Family Trip Despite COVID

To summarize the COVID portion of our trip as a whole:

* Mask wearing. In many areas, it was required or highly suggested, and most people complied. In every place except the DQ in Salina, KS, all restaurant-hotel-store workers were wearing masks.

* Food service. Almost every place was honoring the 6-ft distance and had closed off tables or seating areas. Wait staff, cooks and hosts were wearing masks and most wore gloves. However, table items were not standard. Some restaurants had salt-pepper, bags of sugar/sweetener sitting on the table. Others had none and you'd have to request them. Some brought you the salt and pepper shakers, others gave you the take-out type salt and peppers. Some asked you how many little bags of sugar/sweetener you needed, others were more generous and brought you a bunch. Most places had reverted to the old toss-away paper menus, though Chili's and two other places had laminated menus. Chili's had one set marked "sanitized menus" and one marked "Need cleaning".

* Hotels. For our on-the-road days, we stayed in Choice properties. All 4 hotels were spotless. Two pools were open (Utah, both directions), two pools were closed (Kansas, both directions).

For our place at Lake of the Ozarks, everything was open except a few of the restaurants that they'd decided to close this summer (less tourists). The water park, which we did not go into, was only open on weekends where any other summer, Margaritaville's water park would have been open daily. The room was spotless. Housekeeping was not authorized to step foot into your room unless you requested something, and even there, they'd put it in a bag by your door instead of going in, if that's what you wanted. We had a mantra, that if a place got crowded (like the "Lakeside Pool"), we'd just leave.

* Rest areas. About usual. We used them, but I always used hand sanitizer right after I washed my hands in the rest area, especially
if I had to touch a doorknob.

* Fuel stations. About like home, you just have to fill up more often when you're driving long distances. Most of the time we went about a half a tank between stops. Hubby tried using his gloves but found them cumbersome. When he finished fueling the truck, I'd hand him an anti-bacterial wipe for his hands, the truck door handle, and the steering wheel.

* Mantras: Wash your hands often, or use hand sanitizer or hand sanitizer wipes. Stay out of crowds. Wear a mask. Don't touch your face except with clean hands.

The rest of the trip photos will be forthcoming.

Donna

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...988dcaae_c.jpg

Coming into the San Rafael Swell area (after Green River, heading westbound).


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...92644785_c.jpg

At the first San Rafael Swell Rest Area, we took a hike up a hill. This is a photo near the top.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...03f1de3c_c.jpg

The formations of rock/mountain in the Swell area are beautiful.

https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/...2d57f058_c.jpg

A 180-degree view standing at the top of that hill. It's a short video. Just click on the photo and it should take you to my public Flickr account and let you play this video.

https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/...276c38d4_c.jpg

A 180-degree view continuing. Just click on the photo and it should take you to my public Flickr account and let you play this video.



Donna

Looks good, Donna.

It must have been a pretty strange trip, overall, traveling through territory that's so obviously familiar to you, but with so many things closed. I'm sure the big-truck traffic is somewhere close to normal, especially on the Interstates, but I'm curious: if you had to make a rough estimate, how many family-sized cars and trucks were out there on the road, when compared to a normal summertime cross-country drive? I read about road-trips being "the way to go" this summer, since so many people are leery of flying, but I can't help thinking that the vast majority of people are leery of traveling by any means right now. (Count me in with that group--the way things are going in Phoenix right now, I'm leery of making a trip to the grocery store!)

Rick

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d7d90a1a_c.jpg

Coming into the Virgin River Gorge, we weren't too concerned about the darker clouds on the other side. Radar was showing it too far away. Though the Virgin River can be in a flash flood stage, usually it doesn't get as high as the freeway.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ec25d52b_c.jpg

Though there was no construction evident on the freeway itself, the Cedar Pocket area of the Virgin River Gorge Recreation Area was closed. There was evidence of pending construction, but none happening that morning. So camping there is still non-existent. Considering the heat of this higher desert, it's probably a good thing.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ea496b9a_c.jpg

This was the cause of the first traffic headache, right on the top of the hill at Nipton. I didn't get a photo of the cause of the 2nd traffic headache. It was in the truck lane, and we were in the far left lane!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...59b06367_c.jpg

I am a bit of a fabric-collector. Since this trip had no national parks or other places where we would buy souvenir t-shirts, I decided that fabric and sewing project stuff would be in order. This is the photo of what I brought home.


Donna

They have a rest area in the San Rafael Swell area now? Last time I went through, it was just a wide spot on the shoulder with a porta-potty. Any cell service on that stretch yet?

GLC, there are a few "rest areas" in that stretch...maybe 5 or so. Some have some sort of restroom facility, either a fiberglass portable unit or a cinderblock structure with an outhouse style potty in it. These can be found at mm86 (eb & wb), mm105, mm115 (eb only), mm122 (eb & wb), mm143 (eb & wb). The others are just labeled Scenic Views and "No Facilities".

As for cell service, there are some places in that 108-mile stretch where there is some cell service. Other areas are still "No Service" (Verizon). In the stretch between Grand Junction CO and Green River UT, there are a few miles of either "No Service" or "3G" service. I didn't write down where service can be found.

We figure this to be the last time going all the way across the western section of I-70, for awhile In our next long-distance trip, we'll probably go up to I-40 and then across to I-44. My husband would not want to be driving a U-Haul towing either a U-Haul trailer or a trailer with a vehicle on it, through the mountains.

Rick, we noticed that there was a definite lessening of out-of-state cars along I-70 and I-15 this trip. We didn't see nearly as many cars from the East Coast as we might have on a previous trip. When in Kansas, we'd see mostly Kansas, Colorado and Missouri plates. I'd say about as many RV's. Like U-Hauls, though, we can't go by the license plates on those.

We got home to restaurants "dine-outside or take it home" rules, closed barbershops and beauty salons (made me glad I got mine done when I did), bars and gyms closed again, and an order from the Governor that all schools in certain counties (mine included) would start the year with Distance Learning -- even if the school was 35 miles from the epicenter of COVID in the county.




Donna

Viewing the photos is as close to being on a road trip as I am likely to be this year.

Thanks for sharing them and reporting on what you found out there. I would certainly prefer that you had found 100% mask compliance out there. Just about everyday I learn about another friend with family members in ICU with Covid-19 or those who have already passed. I don't see any likely developments to aid control of this virus, in the USA, until sometime next Spring.

And, as a reminder to everyone... We practice "Good Neighbor Rules" herein. No tolerance for name-calling of any kind on these forums. That sort of stuff is fine on Facebook and other forms of social media -- but these forums are "safe zones."

But, as I said, the photos certainly brought back memories.

Mark

Just in the last week, I learned of the deaths of two of my former co-workers, including "Junior" Rodriguez, the first Hispanic Postmaster of Phoenix, a guy who worked his way up from the bottom to become a high-level executive. (In a city this size, that's a big deal.) Junior was a big, strapping bear of a man, the last person you'd expect to succumb to this disease, and that just goes to prove, to me, at least, that none of us are immune, and all of us are in significant danger until this virus has been brought to heel.

We should all be as careful as we can possibly be, and kind to one another, because we're all in this together, no matter who we are, no matter where we live, and no matter what we choose to believe. Why would anyone NOT wear a mask? And as for bars and eat-in dining and the barber shop? I can do without ALL of that until it's rendered safe once again. (Meanwhile, my hair is down to my shoulders--AGAIN--and looking quite stylish in a pony tail!) (Ha!)

Rick

We're calling off our two month RV trip with friends that was suppose to start at the end of August because we just don't feel comfortable traveling at this time even in our own motorhome! We will cancel all but the 10 days for Capitol Reef at the end of the trip and evaluate conditions as that time to see if we feel comfortable enough to just do that portion. That's 12 different campgrounds I have to call and cancel and I'm not looking forward to that job!

At this time our friends are still going to do the trip so I'll be able to live vicariously though the photos they send me! Although that could change too.



Utahtea

Can't they use your reservations?