Report out of California.

X2 and well said.

NOTE: Everyone loves to bash California (myself included), but let's please not do so here. And please keep the politics out of this thread.

stickdog wrote:
If California has a 74 Billion surplus it means that their ripping off the citizens.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of California was about 3.09 trillion U.S. dollars in 2020, meaning that it contributed the most out of any state to the country’s GDP in that year. In contrast, Vermont had the lowest GDP in the United States, with 32.8 billion U.S. dollars.

CA has the 5th largest GDP in the world. No doubt CA has some higher taxes. My guess is that with Covid in 2020 they had some shutdowns/freezes that resulted in the surplus. Most all states had surpluses.

If California has a 74 Billion surplus it means that their ripping off the citizens.

profdant139 wrote:

Most of them say things like "this is the silver lining of the pandemic -- it forced us to discover RVing, and now we're hooked."

YosemiteSam, I would add two things to your Cali Report: it's going to be a hot and smoky summer (bad news), and California has the highest vaccination rate and the lowest infection rate in the country (good news).

The state is supposed to open "fully" on June 15, whatever that means. I'd bet that there will still be restaurants and bars with mask requirements, but not all of them.

We were here 3 years ago and I don't recall the shorelines being jam-packed this much -- and very early in the morning.

As to the strict mask requirement, I am pleasantly surprised. With all in the family being all vaccinated, including the 12-year olds, I am somewhat relaxed and would sometimes not bring my mask at all. But I'm comforted with this extra precaution of safety remembering that even Cali have their Covid deniers and anti-vaxxers..

And compliments to the state, your budget surplus is not just going to roads (and education I heard with the restoration of after-school programs) but on state, regional, county and city parks improvements as well. Toilets are immaculate (new bowls) and hot showers are (sometimes) free. I teased the wifey that their toilets are cleaner than ours at our new home, lol.

I'm hoping that the current craze for RV ownership and thus the crowded California campgrounds are just temporary effects of the pandemic, and that some folks are going to regret buying an RV and will stay home or fly to Europe or whatever.

Unfortunately, my unscientific sample is leaning the other way. As do most people, we talk to our neighbors in the campgrounds and the RV parks. We've met lots of newbies this year, and almost all of them are, well, happy campers.

Most of them say things like "this is the silver lining of the pandemic -- it forced us to discover RVing, and now we're hooked."

YosemiteSam, I would add two things to your Cali Report: it's going to be a hot and smoky summer (bad news), and California has the highest vaccination rate and the lowest infection rate in the country (good news).

The state is supposed to open "fully" on June 15, whatever that means. I'd bet that there will still be restaurants and bars with mask requirements, but not all of them.