Advice Needed on Travel from Ontario to See Elderly Mother in Missouri

Post date: 2020-10-19 16:13:12

How can I safely travel from Ontario to Missouri this winter to help my 83-year old mother? The Air Canada flight I booked for December to February has been cancelled, leaving me unsure of my options.

I am a dual Canadian and American citizen who hasn't seen her mother since early March due to fears about the safety of traveling and the closed land border. My mother and I talk almost every day on the phone, but she is struggling with the isolation she's experiencing as she shelters in place at home. Even though she's in good physical health and can care for herself, the loneliness and boredom have been extremely hard on her, and I am very concerned.
Anticipating the increased difficulty of the coming winter months for my mother, I booked an Air Canada flight to Missouri in mid-December and a return flight near the end of February, using up the last two units of a 10-flight pass. Unfortunately, I received notice of the cancellation of this flight last week, "due to the impacts of COVID-19, government travel advisories and/or health and safety concerns."
I'm still very determined to spend two months of the winter in Missouri, but I'm in a quandary about how to proceed. My cancelled flight went directly to Kansas City from Toronto, but booking with another airline would require two flights with a layover in Chicago. I want to spend as little time as possible sitting around in airports, so I'm wondering if I should book a flight with Porter to Chicago and just rent a car and drive the rest of the way (about an 8-hour trip). Or should I hold out hope that Air Canada will schedule more flights in December? Alternatively, should I rent a car in Ontario and drive to Missouri (a 16-hour trip), hoping that I'll be allowed across the border as a U.S. citizen travelling to see an immediate family member? If so, what kind of documentation would I need to prove I'm not visiting the States for a vacation?
Added to the travel dilemma is uncertainty over what the pandemic will look like two months from now, all of which has created a lot of stress. I welcome any advice from Ask MetaFilter members on how to safely travel from Canada to the States this winter.

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