(Not) Camping during Covid-19 season

[mefly2]

Originally Posted by Janet H

Have contagion concerns sidelined anyone's plans? I'm thinking that camping in a self-contained trailer is looking like a great option this year!

Yes; agree totally ... for camping away from concentrations of folks ... but not sure the rally gods will agree with us ...

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by out of sight

...Snip...

All bottled water is gone. Beer was on sale, though. So i'll be drinking that instead.

For whatever it’s worth - here’s one post of yours I just have to smile about and congratulate you for. [emoji3]

I don’t resonate with a single thing you say about hitches or sway - but here’s some common ground we could share even around a campfire.

Cheers!

[mojo]

So for all of you armchair physicians out there who are at home pontificating on the hazards of travel, here's a report from the road. We are in AZ and the campgrounds are full. No panic, people are hiking, biking and enjoying life. Until you leave the campground to get supplies. The grocery stores remind me of the times when living in Florida before a hurricane. The stores are packed with people stocking up for some unknown disaster. There is no bottled water or toilet paper. When was there a connection between covid 19 and diarrhea?



There is no one within 100' of our trailer. Everyone is calm, no one is wearing a mask. Yet when we return home to NM, I will not be able to stay in any of the state parks because they are closed to overnight campers. But the parks are open to day users. Come use all of the facilities but do not sleep here.


The media says shelter at home. Then they say support your local restaurants and businesses. It's so easy to drum up fear with the lemmings. The sky is not falling.

[Al and Missy]

We had four rallies planned during March and April. We decided to bail on two in April for non-Covid reasons. One was cancelled by the site due to Covid concerns. It was an interim for us on the way to another. Since we lost our interim trip, we cancelled the last one.

We are in our 70s and in reasonably good health with none of the aggravating factors being mentioned. Most, if not all, of our camping since we bought our first Airstream 6 years ago have been rally related, with the associated happy hours and pot-luck meals. While the risk of rally attendance is low, it is non-zero, and at this point I have no basis to decide if it is reasonable. Maybe in a few weeks the picture will be clearer.

I wish we lived out west where there are more boondocking opportunities, but we don't so I am going to try to educate myself on alternative opportunities but I am not optimistic I will discover much. We may just be storing the Airstream for a few months.

Al

[kscherzi]

Tried to go to Costco today but it was jammed. People are freaking out. Scared. Running. Certain celebrities are telling people they're going into solitude for weeks. Maybe we should too, but can you afford to stay indoors for the next 6 or 8 weeks?

Hope to camp in Canada this summer. Hope to be well enough and hope Canada lets us visit. I expect millions of other Americans who cancelled their summer travel plans will also hit the roads. Campgrounds might be jammed.

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

We had four rallies planned during March and April. We decided to bail on two in April for non-Covid reasons. One was cancelled by the site due to Covid concerns. It was an interim for us on the way to another. Since we lost our interim trip, we cancelled the last one.

We are in our 70s and in reasonably good health with none of the aggravating factors being mentioned. Most, if not all, of our camping since we bought our first Airstream 6 years ago have been rally related, with the associated happy hours and pot-luck meals. While the risk of rally attendance is low, it is non-zero, and at this point I have no basis to decide if it is reasonable. Maybe in a few weeks the picture will be clearer.

I wish we lived out west where there are more boondocking opportunities, but we don't so I am going to try to educate myself on alternative opportunities but I am not optimistic I will discover much. We may just be storing the Airstream for a few months.

Al

Al

We tend to camp without hookups, so the campgrounds we go to are less crowded than other campgrounds that offer hookups. However, I would think that even if you are camping in a campground with hookups that they would also be relatively safe as long as you are washing your hands, wiping down surfaces and minimizing contact with other campers.

I don’t believe there needs to be a major difference between camping (but being very careful) and staying home.

Dan

[pjshier]

Originally Posted by kscherzi

Tried to go to Costco today but it was jammed. People are freaking out. Scared. Running. Certain celebrities are telling people they're going into solitude for weeks. Maybe we should too, but can you afford to stay indoors for the next 6 or 8 weeks?

Hope to camp in Canada this summer. Hope to be well enough and hope Canada lets us visit. I expect millions of other Americans who cancelled their summer travel plans will also hit the roads. Campgrounds might be jammed.

...and keep driving... to Alaska! Shameless plug for the fabulous opportunities for in-site and boondock camping that abound. I was bummed when our plan to position the AS and TV outside Alaska as a beachhead for periodic adventures was postponed by (sigh) WORK. But the lemonade is sweet: we are having a ball finally visiting the places all over Alaska we used to simply drive by on our way to visit family somewhere in some corner of the very large state.

[Al and Missy]

Thanks Dan,

I guess I was minimizing the fact of camping without rallies, but I am concerned that there will be park closures. Jacksonville (Duval County) is apparently closing their parks. Our daughter said that a friend or friend's relative was comping at Hanna Park and was told they had to leave, the park was closing.

Florida State Parks has cancelled group activities and elder activities at all parks. If the situation continues to deteriorate, can full closures be far behind? NM and PA have apparently closed parks.

I guess we, along with everyone else, will just have to wait to see what happens. We are lucky in that we have a safer way to travel.

Al

[Pahaska]

Our WBAC club President just cancelled the rally that was to start next Thursday. My wife and I were co-hosts for the rally and we have been busy committing speakers, music, and meals. The rally was in a super-rural location and we had the entire RV park. I would have been willing to go ahead with it with the caveat of no handshakes or hugs.

I'm consoling myself by reserving a site at a local state park for a couple of nights next week, all by myself. I will not have much human contact there.

There have been 3 confirmed CV cases in Austin, so far. One was from rural northeast Texas who had come to visit a relative. The person had symptoms for some time. That indicates it is spreading widely.

I just now received notice that all volunteer activity at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has been suspended for the remainder of the month. I have been working two hours, twice a week, showing and telling the visitors about our great horned owl, Athena, that is nesting for the 11th straight year. I came into contact with an awful lot of people doing that and I'm in the high-risk group.

[rowiebowie]

It all comes down to uncertainty.


We started planning our Spring trip a few weeks ago when all was still calm. I'd have no problems camping out and keeping a bit of distance between us and others, which is much easier to do in a campground. But since some of those are closing or uncertain, we've basically cancelled a Spring trip this year.

A shame.

[Boxster1971]

Don't plan to get your social isolation in New Mexico. The are closing their state parks for overnight camping due to COVID-19.

http://wwwapps.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD.../Closure/Index

[OTRA15]

Just a reminder from Maggie's excellent Post #138 . . . that campgrounds and fellow campers may be assuming that all new arriving campers may already be actively infected with the virus.



If you see things through their eyes . . . the world may look a little different, once our blinders are adjusted. A new perspective to consider, perhaps, that "they" may not be the problem, but that "we" might be?

Peter

[click on orange arrow in quote to see the post in full]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

. . .
I also believe we need to think not just about whether we might catch this virus, but that we may already being carrying it.
. . .
Maggie

[rideair]

Unless you're a full-timer, the question becomes, go or stay?

Very tough decisions will have to be made. I personally have a spot at the Red Coconut (beach-side) for almost a month starting on March 24st. But do you leave your wife/kid in Virginia (where you live in the country, and have all the supplies needed) to travel south 16 hours to be crammed in next to a bunch of campers? But, if you want that same stop next year, you'll pay the camping fee's regardless if you go or not and at $95.00 a night, that's a hard pill to swallow to let a camping spot sit empty for a month. Plus my daughter have been going there on Spring Break for many years.

Interesting times we are living in. Someone knows what's going on, I'm just not at that pay level.

Stay Healthy,

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

. . .
. . . This virus apparently can live on surfaces for a couple of days.
. . .

There have been recent suggestions that the virus might actually survive up to two weeks, on some surfaces, under the right conditions.

Hmmmm . . .

Think about everything you have touched in the last 2 weeks. Think about all the other folks who have touched, say, a gas pump handle, in the last 2 weeks.



Does this open up the possible risk parameters a bit?



[Rrrrrrrrrrrr . . . sound of blinders being adjusted . . . ]

Happy trails,

Peter


PS -- As mentioned earlier, we have been reconsidering our plans to go to a local campground next month, due to this opening up of the risk parameters.

[Lily&Me]

I’ll be leaving SC tomorrow, will do laundry and then head directly home where I’m reading this morning that our Governor has closed all schools beginning on Tuesday at least thru March 30.

A rapidly evolving situation across the country, but we will be fully self contained with water, propane and empty tanks, and hopefully make it home without any difficulties.

I’m going to make a stop at a WalMart to pick up a few shelf stable items of whatever variety I can find, and am considering wearing rubber gloves to do my shopping and then throw them away when I leave.

And then, I’m going to wipe down with a bleach solution... 1/3 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water is the recommended solution...the surfaces of anything that I purchase.

Stay safe, folks.

Maggie

[GettinAway]

We just got back from four weeks with the AS in Florida. Our last week was near St Petersburg. We went out one night, just a few miles from the CG. The restaurant was packed. We sat for an hour waiting for a table. At 65, we were some of the youngest folks waiting around. We went at 5:30 to avoid the rush.. For the three previous weeks, we hadn’t listened to the radio, watched TV, and had minimal WiFi. I was aware of what the stock market was doing and why. I still don’t understand the toilet paper shortage. It is strange how everyone seems to be adopting different strategies regarding this. I took the AS up to our farm yesterday got it squared away. Church is cancelled, what isn’t cancelled? It’s getting real very quickly. I was in the camp that thought it was much a do about nothing, but these cancellations are costing corporations millions, I can’t imagine they didn’t make the decisions without reason. We are now taking every caution. FYI, we left Ft Desoto a day early. There were people lined up hoping to get a spot..

[kscherzi]

I had a trip to Italy leaving in a week thats been cancelled, losing some money in the deal. Now schools here are closed and all group events greater than 250 banned.

Just occurred to me the government may close all state and federal parks and campgrounds for the spring and summer. Places like Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon would become Covid-19 stews. It's important to slow the spread of the disease to prevent hospitals from being overloaded but depressing for sure.

[Pahaska]

I received an email that Texas is keeping the state parks open. I made a site reservation for two nights next week last night when I learned that our WBAC rally next week was canceled. They did ask that we print our receipt in advance in order to reduce the amount of time we are at the desk.

I think the typical state park is one of the safest places to be. Plenty of space between sites and fairly empty during the week.

I'll use some time at the park to do some more checking into current draw numbers while using my Goal Zero hookup.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Pahaska

...
I think the typical state park is one of the safest places to be. Plenty of space between sites and fairly empty during the week.....

I agree, with one or two caveats:

State parks are notorious for *filthy* restrooms and shower facilities (not just Texas - it's actually worse elsewhere). They have minimal budget for sanitation - some of them are only serviced by their workamper hosts, who tend to be older retired folks - not a good time for them to be contacting and cleaning high-volume restrooms (are they going to want to do it?). The restroom facilities are also often undersized for the number of people in the park, and thus are crowded, which is bad.

If someone travels to a park, hooks up, and doesn't access the restroom facilities, then yes, I can hardly think of a safer place, assuming your camp site is not overrun with other peoples' children.

But one of the biggest challenges with this thing is millions of children out of school. We have 40,000 of them currently agitated and at loose ends just in our immediate area. What are they going to want to do? Congregate and run loose in the neighborhoods, looking for some fun. They are largely immune to the virus but their wandering and congregating behavior serves as a superb vector for delivering the virus back to adults who are holed up in their homes.

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

I agree, with one or two caveats:

State parks are notorious for *filthy* restrooms and shower facilities (not just Texas - it's actually worse elsewhere).

I never go near those facilities. That's what my tanks are for. The nice thing about the AI is that I can just drop the lines and drive to the dump station if necessary. I have only needed to do that twice in 3 years.