About our road trip to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. ‌‌

Last week we were on a road trip to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. This was the first trip we’ve done since the first Covid outbreak in March. In this post, I will share what it is like to travel during Covid.

Pros:

• There are fewer people at the more popular national parks like Yosemite, making lesser-known trails more enjoyable while practicing social distancing.
• Fewer cars are on the road so there’s less traffic, allowing for a more enjoyable drive.

Cons:

• Even though there are less people overall in the park, popular attractions like the Mist Trail in Yosemite are still going to be crowded, making social distancing difficult.
• Some people are not wearing masks.
• If you have been relying on food delivery, you will now have to accept that you will be required to physically go into restaurants to order food.

Know the Restrictions ‌‌

Research on any restrictions for the destination you are heading to. Due to the sensitive time right now, some places might be closed off or requiring reservations ahead of time. For Yosemite National Park, it is currently required to reserve the ticket ahead of time. If you are interested in reserving the tickets, please visit here: www.recreation.gov/ticket/facility/300015‌‌

Hotel ‌‌

If you’re staying at a hotel, it’s important to consider below:

• Does the hotel do anything different now in response to Covid-19?
• Do they give sufficient time in between guest’s stay?
• Do they cancel daily housekeeping during your stay?
• Does the hotel room have a fridge and microwave so you can store and heat up your food?‌‌

Extra Safety Measures ‌‌

Unlike our travels before, this time we’ve taken extra safety measures by doing below:

• Pack our own pillowcases, bed sheets, hand and bath towels
• Bring sanitizing wipes and wipe down common surfaces of each hotel room we checked into

Pack Essential Items with You‌‌

Make sure to pack face masks, hand sanitizers and sanitizing wipes everywhere you go. We went a little extreme and packed the disposal gloves too. There were many times that we needed to stop at a gas station for gas. I always make sure to wear the glove and wipe down all touch points. ‌‌

Food

To avoid the frequency of entering a restaurant, we packed a variety of food with us. ‌‌Bring a cooler so that you can pack perishable food.

Fruit: banana, a bag of clementines

Dry food: instant noodles, chips, cookies, jerky, energy bars, bread

Wet food: lunch meat, lettuce, condiment ‌‌

In Yosemite we spent most of our time hiking, so we packed sandwiches with us for lunch.

For food in the evenings, the traditional room service was replaced by waiting in line at the lobby to order food and pick up by yourself at our hotel. We agree that it is safer this way to limit possible contact. ‌‌

Popular Attractions ‌‌

You may be surprised that some popular destinations are still jam packed even during this time. In Lake Tahoe, we had to skip the most-famous Sand Harbor beach because it was so full of people and there were no parking spots available! ‌‌

Luckily we were able to find some lesser known places to spend our time. We ended up going to Speedboat Beach and Bonsai Rock where there were not many people. ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌