covid road trip series (lake almanor, lassen national park and juniper lake): since you can’t fly anywhere safely, why not explore your region more?

we just passed four glorious nights in an airbnb right on lake almanor close to lassen national park which demands a whole set of posts.  i have so much to say about this trip that it will be a multi-part series answering various questions about the area including:

since you can’t fly anywhere safely, why not explore your region more?

how can you safely stay overnight away from home (includes airbnb recommendation)?

why is four the perfect number of nights for a driving vacation in short range?

when you visit an area that has low covid numbers but high maga numbers, what are the public spaces like?

why might i want to go to lake almanor, california?

why might i want to go to lassen volcanic national park in northern california?

Today’s question is

since you can’t fly anywhere safely, why not explore your region more?

extremely abashedly, i confess the self pity of the highly privileged during this pandemic. as someone only recently coming to grips with the selfishness of unnecessary flying environmentally, i now have covid-19 to blame for being grounded. i’ve definitely been convinced by the health experts that unless absolutely necessary, a plane is the last place i want to be. widespread reports of crowded rows, customers without masks and unsafe boarding procedures across the industry make me not to want to be trapped in the same poorly circulating air with these folks. but let’s not forget about the air port. recently the washington post reported that “tsa says 1,018 employees have tested positive for the virus. it’s 50,000-strong force of screening officers has borne the brunt, account for 907 of the cases. six employees have died, as has a contractor. face coverings are now mandatory for officers.” first, serious compassion for those folks doing those jobs in any time let alone a pandemic. second, to save you the trouble of patting me down, for my safety and yours, i think i’ll stay home.

so where and how to travel? in my case, i’ve got it easy. living in sacramento, california, there are multiple year round glorious destinations within a couple hundred miles of me. people travel from all the over the world to see san francisco (which i’m currently avoiding), napa and sonoma wine country, high sierra mountains include lake tahoe, yosemite, santa cruz coast, marin coast, redwood areas, you name it.   i have nothing to complain about.

i’m guessing that if you can afford to drive somewhere and stay somewhere, even camping, if you live in north america, there are wonderful opportunities near you. maybe even something you’ve meant to see or visit your whole life and never have found time for. maybe this is the time.

maybe you can go for a day trip or long drive, if nothing else. the biggest hazard to the day trip is public bathrooms, which have been shown to be vectors for covid—apparently the disease lives in fecal particles that stay in toilet bowls and since public toilets usually don’t have lids, when there is a powerful flush, the particles go airborne. so when i do have to use a public restroom, i wear my mask, wait until the restroom is empty if possible and get away from the flush as quickly as possible even if it means hand sanitizer in the car instead of long washing at the sink—it’s the air not the surfaces is what we know now.

a life hack so women can pee along the road in rural areas with few bushes or trees. along the road, men have it bit easier than women in avoiding bathrooms. i’m less shy than most women about squatting in forests but what do you do in rural areas when there are no bushes or trees by the side of the road for miles? some women friends taught me a trick when you’re driving:

park the car in a safe pullout parallel to the road like normal. on the side away from the road, duh, open both doors to the car. then, sit on the edge of the front passenger area down on the bottom part of the car below the seat. if you do your business right there you are protected by both doors, no one can see anything from the highway or road you are on (and the car stays safe too).

how can you safely stay overnight away from home?

while a day trip and drive is fairly easy to do, what about overnight? how could that be safe? well, obviously every person is making calculations during this pandemic about what they feel is safe for them. i have now stayed overnight in four vacation homes. the first three, i knew for a fact that no one had been there for over 72 hours prior to our arrival because they were all own by family and friends that are very careful and honest.   72 hours, we’ve been led to believe, is a period of time in which an diseased particles in the trapped indoor air can dissipate.

the fourth place, an airbnb where we have just spent our 4^th night, assured us and showed us on reservations on their calendar that they had not had anybody there for over 72 hours. i believe them but worry a bit about the cleaners and folks staying here after us because the owner informed me that they have someone coming in this afternoon. this is an awesome spot—airbnb link—but if you come, please have an exchange with the owner prior to booking.

[note: there’s a good chance you don’t care or haven’t noticed that i’ve moved from a “snout-based” to a “mask-based” rating system during the pandemic. i reserve the right to revert to snouts at any time. at first i was just using masks for reviewing public in person things but then i realized, we also need to review our online content from a point of view of not only physical but emotional safety. so the masks are an indication that i highly regard the physical and emotional experience of what ever i’m reviewing from the point of view of me during this pandemic.

5 masks = outstanding, the best possible

4 masks = good

3 masks = ok but falling short in some respects

2 masks = poor

1 mask = awful]