Where to Next? Thoughts on Another Road Trip

Despite the challenges of our recent unexpected travel during a pandemic, our one-week road trip has only whet our appetites for more wandering. Things are slowly reopening in Nevada and in the rest of the country… some places a bit faster than others. The coronavirus is still with us and yet, we really feel if we continue to be cautious, it’ll soon be safe enough to travel. But when and where?

We would, of course, love to fly to Portugal and walk on the Camino de Santiago as originally planned, but under the current circumstances, that’s out of the question. So, where else might we venture? Where can we safely travel? What’s open and what’s scheduled to reopen soon? We’ve ruled out air travel for the near future, but driving and camping in Blue provides reasonably safe travel , so a road trip looks promising.

Each year several of our nephews and nieces meet up at a campsite in Trinidad, Colorado for a Father’s Day weekend camping trip. They’ve invited us to go in past years, but we’ve always been on a trip somewhere else and never made it. This year might be the year… assuming the campsite is open and everyone’s still game. We thought Trinidad might be a good jumping off point for an extended road trip.

The summer heat in Nevada is insufferable if you enjoy being active and outside. Points south of here are likewise unappealing due to heat. Therefore, heading north from Trinidad to cooler, higher altitudes might be a good idea or maybe just north. We’ve never visited Montana and Idaho very extensively in the past and they currently rank high on the potential ‘let’s visit’ list. Montana is lifting its 14-day self-quarantine for out-of-staters on June 1st. Several of Montana’s national and state park facilities are open, but with limited amenities. We’re hoping towards the end of June that even more services will be available. Montana’s tourism website provides lots of ideas for potential fun meandering through the state, as well as timely updates on Covid-19 issues and restrictions. Idaho’s restrictions are lifting at about the same time and rate. We enjoy Wyoming and the Dakotas, too. There’s lots to explore.

Of course, there’s always avoiding state and national parks and boondocking on BLM lands, in National Forests and elsewhere. The Dyrt has a great free app for finding open campgrounds and free camping opportunities… from WalMart parking lots (???) to BLM opportunities. I think we’ll always find some place to be and light for a night or two. It would just be great to get out in nature, do some hiking and cook on a campfire… far from the madding crowds.

I still love spreading out the paper state maps to do my pre-planning.

So, what needs to happen in the next couple of weeks in order to pull this plan together? Most importantly, David needs to get Blue back together. If you remember, Blue was totally stripped down into a cargo van, so we could move Karen a couple of weeks ago. Besides reinstalling the bed and the composting toilet and the fridge, David has decided to install flooring first which has been on the to-do list for quite awhile. He also wants to complete the new drawer system and pull-out table that he designed and has been working on. Expect an update from him in the next couple of weeks as he sweats in this Nevada heat trying to get Blue ready for a road trip.

In the meantime, I’ll be monitoring national and state park websites for updates, checking out possible hikes and places to visit and camp and researching a viable route… although we rarely stick to our initial plans due to ever-present tempting diversions. I’ll inspect all of our plastic totes to insure we have all we need for camping and cooking as well as an updated medical kit and adequate supplies of sunscreen and bug repellent. But, really, don’t be surprised if this itinerary is scrapped because we’ve thought of something better. It’s what we do!

One way or the other, we’re all chomping at the bit… it’s time to travel.