8/14 Motorhome Living and the Trials of Covid-19

I know I have not posted much lately, but not much has been going on.  Actually, what has been going on is my trying to find places to stay and where I can get my laundry done.

First, my original plans had me heading to northern Idaho and Montana for most of August after getting some doctor visits taken care of.  Then, I would be spending part of September in Lake Louise and Banff, Canada, where I have had reservations for almost a year.  Except, Canada will not let American's in, especially since so many of us deciding that partying, large gatherings, and not wearing masks was better than staying at home.  Frankly, there are not too many places in the world right now that want us hanging around in their countries.

Since I could not spend the first two-thirds of September in Alberta, I cancelled my northern Idaho and Montana campgrounds and made new reservations for a week each at a couple of my favorite places along the Columbia River.  My plans were to then head southeast through southern Idaho through Utah, and on to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, arriving at the national parks by early October when the temps would be reasonable--like the 80s instead of the 100s.  I had some reservations along the way in scenic places, such as Dead Horse Point State Park near Moab, and Capitol Reef Natl Park near Torry Utah.  I travel slowly and planned to spend two relaxing weeks in Zion and four days at the GC north rim and six days at the south rim.  By late October, I would have moved on to a couple of my favorite places near Las Vegas, and weather should have been fantastic.

BUT, soon after I had my slightly over two weeks scheduled along the Columbia River, they got cancelled, supposedly due to wind damage.  I still have a week scheduled at Lake Cascade SP in southern Idaho, and none of my October reservations were affected, so I was glad of that. 

However, the second thing you need to know is that with the Covid-19 virus, the only really safe way to travel is to take your home with you, hence RVing has suddenly become very, very popular.  That means campgrounds are packed, especially on weekends.  And to make things even more fun, the governor of Oregon decided that campgrounds could be open, but that showers and laundromats would be closed. That included the county park I was staying at last week and where I had counted on their very nice laundry room.  I can do without showers, but I do NOT want to go to a commercial laundry!   I assume the governor did not want people congregating in the campground laundromats, but that is a problem with people like me who cannot go "home" to do their laundry.  (Note: I have never seen a crowd in a campground laundromat.  Shower rooms do not usually attract groups, either, but at least they are harder to keep clean.) 

I was able to get a camping spot at Hood Park, which is a Corps of Engineering campground where the Snake River joins the Columbia, but only during the week. (Weekends are booked forever by families.)  By this point, which is today, I had at least four loads of clothing and bedding to wash.  I ended up in an expensive commercial campground which had their laundromats open--much safer than a commercial laundromat.  So at least I have clean clothes!

I have four more days this coming week back at Hood and then hopefully three days at a county park nearby for the weekend.  At that point, I can move on to another COE campground and to Lake Cascade.  Hopefully.

I suppose the point is to discourage people from going camping, but it really has messed up the schedules for people like me who have no "sticks and bricks" home to go back to. I am hoping that after Labor Day, things will quiet down a bit and if something gets cancelled, I can more easily find a place to stay!

No wonder travel is an adventure! 

Addendum: Soon after I wrote the above post, I received an email cancelling my reservation for the week after this one at Plymouth Park, the COE park I referred to.  This is the second time they have cancelled my reservation.  When they cancelled me the first time, I rescheduled to a later date when they were supposed to be open, but they cancelled it because they extended their closing period.  Luckily, I was able to get five days in the COE park where I will be this coming week.  The weekends are still a problem, however.  

AND, I finally got my laundry done here at the commercial campground I am staying at.  The laundry was very clean and no one else was using it while I was there. Now all I have to do is hope my AC keeps working through the next few 105 degree days, after which it will cool down to the 90s.