Summer Travel Plans

This Saturday will mark 4 weeks for me being home, isolated.  We probably have at least 3 more weeks after that before some of our stay-at-home restrictions are eliminated.  Some people handle isolation better than others; as someone who lives alone, and is not a social butterfly, I'm probably better at it than others.  Even still, while I'm not bored, I am restless.

I want to get out and do something.

I usually do one "big" and one "small" trip each summer.  My small trip will be a family gathering in San Diego at the end of June.  I'm hoping things will be getting back to normal by then and that the gathering will still happen.

My big trip is a Road Trip Grande in July.  First stop, Yellowstone National Park.  Or is it?

Yellowstone National Park likely won't reopen until May or later, delaying the start of its traditional summer season for millions of tourists because of the coronavirus outbreak, a park official said...

Yellowstone’s west gate at West Yellowstone, Montana, was initially scheduled to open for the summer season April 17, followed by the east gate May 1 and the south gate May 8.

The coronavirus has complicated the usual pattern from late April to early June of plowing and then reopening gates, visitor centers, stores, restaurants and lodges for tourists who begin to converge on Yellowstone around Memorial Day weekend, the Cody Enterprise reported. 

I've already paid for my campground in West Yellowstone, in full.  Yes, I'm a planner.

After Yellowstone my plan is to head north to Vulcan, Alberta, a town I first visited 4 years ago.  I'm looking forward to Vul-Con 2020, probably the smallest but coolest Star Trek convention around!  This year's headliner is Tim Russ from Star Trek: Voyager.  The question is, will I be able to cross the border?

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday Canadians will need to stay at home and practice physical distancing for months as the first wave of COVID-19 cases in the country won’t end until the summer and Canada won’t return to normal until there is a vaccine — which could take a year and a half.

After Vulcan, the plan is to go to Banff for a few days.  I've already paid for my campground near Banff in full.  There's that planning again.

The dollar is very strong right now, it would be a good time to be an American tourist.