I just sorted through bank records from the time I was away, and thought I'd share what I learned about the expenses of the last two weeks on the road.
I'm not reporting on food, restaurant, or other incidental costs. These are about the same as they would be if I were home. The two major "on the road" expenses are gas and campground fees.
I spent about $400 on gas, and about $130 on camping fees. Total: $530, or for the two weeks I was away, about $38 per day. I was stationary in White Rock with no "camping" fee and very little gas cost while I was there, so the expenses for when I was actually on-the-road were closer to $75 per day.
A reasonable comparison (other than to staying home) might be to car/motel travel. The Beast was getting about 9 miles per gallon, and the Hyundai would have gotten about 30 mpg: so say that my gas cost in the Hyundai would have been about 1/3 of that $400, or $133. Motel costs would be harder to estimate, but even Motel 6 rates for 1 person would be about $50-60 per day. I'd have spent more money on food, since I'd almost certainly have been eating out pretty much all the time, but I'll leave that out of the comparison for now.
So in the car, my daily cost would be about $20 for gas and $55 for motel, or $75 per day. The same per diem cost as camping in the RV.
Simple comparisons break down pretty quick. Staying in Motel 6's for a week would NOT be my idea of a good time; it might be a way to get from Point A to Point B, and if that were my sole purpose I could clearly get there faster at 75 mph on the interstate in the car rather than 60 mph in the RV. Driving in the RV is, for some reason, less fatiguing than in the car. I enjoy camping, even at an RV resort, MUCH more than staying locked up in a motel room. The intangibles make a difference, and they all come out in favor or RV travel, especially when I add back in the fact that I'd be eating "in" a lot more, and probably eating better.
Summary -- while $75 isn't cheap, it's something that I can afford to do. It's a good planning number for future trips done in this style.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Monday, August 24, 2015
Travel notes
The trip from White Rock to Tucson didn't go as planned, but worked out fine.
I got up real early, put the sheets and towels in the wash, and while that went on I loaded my stuff into the Beast. Vacuumed and damp mopped the places I'd been in the house. Ate a quick breakfast.
By 8AM the wash was done and I was ready to hit the road. Filled up the Beast with gas and went on down past Santa Fe and through Albuquerque. I'd planned on stopping somewhere overnight, depending on when I left... had a series of possible places to stay: a couple of Walmarts, and some truck stops. I travelled slow, and as I passed the places I'd though I might stay, it became clear that I might make it home to Tucson if I just kept on keeping on. I did. It was probably my longest day of driving in the Beast ever. But I never felt tired or sleepy, for some reason.
The hardest part of the trip was driving through Tucson in the rainy dark.
The weather here is exactly what I don't like about summer in these parts: it has rained a lot here, and it's hot and kinda muggy. I had thought to turn on the a/c in the house as I travelled: my thermostat has an internet connection for just that reason. So it was nice and cool inside when I got there.
Took the minimum into the house last night: toilet kit, slippers, and coffee. I have my priorities! This morning I'll finish unloading the contents of the Beast into the house, and probably take it down to its home in the storage lot. Then I'll settle into my Tucson routine, and get ready for my next trip: I'm going to Vegas for a weekend with a friend.
Next RV expedition? Dunno. It'll be quiet here for a while.
I got up real early, put the sheets and towels in the wash, and while that went on I loaded my stuff into the Beast. Vacuumed and damp mopped the places I'd been in the house. Ate a quick breakfast.
By 8AM the wash was done and I was ready to hit the road. Filled up the Beast with gas and went on down past Santa Fe and through Albuquerque. I'd planned on stopping somewhere overnight, depending on when I left... had a series of possible places to stay: a couple of Walmarts, and some truck stops. I travelled slow, and as I passed the places I'd though I might stay, it became clear that I might make it home to Tucson if I just kept on keeping on. I did. It was probably my longest day of driving in the Beast ever. But I never felt tired or sleepy, for some reason.
The hardest part of the trip was driving through Tucson in the rainy dark.
The weather here is exactly what I don't like about summer in these parts: it has rained a lot here, and it's hot and kinda muggy. I had thought to turn on the a/c in the house as I travelled: my thermostat has an internet connection for just that reason. So it was nice and cool inside when I got there.
Took the minimum into the house last night: toilet kit, slippers, and coffee. I have my priorities! This morning I'll finish unloading the contents of the Beast into the house, and probably take it down to its home in the storage lot. Then I'll settle into my Tucson routine, and get ready for my next trip: I'm going to Vegas for a weekend with a friend.
Next RV expedition? Dunno. It'll be quiet here for a while.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Homeward bound
I'm taking a nap break near Socorro, NM, south of Albuquerque. I left White Rock around 8 AM; I'm not sure where I'll be tonight, but I'm pretty sure I'll be home in Tucson tomorrow.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Taking stock Part II -- people
Still in White Rock, where it's 56 degrees and mostly sunny at 9 AM. Just thought I'd throw that in here for my southern Arizona friends. Weather aside, I'm thinking about thinking about heading for home... perhaps arriving mid-week next week.
Last post I outlined some of the mechanical/logistical issues which have marked this trip. This time, I want to focus on what might be called the inner game: my motivations for doing this, and things I'm learning about myself as I go on down this road.
I've said before: the original idea was to get out of Tucson heat in the summer. An RV seemed like the most affordable way to do that. I'd lived in Flagstaff, and summers there are close to perfect. But buying a second home up there, or renting one, were out of the question financially.
The Beast does make it possible to get into more tolerable temperatures. And to visit, and re-visit, places I've seen before and liked, or always wanted to see. Dealing with the inevitable mechanical issues has been stressful; as I said last time, I've never been a hardware guy. But one of the ways one manages aging is to try new things, and while it's sometimes not all that enjoyable, stretching my limits has surely been one outcome of this venture. This old dog needs to keep learning new tricks.
Learning new things has always been a pleasure. I enjoy figuring things out. I hadn't thought about just how much of that would be required to prepare for travel with the Beast.
The personal issue which has surfaced this trip more strongly than before is the matter of being alone. A good friend put it this way: I'm loneliest when I'm happy. I don't need someone to be with me in the emotional bad times. I'm loneliest when there is something beautiful that I want to share, and no one is around to share it with.
And that has been my experience this trip. I haven't wanted/needed someone with me to help when problems arose, or even, particularly, to hold my hand when I felt bad. But often there are moments when I want to say, "Hey, look at that!" Or to have my attention called to something I'd have otherwise missed. This is true occasionally when I'm not traveling: I live alone. But it happens many times a day when I travel: either there's something beautiful, or someone interesting. And there is also the phenomenon of companionable silence: simply being with someone without the need for comment. I've missed having someone with me. A lot.
This feeling is not new for me. But this trip it's been stronger than before. It seems like most people I see in RV's of various stripes are either couples or families. I'm wondering how other single travelers deal with this issue, if it even is an issue.
Last post I outlined some of the mechanical/logistical issues which have marked this trip. This time, I want to focus on what might be called the inner game: my motivations for doing this, and things I'm learning about myself as I go on down this road.
I've said before: the original idea was to get out of Tucson heat in the summer. An RV seemed like the most affordable way to do that. I'd lived in Flagstaff, and summers there are close to perfect. But buying a second home up there, or renting one, were out of the question financially.
The Beast does make it possible to get into more tolerable temperatures. And to visit, and re-visit, places I've seen before and liked, or always wanted to see. Dealing with the inevitable mechanical issues has been stressful; as I said last time, I've never been a hardware guy. But one of the ways one manages aging is to try new things, and while it's sometimes not all that enjoyable, stretching my limits has surely been one outcome of this venture. This old dog needs to keep learning new tricks.
Learning new things has always been a pleasure. I enjoy figuring things out. I hadn't thought about just how much of that would be required to prepare for travel with the Beast.
The personal issue which has surfaced this trip more strongly than before is the matter of being alone. A good friend put it this way: I'm loneliest when I'm happy. I don't need someone to be with me in the emotional bad times. I'm loneliest when there is something beautiful that I want to share, and no one is around to share it with.
And that has been my experience this trip. I haven't wanted/needed someone with me to help when problems arose, or even, particularly, to hold my hand when I felt bad. But often there are moments when I want to say, "Hey, look at that!" Or to have my attention called to something I'd have otherwise missed. This is true occasionally when I'm not traveling: I live alone. But it happens many times a day when I travel: either there's something beautiful, or someone interesting. And there is also the phenomenon of companionable silence: simply being with someone without the need for comment. I've missed having someone with me. A lot.
This feeling is not new for me. But this trip it's been stronger than before. It seems like most people I see in RV's of various stripes are either couples or families. I'm wondering how other single travelers deal with this issue, if it even is an issue.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Taking stock Part I -- things
I'm in White Rock, New Mexico, staying at the house my generous friends here make available while they're off in Maine for the summer. As I write, it's about 72 degrees and sunny here, headed for the mid-80s. Home in Tucson it's about 95 now, headed for 105. Need I say more?
Well, sure!
It hasn't been the trip I expected, and I'm thinking it never is. I've been on the road about a week, and let's just say there have been challenges on several fronts. Over on the right, the "About This Blog" box says that sometimes the posts here will be about the meaning of it all. This may be one of those.
I've had mechanical issues:
The sulfurous smell from the hot water heater, which was mostly cured by draining and refilling the tank. Turns out this is a common problem. The manufacturer advises a vinegar rinse, but so far a simple drain and fill seems to have done the trick.
The suspension air bags weren't holding air. This problem was solved by tightening the hold-down nuts for the valve stems, and by finding an old-fashioned air hose to air them up. They've held air since I did that just south of Moab last Thursday.
On the drive up here from Santa Fe, the "check engine" warning flipped on. I got out my OBD reader, looked at the problem codes, and talked to my mechanic back home. He suggested that the problem (misfires on a cylinders 1 and 9 ) may well have been transient, possibly altitude-related, and certainly didn't require immediate attention. I reset the codes and we'll see if they recur. The warning light is out, for now! I'll take it in to Buck's when I get back.
So all mechanical issues are back-burner for now. But what all this reminded me is how much a software guy I've always been. Words, numbers, images: I'm cool. But hardware has never been my forte. It's in the nature of this kind of travel that there will be mechanical issues. And so part of The Meaning Of It All is that I've been learning to deal with the Beast as machine. I've been alarmed and clueless, but not for long. And every time something goes wrong, or seems to, and I figure it out and deal with it, my confidence level goes up and my panic threshold recedes.
There were times this trip when I was ready to throw in the towel on the whole RV thing. Perhaps to my credit, I stopped myself from dwelling on this impulse, and promised myself that I'd think about that when nothing seemed to be hitting the fan. This calm time in White Rock provides that. Right now, I'm much less inclined to sell the Beast and stay home and sulk.
There have been some great moments on this trip. The night in Canyonlands at Hatch Point Campground was one. Discovering that I actually enjoy a night at a well-run commercial RV park, and don't have to be the Big Bad Boondocker all the time. And those moments of simple pleasure tooling down a highway on my way from somewhere to somewhere else.
Part II has to do with taking stock of non-mechanical issues.
Well, sure!
It hasn't been the trip I expected, and I'm thinking it never is. I've been on the road about a week, and let's just say there have been challenges on several fronts. Over on the right, the "About This Blog" box says that sometimes the posts here will be about the meaning of it all. This may be one of those.
I've had mechanical issues:
The sulfurous smell from the hot water heater, which was mostly cured by draining and refilling the tank. Turns out this is a common problem. The manufacturer advises a vinegar rinse, but so far a simple drain and fill seems to have done the trick.
The suspension air bags weren't holding air. This problem was solved by tightening the hold-down nuts for the valve stems, and by finding an old-fashioned air hose to air them up. They've held air since I did that just south of Moab last Thursday.
On the drive up here from Santa Fe, the "check engine" warning flipped on. I got out my OBD reader, looked at the problem codes, and talked to my mechanic back home. He suggested that the problem (misfires on a cylinders 1 and 9 ) may well have been transient, possibly altitude-related, and certainly didn't require immediate attention. I reset the codes and we'll see if they recur. The warning light is out, for now! I'll take it in to Buck's when I get back.
So all mechanical issues are back-burner for now. But what all this reminded me is how much a software guy I've always been. Words, numbers, images: I'm cool. But hardware has never been my forte. It's in the nature of this kind of travel that there will be mechanical issues. And so part of The Meaning Of It All is that I've been learning to deal with the Beast as machine. I've been alarmed and clueless, but not for long. And every time something goes wrong, or seems to, and I figure it out and deal with it, my confidence level goes up and my panic threshold recedes.
There were times this trip when I was ready to throw in the towel on the whole RV thing. Perhaps to my credit, I stopped myself from dwelling on this impulse, and promised myself that I'd think about that when nothing seemed to be hitting the fan. This calm time in White Rock provides that. Right now, I'm much less inclined to sell the Beast and stay home and sulk.
There have been some great moments on this trip. The night in Canyonlands at Hatch Point Campground was one. Discovering that I actually enjoy a night at a well-run commercial RV park, and don't have to be the Big Bad Boondocker all the time. And those moments of simple pleasure tooling down a highway on my way from somewhere to somewhere else.
Part II has to do with taking stock of non-mechanical issues.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Problems solved
I won't go through the whole laundry list, but the problems from the last few days have more or less solved themselves. I have hot water that doesn't smell bad, and the air bag suspension components are staying inflated.
From here in Gallup I'm headed for the ABQ/Santa Fe/White Rock area. It's amazingly hot in southern Arizona, so I'm in no hurry to get back there!
And the schedule for my September trip to Vegas is down: hotel, a couple of shows. Haven't been to Vegas in forever.
From here in Gallup I'm headed for the ABQ/Santa Fe/White Rock area. It's amazingly hot in southern Arizona, so I'm in no hurry to get back there!
And the schedule for my September trip to Vegas is down: hotel, a couple of shows. Haven't been to Vegas in forever.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)