Well, this winter we were in the Southwest a month longer than originally planned. Covid-19 lockdowns, shutdowns and travel restrictions made it necessary to delay our return to the Midwest. We discovered that the camping situation was a bit chaotic with displaced RVers, delayed openings and so on. One campground had social distancing restriction which meant not all campsites were open. Some campgrounds delayed spring opening. We periodically checked the situation in the various states. Some of the governors had long and frequently changing "Executive Orders" which did not always make sense. Power can go to one's head in politics. We designed four routes. I asked G to pick her #1 and #2 preferences. I then designed a detailed plan using her preferred campgrounds. We designed the return for a short first day because we knew we would not leave until about 11:00am and we would almost immediately lose two hours that day as we headed east, because of time zone changes. The day before we left the resort the swimming pools were re-opened and the next day the restaurant was re-opened for sit-down seating. LOL.
The return trip was uneventful. We had made reservations at all locations. However, the condition of campgrounds varied. All had a large number of campers. Some were "stranded" and waiting for other states to open or become more "normal".
In Oklahoma we had a sit-down lunch at a Waffle House. All safety protocols were in place and staff wore gloves and masks. That was our first sit-down restaurant experience in 60 days. There have been none since.
- The New Mexico campground was open, but the staff left before the published 4pm closing time and we arrived at 3:50pm They neglected to put the bathroom key codes and wi-fi code in the reservation envelope left for us. A call to their help number went unanswered. I staked out the bathhouse and a friendly camper gave us the code. We never got a call back. The next morning after leaving we called the campground and told them of the problem. They apologized.
- The Oklahoma campground had just and I do mean "just" opened. It too had limited staff onsite hours of noon to 6pm. There was a problem in the bathhouse and hot water was scarce or non-existent.
- The Missouri campground was fully operational. Even the swimming pool was open.
In Oklahoma we had a sit-down lunch at a Waffle House. All safety protocols were in place and staff wore gloves and masks. That was our first sit-down restaurant experience in 60 days. There have been none since.
Here is the situation in the neighborhood the morning we departed Arizona. Lots of empty spaces as the snowbirds have departed:
Here is the situation at dusk the day of arrival at our Illinois stop. We haven't tried to get to the Michigan campground. Gov. Whitmer is making life difficult for the state's residents. The campground is open. A small issue with the Roadtrek needs to be resolved. I'll do it in Illinois and get an oil change, too. We arrived for the Memorial Day weekend and that has made dealing with issues more difficult. Oil change scheduled for Tuesday.
Original material: https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/
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