D and I visited the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont yesterday morning. I had been up there before and wanted to show her the view. Well, it was so beautiful that we ended up extending our mini-vacation a day and getting lodging there overnight! They didn’t seem to mind walk-ins. We didn’t have to sign a COVID form, which I found odd.
It’s a wonderful place to stay. We got to meet the daughter of Maria von Trapp’s youngest child. Christina is in her early 50s - such a nice, down-to-earth woman. She had just come from cleaning out the horses’ stalls. They have a working farm with cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, and horses. They also tap 2,000 maple trees a year. Boy, that family went through a lot. I admire them for what they persevered through. If you ever get a chance to stay there, I can highly recommend it. They show “Sound of Music” every Thursday night, so we watched it. It made me happy that D enjoyed the stay as much as I did.
It’s really nice to say we were in the three states (Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine) that have the lowest rates of infection in the country. I don’t think I saw anybody NOT wearing a mask in public.
Well, I’m talking about RATE of infection, not total number of cases. And look at the states that have the HIGHEST rate of infection now - North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Montana, and Idaho - not exactly high-population states. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
Out of curiosity, I looked up the population density of these states.
NH is 21st highest. Vermont is 31st. Maine is 38th.
Wisconsin is 24th.
Idaho is 44th.
South Dakota is 46th.
North Dakota is 47th.
Montana is 48th.
So population density doesn’t seem to be related to rate of infection.
It’s a thread about travel, so I think it’s fair to point out the states that have low infection rates. I’m not “winning” anything. I can’t visit my elderly parents in my home state of Texas.
I’m curious @MaineLonghorn why can’t you see your parents?
Didn’t you fly earlier this summer to your sister’s cabin in Wisconsin? Wisconsin isn’t doing great with the coronavirus.
When I went to see my mom because she and I needed to see each other, we both didn’t go anywhere for 2 weeks after we got home. It’s wasn’t that hard when you work from home and can pick up groceries so easily from Walmart with no contact. It was worth the small risk to finally see each other.
Besides my mom has decided that seeing her family is worth any risk of her getting the coronavirus. She is declaring that she has lived a full life and seeing her kids is worth it for her.
My kids were nice and decided to stay home for 2 weeks before we and my il’s went to visit them a few weeks ago. Because it was important to all of us to see each other after all this time.
@deb922, Wisconsin is doing poorly now, but they were doing very well in early July when we went - their infection rate, particularly in the remote section of the state we were in, was very low. The other day, I told DH it was a good thing we went when we did, because I wouldn’t go now.
I do not feel that it’s safe to go to Austin at this point, especially since my dad is not being as careful as I feel he should.
So it’s not that you can’t go to Texas. It’s that you are choosing not to go based on your dad’s behavior.
I can definitely understand that. It’s so hard with the elders. I know they don’t fear getting the virus as they (at least mine) feel that it’s god will if they do. What I think they fail to understand is that if they contract the virus, they can infect those who don’t want it. And still want to live many more years.
Infection rates in states are very fluid, which makes any of this difficult in terms of travel. Maine,Vermont and New Hampshire have had increases lately, related to farms, orchards,weddings, etc. It is always going to be safer to stay put where you are, wear masks, and social distance right now. If you travel, stay safe and wear a mask!
Our small family group hopes to gather and meet for Christmas . We will need to have discussions as it gets closer about what it will take to feel comfortable getting 6 of us together in close quarters , coming from different areas. It is tough right now planning anything and we err on the side of caution and pay attention to guidelines. So, we’ll see what happens as the fall, early winter unfolds. I miss the family members I am hoping to see in December! Such strange times, but hope better days are ahead.
We’re on Cape Cod now - luckily Massachusetts and New York are still on the okay lists for each other, though I’m worried that the pockets in NY will explode into the rest of the population. We are hiking and eating take out, so I am not worried about giving anyone Covid and I see fewer people here than I do in NY. Our place is right on the water so even though it’s cold (45 degrees last night) and our place has no insulation, it’s still a change of pace and so beautiful and peaceful.
I’m not going to Texas just because of my dad’s behavior. I’m not going because of the infection rate in the state. It’s 2724/100k right now. Maine is 423/100k.
Maine still has the second lowest rate of infection in the country. Vermont is first. New Hampshire is third. There have been no outbreaks near us. And as I said, EVERYONE is wearing masks.
Ironically we have quite a bit of small travel coming up over the next few months. Ironic because when we are home we don’t go to restaurants nor do we allow people in our house or go in other family members homes.
We just went camping two hours from home. We enjoyed it so much that we have booked the same place for 4 nights in December. Next weekend we are going to a very nice place a half drive away from home. We will be staying at a 5 star resort with hiking, biking and outdoor activities but paying a motel 6 rate. A close friend who we have done a lot for over the years got us a great rate due to him having done a lot of work for the owners. We also will go up to where one of our kids lives to see a property they are buying. We will stay one night at a hotel since I don’t feel comfortable staying at her house. End of the month we go for several days to a family owned vacation home just the two of us. We have another camping trip planned just before Thanksgiving. Aside from the thanksgiving camping all the travel is just two of us. We will do pickup dining or dine outside if we feel the tables are spaced.
We feel comfortable driving, would not want to get on a plane. At all the places we go we are enjoying the outdoors. I think it’s safe. We bring and wear masks. I think my state has a good level of businesses and citizens willing to follow the state guidelines. If I lived close enough to drive and enjoy fall foliage I would do that. I think that’s a lot safer than museums and theme parks.
@mom60 , that sounds like a nice way to get through the fall before winter forces us more indoors (depending on where you live). I think that driving travel, with your household members, staying in a self-contained place (no lobby or hallways), or camping, and cooking or getting carryout food, and doing outdoor activities, is about the safest way to do a getaway. My family of 3 did this last weekend and just that one night away and outdoors was really, really nice.
I just pulled the plug and booked our tickets for the postponed Europe trip to England and Spain. I booked last 2 weeks in April. That is 6 months from now and I’m hoping that a smart nation like ours better have figured out how to fix this mess in one year.
Yoo Hoo! Son tells us we should be good to drive out to visit him (near Augusta, GA) for Christmas. He said we was looking at ordering a pre-lit Christmas tree from Costco, and we told him to pick the one he really wants and we’ll help him pay for it if he needs it. So, so, so, so, so, so happy. In December, it will be almost a year since we’ve seen him. If General Order #1 still requires quarantine at the time, he will find us an empty officer’s house to rent for the quarantine period. It’s Christmas already at our house.
Here is some perspective from traveling to Australia. They are taking this way more seriously than the US.
I’m currently in my second day of a 14 day quarantine. After landing, we had our temperatures checked, were given a health survey, passed through customs and were placed on buses to the hotel of their choice by police and military personnel. After a police escort to the hotel, we were checked in one by one, also by the police and military. We were escorted to our rooms by the military. We were not given a key to the room, and there is someone standing guard in the hallway, I only assume 24/7 as we are only to open our doors to pickup the food that is left outside the room. We will be tested twice during our quarantine period. A nurse calls every day to ask about new symptoms.
In the news, Sydney had 5 cases, two were travelers in quarantine, and three were local. They are doing contact tracing on all.
Also a news website I saw from Melbourne had a listing of all the dates and times of potential contact exposure, grocery stores, shopping malls, trains, etc. telling anyone who was in those locations during those times to be tested and stay isolated until they get results.
That is how to keep your numbers down. Of course they don’t allow tourists in so there is that.
