@Iglooo Yes, they have definitely canceled the shuttle service around the valley. Those buses were almost always too crowded.
@TatinG That’s an understatement. You couldn’t avoid touching other people in the shuttle.
H and I are thinking of going away (instate) for an overnight for our anniversary in a couple of weeks. Kids are trying to talk us into a ski trip out west between Thanksgiving and Christmas, depending upon their schedule. I’m dreaming of Portugal in early summer 2021. Maybe none of them get to happen, but it’s nice to at least think about the possibilities again.
Having a reservation system and limiting the numbers of visitors at places like Yosemite or Yellowstone really seems like a good idea. We’ll have to see how it works out. Even in regular times it would be great to have some of the most popular places be by reservation.
I am still not ready to go anywhere mostly because my husband has a serious chronic illness. I expect I will be comfortable with travel at some point even before there is a vaccine if we can at least get a little more improvement in some areas: maybe more info on the accuracy of antibody testing, more treatments, more confidence that the hospitals and health care systems can cope, etc. I don’t need assurance that things are perfectly safe…but I’ll need things to be somewhat safer than this before I’ll be comfortable traveling just for optional leisure trips.
Yellowstone does not have a reservation system for entrance like Yosemite will have. They opened the Wyoming entrances on May 18 and will open the Montana entrances on June 1. Xanterra will open some of the in park lodging in phases with most open by the middle of June. (I looked yesterday online. Already mostly sold out for June/July). They will only open rooms with private baths. Good idea. I’ve been thinking about making the 1,000 mile run up there. I love the place.
Living in Northern NJ and thinking of visiting Ocean City, MD for a few nights in early July. I hope things stay calm until then.
I love our national parks and think limited the number of visitors will allow a safer and more enjoyable visit for the lucky few who score reservations.
I hope for a safe, reliable vaccine so travel for leisure is again enjoyable.
I expect to see much trashing of the outdoors by people who will just camp wherever, BLM primitive camps and people just camping wherever they can fit their caravan. That was bad enough in normal times, now there will be everyone and his dog out looking to light things on fire and target shoot.
Youngest son and his wife booked their first anniversary plans for mid June. H and I booked our 32nd anniversary plans for the beginning of August. Both of us couples opted to join the crowd and pick AirBnB’s that are secluded where we get the whole place. They selected one in the Shenandoah mountains. We selected ours along the same creek we live next to - just an hour or so downstream.
In both areas there’s kayaking and hiking around should we want it, and terrific views just from where we’ll be staying if we just stay in.
Ours came to under $500 for 4 nights. I don’t think I’ve spent that little on an anniversary trip in quite some time!
The lad’s is a little under $600 for 3 nights. Not bad.
Taxes, cleaning fees, and the service fee are already included in the totals. We just need to bring food. Whether we go out for an Anniversary Dinner (always have before) or shop the frozen food aisle at the grocery store will be determined later! 
So much for that. The host cancelled my lad’s reservation saying there’s a family who will be living in it for the summer. He’s currently looking for a second choice.
If things like this continue, we may be spending our anniversaries in our tent down by our section of the creek after all. If so, I definitely hope the weather cooperates.
Sorry to hear that @Creekland. I expect more of these types of cancellations to come. If I had a family member renting in a city ravaged by looters, I would forego whatever I could earn from my vacation rental to let them flee to safety.
Spain is opening up to international travelers, no quarantine required, on July 1. Hmm, the way things are going, maybe we shouldn’t cancel our trip! France doesn’t look good. Maybe we could do Spain this summer and go back to France next year.
The owner actually told him who was staying in the house and why (not by name, but in general). We’re in full agreement that it was the best decision so that eases the let down a little. I’ve been helping him search for Plan B this morning. He and DIL are discussing options now.
Well, they have a new place now. This one is on the Susquehanna here in PA and comes to $700 for 4 nights. Hopefully they’ll have a great time for their first anniversary. They ought to be able to kayak and there are parks and trails around if those don’t get too crowded.
We have a trip to Spain and Portugal booked and paid for in late July. We were hoping all would be shut down so we could get a refund but if all is open we will have to make a tough decision. Portugal looks pretty safe now, Spain a bit less so. Lots of time to go though so we will see. Hopefully, all calms down and the virus subsides…
@kartaqueen, post anything you find out and I will do the same. We are supposed to meet friends from Belgium in Spain in late July. Here is what they just wrote us:
"We have our plane-tickets ready for Spain for this summer, but, we are also waiting.
In Belgium we have more than 9,000 victims, Spain was even worse.
We will do everything to go to Spain, even by car, but it is far from sure.
We have a lot of friends at the resort, we are in contact, a lot of them are not sure if they will go, it will be a different year, unfortunately.
It’s not sure if the bars, restaurants, beach bars, will be open…
I fear that intercontinental travel will not be possible this summer.
Of course we were looking forward to see you both in Europe…"
Right…our CO plans…we likely can get there. It’s a maybe if the wedding will be as hoped. But we really can’t do any of the other things we hoped to do…and this is domestic travel. Our friends with feet on the ground where we planned to visit said…nothing really is open. The resort we are staying at is nice enough…but not for seven days.
So…we aren’t staying that long…if we even go at all. This is so up in the air. I don’t think air travel is in the cards this summer…but we shall see what the trends are.
I’m probably going to Colorado in late August. I’m not booking yet because I want to see how the opening of the fairly remote resort town we visit goes. They are opening this week and perhaps making the main street one way to allow for more outdoor restaurant space. The things we like to do there can mainly still be done- run, hike, take walks, stare at the mountains and the sunset, drink good beer…
I hope Italy follows Spain in term of opening for none Europeans. But at the same time I hope they don’t. My daughter changed her entire summer plan b/c we had to cancel our vacation there. She would only have 1 free week in August, probably not a good idea go to anywhere. It’s such a small window to resolve any issue it may arise.
It was hard (emotionally) to cancel the hotel resorts in Santorini/Athens. I had to book 8 months in advance and literally got the last few final suites available. Even if Greece was open, I don’t think we are emotionally ready to leave the US border this year.
Even if Italy et al. open up to visitors from the US, I still would not want to go. Too many uncertainties about what governments might do if a spike in infections happens. As we have seen, things can get dicey rather quickly.