More State Park ideas for travel dreaming… https://rvingwithrex.com/2020/06/13/go-here-not-there-7-state-parks-that-rival-national-parks/
There are many nice state parks in Maine.
Yes. Also, its surfaces aren’t cleaned after each use.
Airlines generally don’t turn on their ventilation systems fully when the planes are on the ground. People are also often closer to each other during boarding and disembarking/deplaning processes.
How was your trip? We drove through VA, MD, and PA returning home today. Trees varied from those not believing winter is coming (still 100% green) to those that think winter started a month ago (no leaves left). Then there were plenty still between the two extremes. It was very pretty.
One can also tell the MD is quite a blue state in the area we drove through. We had to stop for a drive thru lunch and chose Popeyes. The employee was totally/correctly masked with gloves and had a container to put money in. The food was completely bagged beyond the normal single bag (bagged twice). I have not seen that in rural PA or VA (red country if one can believe lawn signs). Then I had to stop at a rest area. Absolutely everyone there was masked correctly - not one person wearing it wrong. Almost all the license plates at both were MD.
If only the whole country would get on board.
It’s good to be home for a little bit. I wish our next trip could be further south like it often is for a bit of the winter. I’m honestly not sure our “typical” Feb trip - even to FL - is going to be on this year.
And NY just enacted new testing laws. While they don’t apply to PA residents, our lad’s med school doesn’t want them traveling and it’s tough for us to go there instead. It looks like we’re going to miss seeing him instead of having 3-4 weeks to enjoy together.
Such is life I guess.
Here’s hoping we don’t also don’t have to deal with a Civil War after next week. It is 2020, so who knows? Reign of Fire (2002 movie) had dragons arising in 2020…
I am in Virginia and have seen only one red sign in my neighborhood, but many blue signs. Totally depends on where you were in Virginia @Creekland .
@sevmom I totally agree about VA. It’s nice where FIL lives because it seems 50/50 there, but where we were in a more rural area at his river home, signs indicate otherwise.
PA is similar TBH. We live in deep red territory. Head a few miles in various directions and it changes.
We spent a bit of time musing on our way home about how Civil War II would even play out. Unfortunately, there are possibilities that seem plausible.
We tend to muse about a lot of abstract stuff on longer drives - it makes the time pass more quickly. Usually it’s more “end of the world as we know it” stuff, Hollywood style, that we don’t actually think will ever happen. This one was odd because, well, who knows? I hope all people can stay sane.
Flew to Cabo today. Delta is serious about masks and wearing them correctly. when we arrived, there were about 10 flights in the same hour that arrived, so customs was packed, but everyone wore a mask, and only about 1/2 dozen were wearing chin diapers. I was happy with compliance.
Even though Mexico does not require covid testing myself and DH had tests this week.
The resort requests that masks be worn when not sitting or eating, but many are not when walking around the pool area, but I dont feel like there is a big risk. Also when you enter the buildings they make you “wash” your shoes.
I feel safer here than at home in some respects. Mexico as a whole had 5K cases a day and the Baja area does not have that many, Before we left most of our area was without power, and people were flocking to Starbucks and other places to get WIFI and electricity. I ended up at my DDs apartment , not wanting to step inside, and also sat in my ar outside starbucks to use the wifi. (but avoided going in).
@sdl0625 sounds like you picked a great time to get away. Enjoy your trip - have you been before? we had an amazing trip to Cabo in 2018. Rented a house in Pedregal and felt like movie stars for the week 
If you are able and haven’t been already, try to get to Flora Farms for a a meal. Incredible place.
@Creekland we had a great trip, even though we had to do it all in one day. Nearly the entire drive up that day was shrouded in heavy fog though. We could see the beautiful foliage along 87 in NY, despite the fog, but fortunately it burned off just as we arrived at my son’s campus. His doctor appointment was relatively quick, so we grabbed a pizza for lunch and sat by the river. He had a project due so we dropped him back at school, then went for a beautiful but short 2 mile hike in a nearby state park along the river. The foliage was still quite nice. Then picked son up, treated him to a nice outdoor dinner at a favorite restaurant, took him back to school then headed home. Got home just past midnight so it was a long day.
Encouraged by the news that MD was in parts reaching peak, this past Wednesday my 15 y/o and I went hiking up towards the PA line. She has hybrid school but no class on Wednesdays, so it was great timing b/f the storm arrived Thursday. We went to Catoctin Mountain Park. I have to laugh about you driving thru “blue” MD because we saw quite a few Trump on the way to Thurmont, including a huge one on a local carwash (We don’t normally see political signs for either party prominently displayed at businesses). But yes, I do agree that anywhere I have gone, even in the red/rural parts of MD, 99% of people comply with proper mask wearing in public places.
And just our luck that Cuomo has withdrawn the mandated restricted states quarantine and now requires testing before arrival in NY and again a few days after arrival. A week too late for us but we still managed to take advantage of the fall foliage during our brief day trip! I do have to go back again in a few weeks to pick our son up for winter break, so might actually stay the night this time in a hotel. We can easily get tested here in MD so that won’t be a problem and won’t be staying long enough to need another once in NY.
Driving out to my family’s Palm Springs cabin on the hillside above the City. I spent a lot of time there in April earlier this year. Easy Peasy, only stopping at grocery store down in town on the way.
I have a friend whose husband visited family in TX from Brooklyn for a month. His contact information was recorded before he got on the flight from Atlanta to JFK on 10/26, and he gets daily calls and texts from NY sheriff and NYC contact tracing. He went for a test today and if it’s negative he can end his quarantine rather than waiting for 11/9 when his 2 weeks are up.
That area of MD is closer to our stomping grounds, but not the way we returned home yesterday. We came back via DC and Baltimore due to traffic issues on 95/495 again.
MD being so good with the masks is probably why they are one of the better states with new cases, etc. That and not having to endure all the political folks going to rallies of all sorts because we’re ¶ a battleground state. Stanford’s study regarding how much those have spread things didn’t surprise anyone in my circle. It’s incredibly annoying.
Glad you had a great trip!
Med school lad will officially not be coming here for 3 weeks as originally planned. Oddly enough, it’s ok if we go there, so we probably will, but not for that long so we can isolate before heading south again. We’ll take Thanksgiving Dinner with us and celebrate it there, albeit on a different day because we’re going to be at FIL’s on Thanksgiving.
None of us can figure out how/why it’s ok for him to do everything he does around his place (within 100 miles), but anything further - even if just nonstop to a family farm - is harmful. We’re guessing they just needed to draw a line somewhere. He’s more of a risk to us than we are to him, but their worry is him (and others in the school) catching it.
^^^ Med students/residents/health care workers - they catch it, they bring additional risks into the hospital.
Yeah - we have a med school student relative in NY who is going to the SC wedding next weekend we chose not to go to… not sure how that will turn out.
My daughter is a first-year med student in NY 75 miles north of the city. She joined a gym when they reopened but stopped going when she saw that mask-wearing was lax. She has two days of labs a week with a cohort of 10 students and one of them tested positive so she quarantined for 10 days. She was very annoyed that she did not hear about the positive test for a few days after, but she’s pretty philosophical about it. I have visited her twice from Brooklyn since school started in August, and although she’s pretty overwhelmed about school (totally understandable!), she’s taking things day by day, grateful that it’s first year and optimistic that by the time she does rotations, things will be back to “normal,” whatever that is. I am grateful that she is close enough to visit for an afternoon.
We are thinking that plane travel most of 2021 will have issues. Our only planned vacation for 2021 is a driving trip to the Jersey Shore next September.
Hoping I’m wrong.
Totally agree, but he’s just as or more likely to get it grocery shopping where he is and at the hospital than he would be driving here where we’ve been keeping very cautious due to FIL, esp since he doesn’t stop between there and here. The 100 miles is a random line drawn.
I will need to stop once between us on our way there because I can’t go that long without a bathroom break. Neither of us need to gas up vehicles between A and B.
@Creekland I’m sure you understand that your son needs to adhere to any restrictions his medical school puts into place.
Resident daughter had a vacation week and where she could travel was very very restricted. She complied…because it’s her job to do so.
100 miles isn’t likely to require traveling by something like plane. Not to mention creating any problems crossing state lines, quarantines, etc.
Medical school is a tight ship.
Of course he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing. He wouldn’t even contemplate otherwise. Travel > 100 miles is not forbidden and many students are going further afield. There are just massive restrictions afterward. He’s avoiding those by us going there instead. PA is exempt from NY’s restrictions.