Traveling and Hotels

[DIGGER]

Been thinking on doing a motorcycle tour of Colorado from Houston area leaving Labor Day.     Some states are now requiring Texans to quarenteening before crossing their borders.     And then I don't know about hotel rooms and Covid 19.
Do you all feel hotel rooms are safe from CV19?   What precautions can you take?     How about you DDT..... you travel more than most, do you just get a room and not worry about it?

[Valkorado]

Stay the hell away from Gunnison!  Kidding, sort of.  We're literally crawling with tourists, more than I can remember ever seeing here.  The vast majority have Texas plates.  Maddening traffic in our valley right now -- RVs, big boats on trailers,  lotsa semis -- kinda sucks for riding right now.   

[Pluggy]

Hey, Digger.  It depends upon the number of occupants at the hotel.  There are hotels in North Carolina that are about empty.  Nobody walking about to spread a virus and rooms that are vacant for long periods.  That should be the safest.  We can read about the casino hotels in Nevada.  Those are virus hot spots due to high occupancy.

Seems like you can't go wrong camping, in your own tent.

[DIGGER]

Too old with toomany back problems to camp.    Just trying to decide if I am ok with hotel rooms

[Valkorado]

We're starting to see a pattern of afternoon rains, depending on where you're at in the state some severe or with lightning.  Not sure if it's the annual monsoons coming in early as they sometimes do or just a precursor.  If you plan early starts and arrive at motels by mid afternoon, it shouldnt be an issue.

EDIT Reread and saw you're talking Labor Day.  Monsoons wont be an issue, but bring layers or heated gear for mornings and evenings.

From Colorado's state  COVID-19 website, lodging appears to be on the low danger end of their "Risks & Benefits" graph.

https://covid19.colorado.gov/risks-benefits

[bassman]

We always carry a can of Lysol spray when traveling ..... and use is liberally in the rooms.  Does it work......???  Makes us feel better mentally.

[Pluggy]

If I had to travel, I would do my hotel homework.  If a place is packed, the risk goes up.   I live close to Fayetteville, NC.  They get a lot of out of state hotel guests because it is halfway between Florida and New York.  Apparently the virus got there early by way of I-95 travelers.  You get the idea... fhere is no generalizing about hotels.

[DIGGER]

Stay the hell away from Gunnison!  Kidding, sort of.  We're literally crawling with tourists, more than I can remember ever seeing here.  The vast majority have Texas plates.  Maddening traffic in our valley right now -- RVs, big boats on trailers,  lotsa semis -- kinda sucks for riding right now.   

thats why I like touring in September    everyone is back in school

[The emperor has no clothes]

We just did 2 weeks in various hotels from here to Missouri and Texas. No problems whatsoever. Wash your hands, use sanitizer, Clorox wipes. I don't think I'd do elevators right now. But that's a personal call. All of them were trying different things. Some had the lobby closed off, and did everything thru a night box window. Some had breakfast bags for taking back to your room. (I liked that) What concerned me the most was pee places. Almost everything but gas stations are shutdown for it. Every traveler is getting funneled. Always wash your hands and sanitize when back in the vehicle.

[Calboy]

And don't forget to keep the mighty mask on while you're driving.
What if Corona sneaks inside the car through the vents and catches you by surprise?
Very important. Essential for your mental well being and overall health.

[Valkorado]

And don't forget to keep the mighty mask on while you're driving.
What if Corona sneaks inside the car through the vents and catches you by surprise?
Very important. Essential for your mental well being and overall health.

If it only comes in through car vents he'll be fine.   

[DDT (12)]

"How about you DDT..... you travel more than most, do you just get a room and not worry about it?"



Digger,

Pretty much. For this often foolish wanderer, the choice is made when I decide whether or not to even go or not. Not wanting to spend my remaining days merely avoiding death rather than actually 'living', I do tend to take more risks than many would deem wise. That said, I also observe common sense precautions like keeping to myself mostly, distancing myself from others where possible, and washing my hands religiously.

Motel room risks are all over the waterfront! Jerry and I stayed in a motel a couple of weeks ago that had a policy of letting each room lay idle for three days before allowing it to be used again. Most, however, just clean them and rent them back out as needed as usual, with no specific idle period. Any room can possibly be contaminated, so...

It is a roll of the dice... I think, while there will be some degree of risk, the odds are more favorable than most fear they might be. Still... Rob stated he used 'wipes' all over the place, and that seems a very sensible precaution. I haven't been doing that, however, and that may come back to bite me!

These are my personal observations as of today and over the past month. What might be the case following Labor Day? Man, things change daily, so who could possibly know! Any speculation now would be just that, and useful only for planning purposes and the development of possible scenarios. The call you will have to make will have to wait until the last minute and be based upon the most current information at the time.

My guess is things will be much improved by then and you should be good to go. Of course, we could all be in lock-down far more Draconian than anything we've seen before, so this whole thing could also be entirely moot... Therefore, my advice is to plan for an amazing ride through some of the most stunningly beautiful scenery in the world... Just be prepared to reverse course at any time... Good luck, and we'll all be looking forward to your progress reports.

DDT

[DIGGER]

"How about you DDT..... you travel more than most, do you just get a room and not worry about it?"



Digger,

Pretty much. For this often foolish wanderer, the choice is made when I decide whether or not to even go or not. Not wanting to spend my remaining days merely avoiding death rather than actually 'living', I do tend to take more risks than many would deem wise. That said, I also observe common sense precautions like keeping to myself mostly, distancing myself from others where possible, and washing my hands religiously.

Motel room risks are all over the waterfront! Jerry and I stayed in a motel a couple of weeks ago that had a policy of letting each room lay idle for three days before allowing it to be used again. Most, however, just clean them and rent them back out as needed as usual, with no specific idle period. Any room can possibly be contaminated, so...

It is a roll of the dice... I think, while there will be some degree of risk, the odds are more favorable than most fear they might be. Still... Rob stated he used 'wipes' all over the place, and that seems a very sensible precaution. I haven't been doing that, however, and that may come back to bite me!

These are my personal observations as of today and over the past month. What might be the case following Labor Day? Man, things change daily, so who could possibly know! Any speculation now would be just that, and useful only for planning purposes and the development of possible scenarios. The call you will have to make will have to wait until the last minute and be based upon the most current information at the time.

My guess is things will be much improved by then and you should be good to go. Of course, we could all be in lock-down far more Draconian than anything we've seen before, so this whole thing could also be entirely moot... Therefore, my advice is to plan for an amazing ride through some of the most stunningly beautiful scenery in the world... Just be prepared to reverse course at any time... Good luck, and we'll all be looking forward to your progress reports.

DDT

Thanks to you and everyones replies.   I dont think hotel/motel fears will stop me now.   I WILL carry a can of Lysol and wipes.   

[The emperor has no clothes]

Still... Rob stated he used 'wipes' all over the place, and that seems a very sensible precaution.

To be honest, I can't take credit. Brenda has always been funny about hotel rooms. First thing she does is pull out her phone light and checks for bed bugs. Now she gets an additional duty along with that. (I'll have to admit, it was nice to have the remote clean)

[Valkorado]

Still... Rob stated he used 'wipes' all over the place, and that seems a very sensible precaution.

To be honest, I can't take credit. Brenda has always been funny about hotel rooms. First thing she does is pull out her phone light and checks for bed bugs. Now she gets an additional duty along with that. (I'll have to admit, it was nice to have the remote clean)

And pull those nasty bed covers off!  I think they wash 'em like bi-annually!   

[Jess from VA]

I'm not sure where it is, but here you go.  



Honey, I got in freak accident and totaled the car.... I'm fine, but they took it away (and it's not covered by our insurance for some strange reason).  But I'll get us another car.



Sorry for the drift.  

[msb]

Still... Rob stated he used 'wipes' all over the place, and that seems a very sensible precaution.

To be honest, I can't take credit. Brenda has always been funny about hotel rooms. First thing she does is pull out her phone light and checks for bed bugs. Now she gets an additional duty along with that. (I'll have to admit, it was nice to have the remote clean)

My wife Lisa has always done the same on our many MC travels over the decades. Pulls apart and scans the bed first (if there's a hairdryer in the room, she uses that... the heat brings out bed bugs in a snap) . I prefer the smaller mom and pop motels or B & B's, as the larger chain hotels remind  me too much of all my work travel over the past 30 years. We've come across some pretty sketchy places... where we've either had to move on and find another place or where the Mrs has even slept in her full riding gear . She's also always packed sanitizing wipes and a spray bottle of same... just like with me at home, she doesn't trust others to clean certain things like washrooms as well as she does  . I've never been as concerned... my solo rides or 30+ years of sitting on planes, at airports, rental cars, cabs, hotels, conventions, etc, etc all over North America.... it a wonder I've never contracted some type of life-threatening virus before all of this.... heck, I've rarely if ever even gotten a case of the common flu.
I think long distance MC travelling is pretty much as safe as its always been (actually maybe even safer in terms of motels, as they're probably cleaned more rigorously now than they've ever been) as long as one washes their hands frequently, keeps reasonably safe distances from crowds, and just uses basic common sense. It also doesn't hurt to have a clean "freak" like your or my Mrs along for the ride though either, Rob

[F6Dave]

For the first time since COVID hit, I stayed in a pair of hotels last week.  They were in Wyoming, in counties that have had only a handful of cases, so I wasn't too worried.  I suspect the chance of getting infected in a hotel room is very low.  For one thing, the virus doesn't remain active on surfaces for very long.  So if the previous guest checks out at 8, the room is cleaned at 10, and you check in at 5, there really isn't much risk.  It's even better if the room has been vacant for a day or so, and some people ask for those rooms.

Another plus is that hotels usually have exterior HVAC units for each room, so you're not breathing much recirculated air.  Older hotels with exterior doors might help too, as they let you avoid sharing hallways with travelers from who knows where.

I picked the less busy gas stations, especially if I needed to use the restroom.  For pumping gas I've been using a paper towel (usually available) to press the buttons and hold the handle.

I heard about the '6/15' rule last week.  Try to stay 6 feet from strangers, and limit time in public buildings to 15 minutes.  Sounds reasonable, especially with this second wave we're seeing.

[bassman]

.....and then we have these types of things for more options.....my SIL is a cardiac nurse and she told me they use UV devices to sterilize some of their hospital rooms but they are MUCH bigger units than this, probably much more powerful and are run for a few HOURS at a time in each room......but for travel and light use around the house...I don't know......

https://59s.us/products/59s-uvc-led-sterilizer-wand

[Jess from VA]

Weird fact.  I've stayed in a pile of pretty crummy (cheap) motels, and fewer really nice places.

But the only place I ever got bit up by bedbugs was in a spare room in a house (worth around $600K).  In a rarely used basement spare bedroom; utilitarian and clean looking.

I could only think that they got there from some other guest, and the owner had no idea they were down there.  He was more an acquaintance (riding buddy) than friend, and I should have told him, except I was afraid he would blame me for it.  And it wasn't me, for certain.

It takes 2-3 days after bites to have any symptoms at all, so it takes a little Dick Tracy to figure out where it happened. Fortunately, none of my clothing or gear had ever made it into my house before discovery.

Still gives me the creeps.  Chiggers are worse for symptoms, but they are a close second (just don't itch as bad).  And chiggers are in the woods, not some strange bed.