a plane trip in May. The youngest wanted to come with me and go further to the West Coast, which I thought would be fun since she never got the high school graduation trip that the older one got. But by mid-March, I knew that we couldn't go. The relative and her husband are in their mid-80's, so no way.  

We had also talked about a mid-August beach trip, but decided to pass. It's just not the year to do that. It's hard to say when it will be reasonable to do anything but a few local outdoor things. 

Edited August 5, 2020 by G5052

[DawnM]

We just got back from a week at the beach.  We social distanced, didn't go on anything with crowd (we wanted a dinner cruise, but decided against it), and were fine.  We did rent a condo, and ate most of our meals in there, but did eat out a couple of times.

[shawthorne44]

I think people NEED to get outside at this point, get some Vitamin D, breathe some fresh air and build up their immune system.   This is coming from a practically sun-phobic, indoorsy person, so that is saying something.  Last year we did the Grand Canyon, the lake at Page, AZ and then highlights of the national parks in AZ.   That was an awesome trip and totally do-able right now.  

My personal opinion is that taking a flight or a cruise right now is totally insane.    But, then I think that in the best of time, both are hot beds of disease.  


 

[J-rap]

Most people I know who are vacationing are going (driving) to a lake cabin with family and mostly sticking with their family group and being alone with them.  It sounds really lovely!

One of my (adult) children has a couple short trips planned this month, for the first time.  He lives alone and works from home (in a different state), and is traveling tomorrow to visit his sister in yet another state.  🙂  He's flying.  Both of them are in good health/low risk, and are very careful otherwise.  He's staying in her apartment.  

I'm not ready to do that myself, and I have no idea when I will be, but in his situation, I guess it seems okay.

My dh and I generally travel a lot, including overseas, but I just don't see any of that happening anytime soon.

Maybe in the fall we'll drive to a cabin, or even to a hotel on a lake where there's lots of outdoor space.

[Joker]

I think vacations can be done safely. Cabins, camping, and rentals should be fine.

I had to stay in a hotel when my mom was in the hospital and I felt it was much safer than I expected. I would be ok with doing so if I could make sure they were taking adequate precautions. 

Dh and I have discussed doing a road trip and using hotels we felt ok with to visit his parents next year. We won’t put off seeing them much longer as they are in their 80s and can’t come here anymore. Hopefully things are better by then but if not I would feel ok going there and being as careful as we can. 

[Momto6inIN]

We are going camping in a week or so to a national park about 8 hours away from home. We always camp and hike for vacations so this year isn't any different. We always take all our own food, and maybe eat out 1 time during the whole week, other than fast food on the drive there and back. The kids want to do 1 day of touristy things, and I looked into what was available there and told them they'd need to wear a mask all day and they think it's worth it for that 1 day. The rest if the time we'll be outside and only pass other people briefly on a trail.

DH had to travel (drive) for work and stay in a hotel one night a couple weeks ago, and I was kinda sketched out by that. I don't think I'd choose to fly for a while. Although one of my friends did last week and she is MUCH more cautious and MUCH more of a germapbobe than me (I'm not one at all, actually, until this year) and she said everybody was in a mask and she felt fine.

I think renting an airbnb or cabin would be a very similar risk level to camping - low.

[ktgrok]

12 hours ago, pitterpatter said:

I've been trying to plan something for the past several days. The best I can come up with is to rent a travel trailer (and clean the heck out of it) and head to some state parks. We would take food and do all our own cooking. (We haven't eaten out or gotten take out since the beginning of March.) We would pay for gas at the pump and use the toilet in the travel trailer.

Yes, I may look into that at some point. 

12 hours ago, pitterpatter said:

This is our problem too. We would love to do some day trips across the state to hike some state parks we haven't been to, but we don't know what to do about the bathroom situation. If only I knew where all the little used park bathrooms were along the way. The ones where the doors are always open and are vented at the top. I think will the proper precautions, those would be pretty safe.

 

Yes! I'm trying to remember which parks have those....it's too hot to hike here now anyway, but in a few months we'd like to get out and do some nature trails, etc an I THINK the one nearby has bathrooms like that. And if we go during the week, when kids are doing virtual school or in school or whatever, should be pretty empty. 

10 hours ago, shawthorne44 said:

I think people NEED to get outside at this point, get some Vitamin D, breathe some fresh air and build up their immune system.   This is coming from a practically sun-phobic, indoorsy person, so that is saying something.  Last year we did the Grand Canyon, the lake at Page, AZ and then highlights of the national parks in AZ.   That was an awesome trip and totally do-able right now.  

My personal opinion is that taking a flight or a cruise right now is totally insane.    But, then I think that in the best of time, both are hot beds of disease.  


 

Well....I wouldn't recommend people go to arizona right now for any reason, to do anything. They have their hands full. 

8 hours ago, J-rap said:

Most people I know who are vacationing are going (driving) to a lake cabin with family and mostly sticking with their family group and being alone with them.  It sounds really lovely!

 

My only concern with this is the getting together with extended family. In some situations I'm sure that's fine. In others, it is how this is spreading, and needs to be curtailed until cases are more under control. There was a LOT LOT LOT Of that here, with the predictable results. 

[2squared]

Last month the kids and I flew to GA for a week at the beach. We rented a house with private beach access, cooked our own food or got take out. The beach was not crowded, no issues staying multiples of six feet from others. We participated in outdoor tours of a historical site and a walking tour of Savanah. We shopped for touristy things in the shops for a little bit, going at low traffic times and keeping our shopping quick. We loaded up on masks and hand sanitizer and kept our distance from others. We did stay in a hotel the night before we left, it was a six hour stay.

I was really worried before we left, but the trip was great. It was easy to be socially responsible, and now I’m really glad we took the trip. 

[pitterpatter]

For those considering renting a home, cabin, or condo, what precautions do you plan to take once you get to your unit? Spray the heck out of everything? Wash or bring your own linens? What about bathrooms and eating to and from the unit? My options for renting a travel trailer are dwindling. 😩 I'm tempted to rent a nice porta potty and drag it around. Lol.

[wintermom]

I would prefer to see a lot less travel overall until there are vaccines available to everyone.  I see no NEED for vacations involving travel at all. People define 'need' for their own convenience, though. 

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, wintermom said:

I would prefer to see a lot less travel overall until there are vaccines available to everyone.  I see no NEED for vacations involving travel at all. People define 'need' for their own convenience, though. 

Yeah, I think a staycation at a trail an hour away is very different than flying cross country  to vacation with a group of people also coming from other areas, which is happening. 

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, pitterpatter said:

For those considering renting a home, cabin, or condo, what precautions do you plan to take once you get to your unit? Spray the heck out of everything? Wash or bring your own linens? What about bathrooms and eating to and from the unit? My options for renting a travel trailer are dwindling. 😩 I'm tempted to rent a nice porta potty and drag it around. Lol.

I think I would ask what the staff is doing.  I think a lot are doing higher standards now.    I would still probably spray things when I get there and open the windows depending on when the last person was there.    Isn't touch a very low risk?    Can you go some place with now stops?  Otherwise mask and sanitizer. 

[J-rap]

4 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

 

My only concern with this is the getting together with extended family. In some situations I'm sure that's fine. In others, it is how this is spreading, and needs to be curtailed until cases are more under control. There was a LOT LOT LOT Of that here, with the predictable results. 

I'm not ready for an extended-family vacation yet, although we did consider doing this with three of our adult kids.  (One of them is married, no grandkids yet.)  We looked into driving to a half-way spot on a lake and each renting our own cabin, but only be together outside -- on walks, or picnicking, etc.   I think I would have felt comfortable with that, but in the end, we didn't do it.

[Guest]

22 hours ago, SereneHome said:

It sounds exhausting to me.  I can't even think about it. I am just saving our "vacation fund" for when this stupid stupid virus is over so we can actually go and enjoy ourselves.

 

Same. If I were going to travel, I would do beach or state park, BYO food and items, no restaurants, maybe a movie marathon for bad weather. Otherwise, hiking, kayaking, fishing, beach combing, etc. But the hard thing for dh is getting time away from his business and it doesn’t seem worth that sacrifice at the moment. 

[Joker]

Dh and I decided today to rent a cabin for a few days. It’s only an hour away so won’t have to stop anywhere. There’s only six cabins on the 50 acres and all have full kitchens, there are walking trails, and all have a dock with a rowboat. So, we won’t have to actually see anyone or go inside anywhere. We’ll take our groceries, that I pick up curbside, with us in a cooler since it’s so close. I’m excited and honestly need the break from my young adults before college starts back up (mostly online). 

[pitterpatter]

I do think it's likely that the current virus spikes we're having right now are at least in part due to vacationers thoughtlessly dragging the virus around. I live in a small rural town that is a thoroughfare for canoers. They stop at our Walmart, grocery stores, and gas stations to stock up right before they get to their campgrounds. My mom actually saw a group of six young adults with masks on head into our Walmart a couple of weeks ago (likely from "the city" to camp, which has a mask mandate), took note that the people going into the store in front of them did not have masks on, then all six took off their masks and stuffed them into their pockets. I'm glad I didn't see it because I think I would have come unhinged. Also, the elementary student that tested positive during summer school last week had just gotten back from a family vacation to Seattle. Multiple people in the family tested positive. Last week at this time, our county had 30-some Covid cases. Today we have 133. I wish the health department would release the reason for drastic increase. I feel like if everyone would just get on the same page about taking the proper precautions, everyone would be a lot happier in the long run.

39 minutes ago, Margaret in CO said:

Well, we never take vacations, so we're not deprived this year! But, that said, I have never SEEN so many tourists as this town right now. The grocery store is like rodeo weekend, every single day. Our main river is currently contaminated with ecoli due to the massive number of campers. I think you'd have to be nuts to go on a vacation right now, but obviously 10,000 people don't agree with me! Our businesses need the traffic, but it really is crazy.

 

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Joker said:

Dh and I decided today to rent a cabin for a few days. It’s only an hour away so won’t have to stop anywhere. There’s only six cabins on the 50 acres and all have full kitchens, there are walking trails, and all have a dock with a rowboat. So, we won’t have to actually see anyone or go inside anywhere. We’ll take our groceries, that I pick up curbside, with us in a cooler since it’s so close. I’m excited and honestly need the break from my young adults before college starts back up (mostly online). 

Sounds perfect!

[KrissiK]

We spent a week at Lake Tahoe last month and it was perfect. We rented a cabin, spent a lot of time out doors, hiking, playing in the creek across the way. We ordered takeout every night. We just needed to get away, reconnect as a family and take a break from this whole stupid Covid/rioting oppression we have been living under since March. It was wonderful and very necessary.