Drove DFW to Amarillo, Co Springs to Boulder and OKC, COVID experience

Greetings All,
We took to the road from the DFW metroplex to Amarillo, up to CO Sprgs, Denver, Boulder and back and then up to OKC for a few days and back and I thought a few of you might be interested in what I saw.

Preface: Preferring to avoid masks and confrontation as well, we haven't been out much at all and didn’t know what to expect. We haven’t owned a car in over eleven years, rent when we need it - we ride bikes to stores occasionally but generally make the runs when we rent. We have groceries delivered by Amazon (free WholeFoods delivery was timely, huh?). Very few of the drivers are wearing masks. The kids that work the local gas station wear masks and less then half the customers. That was where we were coming from…

Driving to Amarillo is a long haul through farmland, cattle ranches, oil fields, distant refineries, miles of huge windmills, small towns centered around a train station with equipment/elevators to load grain and a football stadium down the road. Fields are dotted with cows, horses, antelope.

On this route, the landscape is occasionally dotted with Trump flags and banners and a couple of anti-Biden flags. Most of the way, there's no sign of the Rona. No signs at the rest stops or gas stations (many already had plexiglass or more for cashiers); there was a mask here and there on employees and those traveling through but not many. Amarillo, no sign, NOTHING of COVID...went to a restaurant, no masks on employees, stopped at a station, some of the highway passes right through town...no masks, nothing.

What we did see was lots of growth; new gas stations with more food options (not that these are necessary), new grain elevators, new metal roofs on like 30% of the barns, new sales yards for large farm equipment, trucking and livestock movement equipment in lots. Hiring Now signs for trucking/driving, food processing, service jobs.

So, on to Co Sprgs, where it was also pretty chill. The best hotel experience was at the Best Western; no masks, no signs, no pool but they spread the buffet stations and tables much further apart (I never eat cereal but I do at Best Western...something they should have done a long time ago! We also met with a real estate agent about a rental, she met us w/o a mask, shook hands. In Denver we saw a dramatic increase in mask wearing, most pedestrians had them on, though masks were on the chin, not the nose and mouth. We also spotted the rare mask wearing driver...LOL masks are accessories.

Boulder was worse. We walked in to an empty pizza place near the university where a young woman was spraying tables while a couple of guys stood around behind a fortress of plexiglass - all w masks. We walked in, saw the masks (we had none) and turned around. The waitress asked if she could help and I couldn’t help myself and blurted out that we didn’t want to wear masks and she said, oh, it’s OK and in we went.

In OK, there was very little sign of COVID. The country is beautiful from DFW to OKC. The hotel had a faded 10'' x 10" sticker on the front door that said Do Not Enter if you have the sniffles, fever, etc. The pool and hot tub were open and packed and no guests were wearing masks, about half the staff wore them.

While out, we went to Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts and no one enforced anything. Sprouts had plexiglass shields for cashiers. Some employees wore masks some did not. Most shoppers did not except for those at Trader Joe’s where about half the shoppers wore masks; a few employees had masks, many maskless. In the lane next to me was a boy about 13 or 14, with his maskless family members, his hoodie string pulled so tight as to leave only an eight inch diameter hole, over his mask and glasses…poor kid.

We were never told to mask up, we saw no signs of needing to be vaccinated. Business was brisk in many of the towns we drove through and traffic was nasty in Co Sprngs and OKC. Lastly, I saw the best billboard on OK. It said, We’re all going to be OK!

Im in Colorado. The Springs, leans conservative....you would have driven thru Douglas County which is between the Springs and Denver which is Conservative. Denver is highly leftist and Boulder swings as left as you can go. Luckily, we have no mask mandates right now.....but I am sure they are coming because Gov Polis loves to copy Gov Newsom. So, not surprised you saw mask wearing in Denver and Boulder but none in the Springs. As far as signs, you would see them in the residential parts in the Springs and Douglas County and on the cars driving around thru the residential areas...maybe not right off the highway....but there are lots of Trump and US flags in these two areas for sure...esp w/ the huge military presence in the Springs.

Sounds like a fun trip!

a reply to: shaemac

The growth is astounding!

Do People wear masks to protect others or to protect themselves ?

Are People saying one way or the other ?😵‍💫

Wonder who's vaxxed and who isn't 😃

I used to drive houston to dfw to Amarillo to raton Co springs Denver Boulder going from home to school.. i love that drive except the 12hrs to get outta texas... in Colorado it seems dangerous to wear a mask constantly oxygen is already thin people wearing them are probably light headed as hell from oxygen deprivation.

It's the same experience driving to the east coast from Texas. Went houston to Virginia and no one is wearing masking in public. It's all control mechanism. Look at how ccp took over and we are in middle of a mix of ccp and the Reich to defeat America as an idea and a country. WW2 wasn't won by America All the powerful Germans got high level jobs in American Russian and British governments they weren't punished for torturing humans their data was priceless for US scientists so we just absorbed them into our govt and thought everything would be juuuust fine...
a reply to: BlissSeeker

originally posted by: htxhardheads
in Colorado it seems dangerous to wear a mask constantly oxygen is already thin people wearing them are probably light headed as hell from oxygen deprivation.

a reply to: BlissSeeker

Been telling people this for a whole year and some. It's quite comical sometimes... I've seen people pass out while hiking and wearing a mask. Then question why they can'thike like they used to.. It's literally killing brain cells up here people.

a reply to: htxhardheads

LOL 12 hours, yeah, it goes on forever. I had also read that about the Houston coast. I experienced oxygen deprivation on the last trip...I think it was exacerbated by the heat...it was in the 90s, didn't realize it got so hot. People exercising with masks makes me sad...

This-> WW2 wasn't won by America All the powerful Germans got high level jobs in American Russian and British governments they weren't punished for torturing humans their data was priceless for US scientists so we just absorbed them into our govt and thought everything would be juuuust fine...
grrrr

a reply to: SoundisVibration

The fear runs deep

I'm from the Chicago area, and am nearly finished with a 2 week road trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. As soon as we got out of the Chicago area, there was practically no sign of Covid precautions anywhere to be seen. In the national parks, there are some folks wearing masks outdoors, mostly Asian tourists and the occasional blatantly leftist family, and national park buildings are strict with their mask requirements since they're federal government operated, but outside of that it's been a mask-free two weeks for us. So great! I really gotta get out of Chicago...people there are bananas.

Masks here are an oddity. Im in Central Texas, north of Austin. In Austin its required, but I don't go to Austin so thats pretty abstract to me. Round Rock mostly requires them as well, as they are copy cats of Austin. Georgetown...is split. When you hit Jarrell you are in Red country and rarely see a mask beyond the obvious outsider, or aged and ailing. Killeen masks up quite a bit...but the rest of Bell County does not. Waco is split.

The blue areas of Texas a large sucking holes of oppression, at least to the folks who live in the country.

The growth in Central Texas is pretty ridiculous. I expect Austin and Temple to be completely joined within 20 years.

originally posted by: BlissSeeker
a reply to: shaemac

The growth is astounding!

Colorado is insane w/ its growth - especially the housing market! The economy is BOOMING here and yet our Gov I know is itching to shut things down again.

Thank you for sharing that. I encouraged another ATSer to travel just yesterday when they wrote they were going to cancel trips. Getting out has always provided perspective and road trip, I think, is the best option for the time being. There is so much to see...haven't been to Yellowstone, was it great? Sounds like you had fun, so important for mind, body and spirit.

originally posted by: Subsonic
I'm from the Chicago area, and am nearly finished with a 2 week road trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. As soon as we got out of the Chicago area, there was practically no sign of Covid precautions anywhere to be seen. In the national parks, there are some folks wearing masks outdoors, mostly Asian tourists and the occasional blatantly leftist family, and national park buildings are strict with their mask requirements since they're federal government operated, but outside of that it's been a mask-free two weeks for us. So great! I really gotta get out of Chicago...people there are bananas.