They had to be in their room my 7pm!? Wow that’s unbelievable! I mean 9pm maybe but 7?!
They said they were sound asleep by 7:30! Long days of snorkeling, I guess the snorkeling was spectacular. But they were eating dinner very early
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Right now my thoughts aren’t very good. What was supposed to be a quick two hour non stop flight (granted after a 5 hour drive to the airport the night before) has turned into 6 delays, a cancellation, and being rebooked on another airline at another airport 45 min away. Now we leave at 10pm and will be lucky to get to motel at 1:30am twelve hours later… we missed a tour scheduled for tonight but they are trying to squeeze us in later. I appreciate their effort. I only booked it for tonight because every other day was already full. I guess I jinxed us.
Airport was swamped when we arrived this morning, but the crowds died down around 10am or so. It was pretty empty after that. New airport isn’t too terrible. Everyone in masks but it’s still federally mandated.
My thoughts on travel…
We have given up on thinking about traveling abroad before next summer, at the earliest. Too much uncertainty and too much of a chance for us not to get to experience the trip we really want to have. I’m not sure if we’ll have the chance to ever take the trip we planned as a family (originally supposed to be a last hurrah before D20 left for college), but it just feels better this way, for now.
H and I have a weekend trip to the Hudson Valley planned for September. Going to Storm King and staying in Hudson, which is apparently a great place for foodies and furniture-lovers (check and check!). He and I haven’t been away without the kids since 2009.
Then, we have a trip planned with D24 (and my SIL and her family) to Key West in April. We will try to fly D20 down for a long weekend, if her class schedule in the spring makes it possible.
Saw my neighbor this morning - she and her family just returned from two weeks in the Netherlands, visiting her husband’s family. She said the airplane was half empty on both trips and they got through customs at JFK in just a few minutes, the international terminal there was very quiet. This was such a change from all of the domestic air travel stories I’ve been hearing. Almost made me regret canceling our trip.
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I am way too excited that our multi-state trip next week will be entirely by car. I’ve flown several times this year and am comfortable enough flying, but I cannot abide the delays and cancellations.
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I have a question about entry into the US for international air travelers: as far as I can tell, the USA is NOT one of the countries requiring proof of vaccine.
Do you know if that is correct? From what I can see, the only requirement to enter the US by air from any international departure point is a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of departure.
The reason I am asking is that someone posted on the vaccine reluctance thread this link for the various vaccines around the world, and which countries have given authorization/emergency use authorization: List of COVID-19 vaccine authorizations - Wikipedia
We know of friends and family who are considering traveling to the US, and they keep asking us about whether a particular vaccine in their home country is “approved” for travel to the US. We think the issue is not vaccination (like it is in the EU), but the COVID testing.
This is all so confusing.
The best source of info for travel internationally I’ve found is here.
Also from CDC
“ There are no vaccination requirements for visitors to the United States, and US residents traveling abroad do not need any vaccines to reenter the United States. For information on US-based infectious disease outbreaks currently being reported by CDC, please see the CDC Current Outbreak List.
For general advice about your trip to the United States, see these additional resources:
- US Department of State’s Travel.State.gov - including information on visas for foreign citizens traveling to the United States.
- US Customs and Border Protection
- Transportation Security Administration”
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The U.S. currently bars most citizens of the 26 European Schengen nations, the U.K., Ireland, India, Brazil, Iran, South Africa, and China from entering the country. The Department of Homeland Security also announced last week that the U.S will keep its land borders with Canada and Mexico closed to nonessential travel.
I think they’ll also keep the mask requirements for airline and public transportation in place. It’s easier to keep them in place than to try to reinstate them.
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I am in St. Croix, USVI right now, with family. Last night we ate at a restaurant owned by an old family friend who told me about the BVI outbreak. Here the numbers are pretty good and people wear their masks indoors, including servers at the restaurant. Early Sunday moerning I flew from JFK (JetBlue termina very crowded, everyone masked) to San Juan (not crowded, everyone masked) to STX (empty airport). I was the only passenger on the Cessna from San Juan to STX! Coming home tomorrow, alas.
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They aren’t wearing masks in airports because they think it is the right thing to do. Federal law still requires it.
Daughter flew to visit while things were still good. Flying back across the country tomorrow with N95 and face shield. Nervous (she has a health condition but was fully vaxxed in March.)
Son is coming the next week. Haven’t seen him in 20 months. He will be also visiting a family with small children. I have many questions about safety for him, for me and for the family with kids.
I wish we knew for certain about transmission by vaccinated folks but it is looking like that is very possible with Delta.
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Europeans are increasingly peeved that Americans can come to their country but they can’t go to the US.
The UK has an app- NHS Covid 19- that you need to have handy on your phone. You sign up with your info (use the post code of your hotel if you aren’t staying with friends). Pretty much every shop & restaurant asks you to scan the NHS QR code on a poster at the entrance on your way in. If somebody tests positive for Covid who was in the same place at the same time you get pinged to tell you to get tested & to quarantine. It’s not perfect (for a start, it doesn’t distinguish by elevation, so if you are on the 7th floor of a hotel, and somebody tests positive who was in the same room on the 2nd floor, the app can’t tell the difference), but it’s an effort to let people know if they have been exposed.
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I think we’ve all seen and heard and read about incomplete compliance with mask rules. For what it’s worth, virtually everyone including kids was wearing masks that covered their mouths and noses at JFK and San Juan airports on Sunday morning.
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I’ve not heard of any non-compliance at airports. I’ve been in Denver, Nashville, Savannah, and Baltimore airports and everyone was wearing masks.
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There were plenty of non-compilers at SLC recently, sadly. One even approached the gate agents and would not put her mask on. Avoid Utah.
Scotland joins England in ditching quarantine requirements.
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In the midst of our Amtrak trip here and will note if anyone wants to stay in relatively “safe” environments, Amtrak isn’t it right now.
Theoretically one is supposed to wear masks correctly in stations and on trains, etc. At the two stations we’ve been to so far there’s been 50-70% compliance with no one enforcing the mask rule unless the unmasked person is approaching a worker.
On the train one guy didn’t even come with a mask. The conductor told him he needed one - and told quite a few others they needed to wear theirs correctly. When the guy said he didn’t have one the conductor brought him one. He was sitting behind us a bit - when he got off there was no mask in sight, nor did we ever hear the conductor (or anyone) tell anyone anything about masks thereafter.
Plus… there were folks coughing in our car. I’ve no idea if it was Covid, colds, allergies, smoking, or whatever.
I’m glad we’re vaccinated. I could easily see Covid spreading if the coughs are it.
Ages range from young kids to senior citizens. There have been a lot of Amish. I’m staring at a long row of them now with nary a mask in sight, but there are some “ordinary” folks without them too - or wearing them as chin guards.
I wonder if anything will change as we leave Deep Red areas. Time will tell. I’m also glad we have our own roomette from here on out to CA.
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Storm King is beautiful! It will be at its prime in Sept. We went there on July 4. Wear hiking shoes. It sounds like you’ve got a nice situation in Hudson, but I also recommend the Borland House in Montgomery NY (and for dinner, Wildfire Grill–a really good restaurant).
I just returned from a quick roundtrip to Minneapolis. Several people on both legs, in both airports (MSP and EWR) were wearing their masks below their noses or chins. They weren’t challenged.
I had such a terrible time going through security on Friday at EWR (Newark) that I applied for TSA Precheck today–I have my appt. in Oakhurst on Friday. Never again. I waited in line for an hour. I was patted down. I resisted Pre-Check on principle because I resent the idea that I should have to pay a government entity to get a better standard of treatment in what should be a public service, but that’s the world we live in.
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