Good question, Pat. I have been thinking along the same lines.
For individuals such as yourself who would be traveling some distance and possibly need to stay overnight at a campground or some other facility, would the lack of such prevent your attendance?
Some people, I am thinking Pam and Rob, have already requested time off, although who will be working in late April/early May could become a question.
For myself, as of now I will still plan to attend assuming there will be at least a sufficient number of people to allowing shuttling. But that could change. I am pretty certain at this point that Mary will not attend, and it is possible that she might need to go to Chicago land to help with her fatherâs care, in which case I would have to look after my dog and I donât believe Buddy is up to it at this point, having had some type of neurologic event at the end of February.
But I would also be up to postponing the event or a change of venue if that would work out for others. If we do wind up having some type of gathering but the group is small, another consideration might be a mulitple day downriver trip if anyone is concerned about potential risks of using and sharing public facilities.
It might be helpful if those who thought they might attend but now think they very likely will not, and conversely those who would still like to attend post their plans in this thread. I donât want to be the only one to show up, and Iâm sure nobody else does.
Is there even any assurance that Twin Bridges will be open at monthâs end? At least right now it looks like each state is setting its own policy regarding whether ânon-essentialâ businesses can stay open and what businesses are non-essential. So even calling them and asking wouldnât give any kind of definitive answer - its the state governorâs call, isnât it? I know there are locals that use the restaurant there, and there isnât anything else for quite a distance, but does that make Twin Bridges essential to the community?
I usually drive it straight through, so stopping places along the way arenât much of an issue for me assuming there are no problems along the way. (Other than maybe rest areas - are they being kept open? Is that state by state?)
But I do have concerns about shuttles - I donât see how we could maintain âsocial distancingâ even if we did it as a downriver camping trip. ( And we probably should - none of us are spring chickens and we donât know how seriously affected our home areas will be at the end of this month - it could be much different than it is now. ) No matter what weâll need to shuttle at least once. And if we did do a downriver camping trip, isnât the Northfork mostly private property along the banks? Could we count on finding legal campsites for a group our size?
At this point, I donât think we can absolutely count on any campground, public or private being open or any outfitter being open.
Pretty much anything we did would require at least one shuttle. We would have to assume that all who rode in the same car were non-infectious. Currently, the only individuals who could reasonably say with absolute certainty that they were not would be individuals who had had confirmed covid-19, recovered, and subsequently tested negative. At some point a serologic test will become available to detect those with circulating IgG antibodies who could be considered immune, but that certainly isnât going to happen in the next few weeks.
I think that individuals who have no symptoms and have had no contact with known cases can be considered very unlikely to harbor the virus, but it is not a certainty. But there might be individuals harboring the virus who remain completely asymptomatic, and there is at least a 4 day incubation period so it is possible that some can be âpresymptomaticâ. If that risk is considered prohibitive, then we should just cancel the gathering now.
When I mentioned the possibility of a mulit-day downriver trip I assumed that it would require a change of venue to the Eleven Point or the Current.
For me personally the only responsible thing to do is cancel and pray that we can meet up in the Fall. Missouri is finally under a state stay at home order until April 24 but I truly believe that will be extended as they are saying the "peakâ in MO will not be until mid May. There is no way to social distance safely if you shuttle with someone else. At this point I donât think people should be travelling outside of their home communities. Rob and I are both working and I know neither of us are comfortable leaving our jobs right now as this would be a strain on others that we work with and now is not the time to âvacationâ. I am lucky and am working from home but Rob since he is in manufacturing has to go in, his company is considered essential because they make HVAC systems and parts (I know, who knew that was essential). We had a planned trip to do the Eleven Point this coming weekend over Easter but since it isnât in our home community we will not be going, even though it is close enough that we donât have to come in connect with anyone, itâs still not the responsible thing to do. And I know folks in the rural communities really are not looking for visitors in their towns right now as they donât have the medical facilities like the cities do, and I respect their wishes. I pray that you all stay safe and healthy. Hopefully weâll be able to gather in the fall.
Maybe fall then⌠Anyone been in touch with Pat2, YakJack, Boyscout, theBob, etc? I donât use facebook and such so I wouldnât know if folks here are in constant contact, or occasional, or what⌠but they maybe should be told lest they make a trip for nothing.
Sounds like everyone is still healthy but stuck at or near home for the duration - ânon-essentialâ travel has been prohibited here in Alaska, our largest regional airline has shut down and filed for Chapter 11 protection, and, of course, the US/Canada border is closed. I wonât be traveling to Missouri this spring. I HOPE travel will be possible in September/October and Pulltite campground will be open - and I would like to see my kids sometime this year.
Brad
Me too. Seeing my kids is top priority. They are all in the NYC area working in some facet of EMS or cleaning services. They donât live there but were sent there. I could never travel knowing that any of them are super exposed and could get sick simply from viral load anyway.
Maybe fall then⌠Anyone been in touch with Pat2, YakJack, Boyscout, theBob, etc? I donât use facebook and such so I wouldnât know if folks here are in constant contact, or occasional, or what⌠but they maybe should be told lest they make a trip for nothing.