I’m still hoping our son will decide it’s safe enough to come visit from Seattle to San Diego. His car is quite old and I don’t want him driving it long distance, especially alone. So I found a car rental office just a five minute walk from his apartment. He can drive it about halfway and we would drive up, meeting in Redding CA for one night. He can then return the rental (either at a local office or drop box at the airport there) and come back down with us. The return trip would be the reverse - up to Redding, stay one night, rent the car, say goodbye (sob) and each drive home.
The only stops on the road would be for gas and drive through meals, and take out in Redding. And bathroom stops, especially for me. Each day’s leg is about 10 hours. I sent him the COVID 19 protocols for both Avis and Hilton since he was concerned about their safety. He is also concerned about being asymptomatic and infecting us, so I suggested he find out how to be tested before the trip. He’s ultra careful so it’s highly unlikely.
The route is literally I-5 all the way, from five minutes by his apartment to ten minutes by our house; can’t get lost! My concerns right now are the fires in Northern California, although the trip wouldn’t be for a couple of weeks and there don’t seem to be fire issues along the route at this time.
My other option for him was an Amtrak roomette and we would meet him outside LA (not the downtown station), but he would need to go to King Station in Seattle. He’s wanted to take the train ride for a while (very scenic) but not sure if he’s comfortable with any form of public transportation. He doesn’t want to fly, even though I’ve offered to buy a first class seat on Alaska, which I think is still one of the more cautious carriers.
If he comes, he’s be here for my birthday and Rosh Hashona, so fingers crossed.
@scmom12, I just expect our church to follow the state rules, which is maximum of 50 indoors and 100 outside. I talked to our assistant pastor today and he said they intend to follow the rules. I told him it’s important because people will be watching (as they should!). We will be meeting on the 20-acre lot we recently purchased and plan to build a new church on. It wouldn’t be a good introduction for us to ignore the governor’s orders! I got the feeling he really HADN’T considered that, but now he will. I’m a troublemaker, ha.
Our state just removed MD from the quarantine list. I just invited my sister’s family to come camp out in our yard. That’s how we visited them back in June (before they got put on the naughty list).
What does this state quarantine achieve? I don’t quite understand. My state don’t have it and the numbers are not bad at all. What makes some fo these states so different from the rest that they feel quarantine is helpful? Are they a tinder box for covid that will readily trigger a wide spread infection?
Southwest email today advertising $39 (one way) flights. Even though my mind knows that these dirt cheap flights are very limited and don’t get you more than a few hours away, it’s hard to know there is really no reason to click on it to explore if flying is not on your agenda for the next several months!
Are there any maps that show current hotspots? I’ll be driving cross country in a few weeks and I want to avoid cities/counties that are currently having an uptick in hospitalizations.
All the maps I’ve found don’t use only current data. I’m not interested in the aggregate number over the last few months. I’m not interested in totals. I’d like data on a per capita basis. I’m already planning on avoiding any major cities to avoid riots.
A cousin was texting me yesterday that she was looking for flights for her sophomore son who is in Chicago to come and spend Thanksgiving with us. I had to respond and say that at this time it’s too early for my family to commit to being able to host him - I mean, 1. he will be coming from a college situation, 2. He would be landing at our house after a flight with others, 3. One of the main goals would be for him to visit with my 87 year old mom - right, after 1 and 2?? and 4. Who even knows if we will be having a Thanksgiving get together?!!
I think you might need to avoid college towns. It appears those numbers don’t get added in to local numbers. In our rural area, it’s significant and college students don’t seem to isolate.
Otherwise I saw the news for PA yesterday on PennLive. The county next door to us is among the worst for new cases and hospitalizations right now in our state. The article said it’s getting better, but I don’t know if that can be believed or not. They have a couple of colleges too.
That would be a quick “no” followed by an “are you kidding?” from us. I’ve heard of too many elders dying and it’s not a pleasant death. We takes risks and let med school lad visit us, but he doesn’t visit his grandfather nor do we go there within two weeks of seeing him.
Good suggestion about avoiding college towns, at least those holding in person classes. It does seem that young people just cannot resist partying. I saw that Ohio State (?) or another Ohio college is suspending students who have attended large gatherings. I think other colleges are doing this as well. Good thing I like little towns best anyway.
@TatinG I don’t know one exactly as you describe. Washington Post has graphs showing ups and downs of daily counts in each state. I think you can extract what you need from them.
State statistics aren’t very helpful. For example, if I’m traveling through southern Illinois, I don’t care about the stats from Chicago which may skew the data.
This one gives two week trends. You pick country, then state, then counties or cities. Hovering over the graph also gives daily numbers (which I like).
When I pulled the plug on our Utah hiking trip at the end of October, it was like ripping a Band-aid off. OUCH. Round-trip flights? We could’ve gotten a SW ticket for $157
Plus, lost the lodging deposit.
Nevertheless, just glad to have made a decision and can leave it behind. Maybe 2021 will be better…
@TatinG I agree that avoiding college neighborhoods would be wise.
On the other hand, I don’t think it is necessary to avoid major cities to stay away from riots. For the most part, the violence is very localized and people know where it is going to be. For example, in Portland, which may be the worst, the clash involving the Proud Boys was announced ahead of time and the ordinary, non-violent protests, usually wrap up at a certain time and then after that is when the trouble starts.
@abasket No way.
I sincerely hope that the virus situation improves soon, but even if it does, clearly Thanksgiving break, when all the college students start moving around, will be stressful. We’ll all be holding our breath to see if that triggers more outbreaks.
Going straight from college to flying to seeing 87 year old grandma? Nope. Not this year. And staying in your house? I don’t think so!