Since being sent home from Europe in March, I have been exceedingly careful to prevent the spread of Covid-19. I've watched some friends continue to party and disregard the CDC's guidelines, but I continue to stay inside. And I regret none of it.
The months I spent in Yorktown, Virginia were tedious, though. I am a very social person, and I usually like to travel around Hampton Roads to get food with friends and explore different areas. Unfortunately, it wasn't safe, or frankly allowed under Governor Northam's coronavirus protocols, to do any of that for a long while.
So when my dad asked me in late May if I wanted to go to Shenandoah National Park in July for our annual mountain vacation, I was hesitant. It was still unclear what the state of the virus would be at that time in the future, but I was hopeful it would be slightly better by mid-summer.
I eventually agreed to the trip, as long as Chris (my boyfriend) could come as well.
Skip to last week, and it was finally time to take the trip. The trip had a befitting "2020" feel to it, but the experience was worth every second of mask-wearing time and every significantly altered activity.
Here's what I did, saw, and noted in Virginia's beautiful blue mountain range:
First off- I must commend the workers and residents in the mountains and valleys surrounding the park. Since the area we were in is one of the most Republican-leaning areas of the state (according to UVA's cartogram of Virginia by partisan lean), and a majority of Republicans said as early as mid-June that they thought "the worst is behind us" (according to Pew Research data), I had anticipated little adherence to state guidelines. I expected social distancing protocols to be rare and mask-wearing to be rarer.
Luckily, I was mostly wrong about this.
Nearly every person we encountered around the lodge and our cabin room had a mask on, or put it on when passing us. Our experience in the valley, when we went to Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, and Staunton, was about the same. We did take out and ate at several restaurants where all the proper protocols were being followed. Employees wore masks and tables were spaced out properly.
The only exceptions to this general following of guidelines was on hiking trails in Shenandoah and at a horse trail riding barn in Luray. Nearly every trail we went on, we came across groups, sometimes large groups, of people who were not wearing masks. Even though we had our masks on us at all times and put them on before passing people, we did not receive the same courtesy.
At the stable in Luray, it seemed as though the whole establishment was against masking, and probably all protocols for the virus. We (Chris, my parents, and I) arrived to sign paperwork and begin riding with masks on. The atmosphere was uncomfortable, but since we were outside and once on the horses were spaced out from all other people, we continued with the trail ride.
The experience left me disappointed with the stable owners. It is truly bad business to not wear a mask at this time, and it shows a lack of concern for your customers.
As I mentioned before, though, every other place we went was near perfect with mask usage and distancing. It seemed like a lot of locals really did care about safety and protecting themselves and others.
I won't draw any conclusions on these off-hand observations, but I will say the trip was beautiful, and I feel fortunate that we were able to get out of the house and social distance in such a beautiful location!
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