For those of you currently on the road..

[OlYeller]

When I left WA on January 5th, I thought I was trying to beat the weather to get south. Turns out I was also beating the virus out of town. My trip was pretty normal down through OR, CA, AZ, NM, TX, OK, TN, LA, AL, MS, finally landing in a private park in Palm Harbor, FL on February 1st. I am over 65, have a serious heart condition and am diabetic so I am the poster child for not contracting this virus. I have watched the park I am in lose revenue as first most of the Canadians left and then a lot of folks from the north vacated the park. While not empty, I’m sure the park owners have lost a lot of revenue they were counting on during what is usually their busy season. The FL Gov has closed the State Parks but if my park is any indication, there are lots of vacancies in private parks.

My original plan was to head home on May1st. It is still the plan but I am thinking that an extra month may be in the cards. I was planning when I left to end my trip visiting my elderly relatives in PA and western NY. As of now I am rethinking that and may take a more direct route home. I am concerned if I will experience a reluctance to allow me to stop overnight with my WA plates. I am not anxious to return to the ground zero of where this virus began in the US. I am missing my daughters and grandkids like crazy and they are concerned for my well being. I send them updates every day as well as frequent FaceTime sessions so they can see I am OK, so far.

Lastly, I am surprised about how my neighbors here in this park are not practicing the guidelines on dealing with this outbreak. Up until a few days ago they were still gathering for a twice weekly pot luck and a weekly social hour. Last night, the pool had at least 10 people in it all close together. I avoid them and the gathering, as well as the pool. I have to walk my dog 4 times a day and while I am friendly, I don’t approach others or use any of the common facilities. I am spending a lot of time in my RV hunkered down but enjoying good home cooked meals and the warm Florida weather. Laundry is done at my girlfriend’s home, and as she is a little younger than I, she is doing my shopping for me. I hope we all can get back to a more normal life experience soon. It’s killing me that I am not able to take advantage of the cheap gas right now. Stay safe everyone!

[rlott2k]

Originally Posted by CoCoDave

Am envious of those who are getting cheap diesel fuel.



We're making our way from Phoenix, AZ, to Sequim, WA. The bulk of the trip on I-5 through California, Oregon, and Washington. Paid $3.439 at Love's in Tehachapi, CA, yesterday for 20% Bio diesel.



Majority of the RV license plates are from Oregon, Washington, and Canada, which makes sense as the Snowbird migration rolls out.



We're in the Central Valley right now and the traffic is normal to heavy. Though the traffic is appears normal, the numbers at truck stops, travel plazas, etc., are down by a lot. Also makes sense. Inside dining is gone. The fast-food vendors will not serve people on foot at the drive-through.



The ratio of OTR trucks to passenger cars has clearly increased on the truck side. Again, traffic overall seems normal to heavy.



Campgrounds are changing registration procedures and terminating some amenities. Closing showers, pools, and other gathering spots. Here in Patterson, CA, they set up a self check in where one fills out a form with relevant information, including billing info. and put it in a drop-box.



The well-known and loved (in this part of the country) Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield did registration through a small window. The showers were still operating. But the morning doughnuts and coffee were gone.



FWIW

I know this has beat pretty hard on this board , but that Loves is 2.58/gal with TSD card. Message me for more info if your interested or search this board.

[rlott2k]

Originally Posted by HtlMajestic

We came to Florida panhandle from Fort Worth driving along the Gulf Coast beaches. Most closed along the way; casinos closed/barricaded parking lots in Biloxi, MS and Gulf Shores, AL. Beaches closed in Florida. Which is what we came for - thinking we could be OK outside on the beaches and in the campground. Panama City Beach last to close yesterday and there were plenty of Spring breakers and families still there. We walked the waterline and avoided close contact. Left without touching anything except the shower faucet to clean our feet.



Now we are at a campground til end of month and have to figure out where to go next. I don't want to keep our usual weekly travel schedule but not sure where we can find an opening that won't cost a fortune. Most CGs are full.



Anyone have any ideas for places to stay cheap for a couple of weeks to a month anywhere between Florida panhandle and Nashville?

Boy that’s tuff, the stay home and isolate doesn’t help RVs.
We just overnighted at rest stops and truck stops, perhaps churches may have spots?
Try Harvest Host.

[McRod]

Diesel hasn't gone down in Tucson...still around $2.71-$2.95/ gal. If a missle is shot in the middle East prices double overnight. Has to be some sort of fixed pricing around here. Ridiculous!

[rlott2k]

Originally Posted by OlYeller

When I left WA on January 5th, I thought I was trying to beat the weather to get south. Turns out I was also beating the virus out of town. My trip was pretty normal down through OR, CA, AZ, NM, TX, OK, TN, LA, AL, MS, finally landing in a private park in Palm Harbor, FL on February 1st. I am over 65, have a serious heart condition and am diabetic so I am the poster child for not contracting this virus. I have watched the park I am in lose revenue as first most of the Canadians left and then a lot of folks from the north vacated the park. While not empty, I’m sure the park owners have lost a lot of revenue they were counting on during what is usually their busy season. The FL Gov has closed the State Parks but if my park is any indication, there are lots of vacancies in private parks.



My original plan was to head home on May1st. It is still the plan but I am thinking that an extra month may be in the cards. I was planning when I left to end my trip visiting my elderly relatives in PA and western NY. As of now I am rethinking that and may take a more direct route home. I am concerned if I will experience a reluctance to allow me to stop overnight with my WA plates. I am not anxious to return to the ground zero of where this virus began in the US. I am missing my daughters and grandkids like crazy and they are concerned for my well being. I send them updates every day as well as frequent FaceTime sessions so they can see I am OK, so far.



Lastly, I am surprised about how my neighbors here in this park are not practicing the guidelines on dealing with this outbreak. Up until a few days ago they were still gathering for a twice weekly pot luck and a weekly social hour. Last night, the pool had at least 10 people in it all close together. I avoid them and the gathering, as well as the pool. I have to walk my dog 4 times a day and while I am friendly, I don’t approach others or use any of the common facilities. I am spending a lot of time in my RV hunkered down but enjoying good home cooked meals and the warm Florida weather. Laundry is done at my girlfriend’s home, and as she is a little younger than I, she is doing my shopping for me. I hope we all can get back to a more normal life experience soon. It’s killing me that I am not able to take advantage of the cheap gas right now. Stay safe everyone!

Sad the denying of this pandemic from many in some areas, especially people in higher risk situations.
Stay safe as I see your trying. I’m guessing there will be serious consequences in 2-3 weeks for others.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by McRod

Diesel hasn't gone down in Tucson...still around $2.71-$2.95/ gal. If a missle is shot in the middle East prices double overnight. Has to be some sort of fixed pricing around here. Ridiculous!

Normally Tucson has very cheap prices.

[Lloyd in S.C.]

Trip report Day #3

Uneventful again. Normal traffic between Amarillo Tx and Russelville Ar where we are setup in the Walmart.

Really have nothing to report regarding traveling cross country virus related. The Walmart here is very busy, if anyone is staying home,,, they are not here.

L.

[tmandoug1]

Stayed @ Warrior RV park outside of Tulsa, OK. No issues other than their claim to be big rig friendly is really only good to about 40'. Truck was out in the lane but they were cool with it. Left early this morning and stopped at a KOA outside St. Louis. No issues other than shift inhibit on trasnmission. Took me 10 minutes to figure out that Bear the dog had dumped the bags������. All is well.

[McRod]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

Normally Tucson has very cheap prices.

Yeah, real cheap compared to California!

[WNYtraveler]

Originally Posted by R.Wold

Sorry to hear about your Mother In Law - these are rough times. Best of luck and safe and healthy travels.

Thank you

[WNYtraveler]

Our day two went very smoothly until the end. We drove 677 miles today and found a Walmart in east St. Louis that said we could overnight in spite of the sign that stated otherwise.

We have just a little less than 900 miles to go so I'm going to get us between Cleveland and Erie tomorrow.

Our 2003 Holiday Rambler Vacationer is performing perfectly so far. We are getting just a little over 7 mpg towing our Ford Escape on a Master Tow dolly.

I'll check in tomorrow.

[TIME2CAMP]

Home in PA, long but uneventful drive from FL. Spent a night at Blythe Island campground, very nice place. Next night was Frederick VA, the walmart had lots of meat, veg's etc so we stocked up. BJs was 1.49 for regular! Yesterday we finished the drive and wiped everything down again before bringing it in the house, still doing dishwasher and washer loads.
Anyway, the drive was pretty uneventful, more trucks than anything on the road. All the outlets and motels were empty, South of the Border looked like a ghost town. Went around Wash DC at 9 AM, very little traffic.
Glad we got out of FL when we did, I think it was a safe decision as some of the campers did not follow distance guidelines around the pool, bathroom etc. Hoping for increased testing with quick results for all soon, as this is really the only way to know if you are safe.
Good luck to all, when this is over we can go back to camping.

[R.Wold]

Originally Posted by rlott2k

Sad the denying of this pandemic from many in some areas, especially people in higher risk situations.
Stay safe as I see your trying. I’m guessing there will be serious consequences in 2-3 weeks for others.

I was skeptical until a couple weeks ago and it’s easy to understand why so many still are. How do you take the media and politicians seriously any more after so many have cashed in their credibility for personal gain and/or to promote their own agenda?

So then if they finally get it right for once, either accidentally or in a fleeting moment of honesty, how does one know? And in this case there has still been as much misinformation as credible reporting. For me to really understand this thing (I think I do anyway...) it was the accumulation of data collected by credible institutions which took several weeks.

So while I wish everyone would take this extremely seriously, and hope they do so soon, I can hardly blame people for being skeptical about the seriousness of all this, and resentful about the impact on lifestyles and the economy.

For a little reality check, monitor the data from Johns Hopkins. https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/a...23467b48e9ecf6
Bad news:case numbers still rapidly increasing and will overwhelm health care in certain areas
Good news: Mortality rate in the US still down around 1.5%, although inching upward, but no where near Italy’s 10+% and probably will never be so.

There’s also this for the local impact - can’t get this easily from the other link, but it lags behind by a few cases:
https://weather.com/coronavirus/l/37.9578,-121.2897

And then there’s this - The AP debunking fake news (getting it right?):
https://apnews.com/NotRealNews

[rlott2k]

Originally Posted by R.Wold

I was skeptical until a couple weeks ago and it’s easy to understand why so many still are. How do you take the media and politicians seriously any more after so many have cashed in their credibility for personal gain and/or to promote their own agenda?

So then if they finally get it right for once, either accidentally or in a fleeting moment of honesty, how does one know? And in this case there has still been as much misinformation as credible reporting. For me to really understand this thing (I think I do anyway...) it was the accumulation of data collected by credible institutions which took several weeks.

So while I wish everyone would take this extremely seriously, and hope they do so soon, I can hardly blame people for being skeptical about the seriousness of all this, and resentful about the impact on lifestyles and the economy.

For a little reality check, monitor the data from Johns Hopkins. https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/a...23467b48e9ecf6
Bad news:case numbers still rapidly increasing and will overwhelm health care in certain areas
Good news: Mortality rate in the US still down around 1.5%, although inching upward, but no where near Italy’s 10+% and probably will never be so.

There’s also this for the local impact - can’t get this easily from the other link, but it lags behind by a few cases:
https://weather.com/coronavirus/l/37.9578,-121.2897

And then there’s this - The AP debunking fake news (getting it right?):
https://apnews.com/NotRealNews

I just used common sense and gut feeling. DW was very concerned about this in December. Took me a few weeks more. Putting on blinders to the noise on the sidelines helps.
Focus on what we know. Think of the regular flu. Vaccines are created for North America based on flues in Asia and Australia months before they arrive here. We know the stats on the casualties in that demographic. They are often used to minimalize this current pandemic.
With what happened in the epicenter ( keeping in mind our bias tha those #s were minimalized) it was easy for us to guess that this could be a huge problem.

There’s an old saying “stats are for losers”.
The infected cases are no where near as accurate due to lack of testing.
The fatalities numbers likewise fewer due to lack of testing.

I pay attention to the #s , I’m heart broken thinking that each # is a person , with family, friends etc, but I also believe the numbers are no where near telling the true story.