Community Forums

4ina4x4 · 07-01-2020, 04:47 AM

As Superslif mentioned, last week New York issued a "Travel Advisory" indicating that travelers from 8 states in which COVID-19 numbers were increasing would be required to quarantine for 14 days upon entering New York.

Yesterday, New York announced that 8 additional states were being added to the list, bringing the total number up to 16.

Here's the quote from the Governor's office:

"Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that eight additional states meet the metrics to qualify for the travel advisory requiring individuals who have traveled to New York from those states, all of which have significant community spread, to quarantine for 14 days.

The newly-added states are California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee. The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.

"As an increasing number of states around the country fight significant community spread, New York is taking action to maintain the precarious safety of its phased, data-driven reopening," Governor Cuomo said. "We've set metrics for community spread just as we've set metrics for everything the state does to fight COVID-19, and eight more states have reached the level of spread required to qualify for New York's travel advisory, meaning we will now require individuals traveling to New York from those states to quarantine for 14 days."

The full, updated list of states on the travel advisory is below:

Alabama
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Idaho
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Carolina
Nevada
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah"

The entire announcement can be found here: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/gov...states-will-be.

At this point, I know that the Travel Advisory impacts at least one of our attendees.

As the state's decisions have consistently been data driven, I would expect that states will be added to and removed from that list as their COVID-19 numbers change.

Since the situation seems nothing but fluid, I'm inclined to continue waiting to see how it changes as time goes on. While I'm sorry to say it, my cautious optimism has dimmed a bit since it feels like we haven't yet wrestled this beast into submission. But, time will tell.

On a more cheerful note, Alan and I got out for a couple of nights of camping last week. As did Superslif, we booked only for during the week, and we kept to ourselves, either relaxing at the campsite, biking or sitting on the edge of the lake well away from the beach goers. We found the campground staff to be welcoming and wearing masks. We were questioned about our current health status and exposure to COVID-19, and would have been turned away had the answers not been in the best interests of other campers. The campground was fairly full and, although no one was wearing masks at their campsites, everyone seemed to be followed social distancing protocols. It was heartwarming to see families enjoying the outdoors again.

Stay tuned - who knows what will turn up next!

Mary

ModestMonk · 07-01-2020, 05:20 AM

When I first made reservations, I had reservations, fearing a drought would ultimately be our undoing. The DW and I have Public Service Jobs that are to start back up August 1st, having been shuttered since the inception of the pandemic. I already know I have a heavy caseload which will surely impact my time to even run the farm. My apologies but we had to cancel.

I look forward to a vaccine and vastly improved medical treatments by next year, so we can all move past these stressful times.

4ina4x4 · 07-01-2020, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ModestMonk

When I first made reservations, I had reservations, fearing a drought would ultimately be our undoing. The DW and I have Public Service Jobs that are to start back up August 1st, having been shuttered since the inception of the pandemic. I already know I have a heavy caseload which will surely impact my time to even run the farm. My apologies but we had to cancel.

I look forward to a vaccine and vastly improved medical treatments by next year, so we can all move past these stressful times.

Thanks for the note, and good luck with your late summer work flow - both personal and professional. We all know better times are ahead - it would be wonderful if they rolled around sooner rather than later.

Mary

Superslif · 07-04-2020, 11:49 AM

I have a two week reservation to Pennsylvania's Cook Forest and Clear Creek State parks the end of July. I have received emails from them just updating the check-in processes. But so far I don't believe PA. has limited out of state RVers. I get nervous every time I get a email from them.

Of the two 5 night midweek outings we have done, I felt comfortable and safe doing many of the normal things one does camping :fishing, kayaking, disc golf, hiking and of course cocktail hour. Both campgrounds have been 25% full midweek. One more 5 night outing next week locally and then off to NW. PA. for two weeks.

With rising Covid19 case across many parts of the country, I just don't see NY. going forward with any more summer reservations, especially out of state visitors. Maybe for Sept / Oct. Now on the other hand I did see a few visitors from NY and NJ. at our last camp outing. (Punderson State Park NE. Ohio). I asked them where their going, and they were heading to TX and NM. I said, good luck with that one...

kcfissel · 07-04-2020, 01:29 PM

I agree with you Jim, I don't see it happening at all for us, but I'm not yet ready to cancel.

4ina4x4 · 07-04-2020, 02:15 PM

Here's my plan: I'm going to wait until mid-July, then I'll post a note here asking everyone whether they'd prefer to hold or to cancel this year's Rally, and we'll go with whatever the majority prefers. That is, of course, unless the decision is taken out of our hands by the state before then.

I'll PM everyone involved, as well, to be sure you all have a chance to voice your opinion.

I don't want to wait longer than that to make a decision; I'd rather give everyone plenty of time to cancel reservations, if necessary.

A Happy Fourth of July weekend to everyone - even if it is a rather unusual one!

Mary

Superslif · 07-04-2020, 10:31 PM

My niece stopped over today ( for backpacking equipment) to say her and a few friends were going to be leaving on the 8th to do some hut to hut hiking in the Lake Placid / Adirondack area. She said after her hike they wanted to stay a few more days to chill out at a campground. I kind of gave her the rundown what I was dealing with, and said her friends who are leading the trip need to see just what can be reserved.

They were able to reserve a day at a private campground about 20 miles away for their first night before they start the hike. They just wanted to get a day or two after their 4 nights of backpacking to chill.

I happened to look on the website for the Adirondacks and it said the following:

DEC IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE OPENING OF RESERVATIONS FOR THE 2020 SEASON. RESERVATIONS FOR DATES ON OR AFTER JULY 10 WILL BEGIN AT 8AM ON MONDAY, JULY 6. DUE TO EXPECTED VOLUME, WE ENCOURAGE CUSTOMERS TO BOOK RESERVATIONS ONLINE.

**Link to that page

I'm not sure just which section / jurisdiction of the state it falls under. They call themselves DEC ( Dept. of Environmental Conservation) covering the Adirondacks and Catskill parks. A total of 52 campgrounds. So this is the area just north of the ORV rally.

Here is a link to the Northhampton Beach Campground page. If I'm reading it correctly, reservations will open this coming Monday (July 6th) at 8am. It looks like the campground just opened for the season on July 1st.

4ina4x4 · 07-05-2020, 09:22 AM

That's good news, Jim - more progress. Yes, Northampton Beach is a DEC campground and reservations for the 2020 season are scheduled to open up on Monday morning, June 6th, at 8:00 a.m. EST. Leaf-Peeper is still holding site 50 as an extra - the two of you should connect if you're interested. It's a good site.

It's odd that the state campgrounds in New York are run by two separate agencies - the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation (OPRHP) - and I don't know why that is. It seems like they've always operated in lockstep - it was only with the reopening of 2020 reservations that their policies differentiated. The only thing I can think of is that the DEC campgrounds generally cater to tenters and campers with smaller rigs, so there would be heavier usage of the restrooms and showers. (Northampton Beach is an exception, with its very spacious sites.)

Please be sure your niece understands that the DEC campgrounds are currently not accepting walk-ins, so they should definitely make reservations for the days after their hike if they want to stay at a DEC facility. The CampADK.com web site that you've looked at before would probably be useful to them (https://www.campadk.com/campsitephotos/).

Mary

Superslif · 07-05-2020, 03:27 PM

Quote:

That's good news, Jim - more progress. Yes, Northampton Beach is a DEC campground and reservations for the 2020 season are scheduled to open up on Monday morning, June 6th, at 8:00 a.m. EST. Leaf-Peeper is still holding site 50 as an extra - the two of you should connect if you're interested. It's a good site.

Yes, we have since early June. We have emailed each other twice today. Over the last 2-3 hours, I'm not even able to sign into the reservation site. I have requested a password reset....and nothing has been sent to my email to even do that. I made a NY. state park reservation two years ago, my password was good then, or are they over-loaded on the website. I tried the "online" chat...to help resolve that, but it was worth-less.

Quote:

Please be sure your niece understands that the DEC campgrounds are currently not accepting walk-ins, so they should definitely make reservations for the days after their hike if they want to stay at a DEC facility. The CampADK.com web site that you've looked at before would probably be useful to them

Yes I sent her a text with the above links yesterday. That campsite photo site is very good. Their leaning towards Wilmington Notch State park at the base of Whiteface mountain. I know she said after their hike, they were looking for place with either river or a beach. I was there back in 2003, and the river behind the campsites I thought it was rather fast moving. Not something you go swimming in. picture from 2003

4ina4x4 · 07-05-2020, 06:12 PM

Jim, I wish I had some wonderful idea to help square you away but, I have to admit, I have a love-hate relationship with the "new" ReserveAmerica.

With luck, the system was just overloaded, and you'll be able to get in sooner rather than later.

Please keep us posted!

Mary

Superslif · 07-06-2020, 05:52 AM

Quote:

With luck, the system was just overloaded, and you'll be able to get in sooner rather than later.

After 3 hours of "attempting" to resolve the issue, I finally got an on-line chat that wasn't a bot, An actual real live person (thru texting). Here during the their software change-over they left the "t" off my email address / user name instead of a dot "net", they had it as a .ne"....They can't change it...so it wasn't my password, but my user name / email was wrong.

Got frustrating because the bot on the "on-line" chat help kept saying please sign in.....I cant sign in......

I have to call their customer service number today to get it corrected.

OK I'm in...I was able to get site #48 Modest Monk's old site (Wed - Sun). So that still leaves site 50 open when Leaf Peeper cancels it.

4ina4x4 · 07-06-2020, 08:39 AM

Yay! So glad that very strange problem was resolved!

Aside from Modest Monk, I haven't heard from anyone who has canceled, so here's an updated list of attendees, site numbers and arrival/departure dates:

13 - Leaf-Peeper (13th/17th)
37 - Kickenback (13th/17th)
41 - 4ina4x4 (8th/22nd)
44 - kcfissel (12th/17th)
45 - Alfie199 (11th/17th)
46 - Santana (13th/17th)
47 - Cornbinder (13th/16th)
48 - Superslif (12th/17th)
54 - Hikermom718 (13th/17th)

Superslif, I understood your note to mean that you were arriving on Wednesday (the 12th) and staying through Sunday night, departing on Monday (the 17th). Please clarify if that's not correct. Thanks!

If I come across any additional COVID-19 related information, I'll certainly post it. Otherwise, I'll check in with everyone mid-month to decide where we go from here.

Mary

Superslif · 07-06-2020, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Superslif, I understood your note to mean that you were arriving on Wednesday (the 12th) and staying through Sunday night, departing on Monday (the 17th). Please clarify if that's not correct. Thanks!

No, just Wed thru Sunday morning.

Looking on the reservation website for Northhampton Beach, there was 41 sites available when I went to reserve at 8am this morning, now it's down 25 total sites in the park. There are three sites in Leaf Peepers loop (# 2,9 and 20) still open..

But we still have site #50 leaf peeper has not canceled as of yet.

4ina4x4 · 07-06-2020, 11:54 AM

Thanks for clarifying, Jim. Here's the corrected list:

13 - Leaf-Peeper (13th/17th)
37 - Kickenback (13th/17th)
41 - 4ina4x4 (8th/22nd)
44 - kcfissel (12th/17th)
45 - Alfie199 (11th/17th)
46 - Santana (13th/17th)
47 - Cornbinder (13th/16th)
48 - Superslif (12th/16th)
54 - Hikermom718 (13th/17th)

This campground is extremely popular in the best of times - for good reason, I might add. Now, with the pandemic, people are probably thrilled to be able to get out and do something (anything!), and camping is an outdoor activity that easily allows for social distancing.

Mary