The great escape

MEEKER | I’m already dreaming of summer plans to escape COVID and isolation in Meeker. Perhaps a trip to see Alaska and the northern skies. Or how about a lovely, sandy beach in Hawaii?

Not happening for us and not for most of us. Still, it is time to plan some escape. Last year, like many campers, we discovered that recreating in the great outdoors was safe and remote. We camped in several Colorado State Parks that we had never visited before.

Beautiful Pearl Lake (near Steamboat Springs) was a gem even though the skies were just as smoky as here at home. Nearby are lovely reservoirs and places to fish. We had to start all over with the fishing thing. Get the license, find the tackle box, see if Kaye can launch a line. (Not!)

Still, we were out there in the great outdoors, in less contact with people than we would be in Meeker, (that’s hard to do), and giving our travel trailer a workout. So, in 2020, we made the best of it with a few short trips to nearby Colorado locations.

Still, I quickly learned that reservations are required and if you don’t start booking early, the rest of the world will. Thankfully, most campground reservation sites allowed us to cancel or adjust as things changed last year.

Now in 2021, time to plan for the upcoming summer. It’s still just February, but I have learned that if I want to camp in certain locations, such as the Grand Tetons or Pearl Lake, I better start reserving right away.

But now what? What does 2021 hold for us? I surely hope it will be safer and that we can recreate with greater safety. Still, with spread of COVID variants and likelihood that many won’t be vaccinated by summer, how safe will travel be?

We’ve all learned that whatever plans we make can be changed by COVID. The future is subject to yet more changes and hard as it is to keep adapting, we must.

I am hoping and praying that summer 2021 will be more COVID friendly, even as we all suffer through it.

For our household, I am moving ahead with camping reservations for a few summer outings. I do feel positive our lives will get better in 2021 and darn it! I still want to enjoy the great outdoors.