Border Update:
Well, we knew March was a critical month in seeing what the Canadian and Us Government would decide about the border opening for tourism. Unfortunately, neither country has a sense of urgency in announcing and implementing a specific border re-opening plan.
We have listened and participated in a couple of recent panels and taskforce meetings where provincial leaders recognize the need to re-open, but the leaders at the federal level are still not taking action yet. The slower vaccine rollouts of the North and a 4 week Ontario lockdown that began April 8th leads us to not have faith that the border will open for our May or June guests.
Ryan and Bridget are making the difficult decision to cancel May and June bookings now, so that those guests can look at alternative options for their summer vacation. We have sent an email/called most groups that have been affected by this; please check your email, and reach out to us if for some reason you didn't get contacted yet. At this point, it looks like we will only be able to have Canadian guests for the first part of season. There has been some talk about opening to our American guests for August/September, and July is still completely up in the air. We remain hopeful that we will be open later in the season, and will continue to make updates for those that have a trip planned for later this season.
We have all waited patiently for some good news and it just hasn't come yet. We never imagined losing one full season, let alone a partial second if not more. As newer camp owners, it is a major blow. With God's and your help, and special thanks to Steve and Andrea in working out lending agreement, (and absolutely no thanks to the governments) we will survive. What we do know is that all deposits are safe. We are encouraging guests to once again transfer their deposits to next season, same week, same cabin to secure their dates for next year, and they can find those dates and options in the email.
We know how disappointing this for you, our Tall Pines family. We can't express enough how we look forward to putting all of this in the past and getting back to the business of making your fishing dreams happen. Ryan and Bridget will sincerely miss those that can't come. We will continue to update you, as we hold out hope for a partial season and as we hear more about the border.