Gasoline prices and vacations . . .

We are going to a family reunion in Texas this summer (a little less than 3000 miles round trip). At the rate gas is going, I am figuring on $4 / gallon - so something around $800 for gas. We have two alternatives - drive the Honda (better on gas, about $480 for the trip) and stay in motels / eat out the whole trip. The other option is to fly at $1200 (air fare for a family of four) - plus car rental and motel while there.

We decided to take the TrailManor and go camping, making an effort to stay in state parks (half the price of KOA's)

[arniland]

We looked at this issue before we bought our TM this winter. We live in Maryland and have kids and grandkids in Oregon & Washington. We have a 6 liter V-8 Yukon, bought for another specific purpose and reserved for towing. It is the TV we own. This will be our 10th coast-to-coast round trip and we typically take 4 to 6 weeks and cover 7,000 miles. At 14 mpg towing the TM, the increase to $4/gal will cost us an additional $500. Even if (and when?) it goes to $5, that will still only be and additional $1,000 for a month's vacation. We have friends who blow this kind of money at a resort in a few days.

We try to conserve. However, considering that we are not eating out a bunch with the TM (my doctor likes this), nor staying in hotels at $70 to $90 per night, the TM makes a lot of sense for our household. We still plan to do an Alaska trip. I'm sure the fuel costs will be even worse there, but look at what a cruise ship costs and consider the pace and flexibility that the trip up the Alcan offers. For the moment, and while we have the ability to do so, we will still be on the road.

Arn

We just returned from a month on the road...primarily the Gulf coast of Florida, and the Atlantic coast of Georgia, South Carolina, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. About 3,500 miles total. Gas is a major consideration and at 13.5 mpg I bought a lot of it. We have already decided to forego our planned Fall trip to the Boundary Waters.

The South Dakota trip should be worth the expense if you haven't been there before. We were threre last August on our trip out West. Mt. Rushmore alone is worth the trip truly an awe inspiring experience.

Bill

[irenepl]

We just finished a short 1000 mile round trip the Oregon coast and back. Spent about $260 in gas for the week. Still it nice to be on your own schedule. Quick not about gas in MO, SD, ND & WY, regular gas octane there is only 85. My Jeep does not like 85 octane. 87 - 89 is much better so watch the pumps when you fill. Good luck.

I just got back from a 3,000 mile trip, and, yes, the price of fuel hurts (especially diesel right now!), but it was only a few hundred more than if the diesel prices were $1 or $2 less per gallon, and since that's way less than the price of staying in a hotel every night of the trip, it is still worth it.

But, yes, I did figure in the cost of gas for the first time, before this trip.

Probably the bigger change for me has been looking for used small vehicles that I can pick up cheap for around-town driving, rather than using the truck as a daily driver. It makes no sense to drive to work in a truck when I could be driving a motorcycle or small car.

As far as the 85 octane gas, that's a historic carry over - counties in the US with altitudes above a certain level for most of the county can reduce the octane in the gas they sell (which makes it burn easier and thus knock more - the higher the octane, the harder it is to ignite the fuel vapor), either by 1 or 2 points. The logic is that with thiner air, there is less chance of knocking due to a richer mixture, so it isn't a major issue for cars. That was true for carborated cars (which was pretty much all you could get when the law was passed). I've heard mixed reports about it for fuel-injected cars (I've never had a car have a knocking problem at this altitude, even when using 85 octane gas - but of course I could have had a car that was simply masking the knocking by it's computer adjusting the mixture in response to feedback from the knock sensors, in which case I lost a bit of performance), and think the feds probably need to re-study that particular law...

[Bill]

Originally Posted by grakin

As far as the 85 octane gas ... The logic is that with thinner air, there is less chance of knocking due to a richer mixture, so it isn't a major issue for cars. That was true for carborated cars (which was pretty much all you could get when the law was passed). I've heard mixed reports about it for fuel-injected cars (I've never had a car have a knocking problem at this altitude, even when using 85 octane gas

Joel -

I think you are exactly right here - the engine computer in modern cars compemsates for lower octane fuel by sensing the resultant knocking, and then by adjusting things to prevent it. Of course, it does this by adjusting the ignition timing. And sad to say, this reduces the achievable mpg on lower octane gas. So in the mountain states, you get cheaper gas, but you get fewer mpg - much like ethanol/gasoline mixes. I've noticed this as we've visited our kids on the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies - lower octane produces lower mpg, but no other bad symptoms. The computer takes care of it, and we are oblivious unless we choose to pay attention.


Bill

[fcatwo]

We have a fairly large ocean-front RV park that is just off our local biking trail that would normally be filled with RVs from all over the U.S. this time of year. We had an opportunity to walk around the park's loop on the 4th of July and counted only three out-of-state tags -- all from adjoining states. I mentioned the lack of foreign tags to a man sitting in front of a big, beautiful class-A and he said he and his wife lived only 10 mi away but still enjoy camping with a few friends when opportunities permit. He said the word in his class-A club is to "go half as far, half as often and stay twice as long".

We just got home from our first long trip in our TM. We averaged 13.5 mpg in a loop from Florida-->Mammoth Caves-->Niagara-->Adirondacks-->Bar Harbor-->Boston--> and back via the Blue Ridge. We saw no full campgrounds, not even the Bar Harbor KOA during the 4th of July weekend, and had no trouble dropping in w/o reservations at CG all along the route.

[TREXHUNTERS]

We were already committed so we didn't appreciably change our plans. We are 3.5 months into a 6 month trip of the western states. We have travelled 8900 miles thus far (we're now in Sequim, Wa.).

We budgeted $4.50 thinking we were being conservative. About the only thing we do is try to be as efficient as possible. We had already planned on staying mostly in National, State, and County campgrounds which saves roughly $20/night over RV parks.

The next jaunt of our trip is through Canada and/or to Alaska so we re-looked at the fuel cost for that portion but the delta wasn't enough to change plans.

Our biggest problem is time. Now if someone could slow that down it would be very helpful as we're way behind schedule. Time is more valuable to us now. It we bail on our trip we may not get the opportunity with our kids later so within reason higher fuel costs haven't changed our plans, just made me cuss more.

cheers,

Don't anyone plan on coming this way for a little bit. Everyone around here believes the propaganda about a gas shortage and are making runs on the gas stations. I have watched the price go up a dollar today at the one across from me. They are lined up in the street, pulling over curbs, pulling the wrong way into pumps and dragging hoses across their vehicles. I am waiting for the fistfights to start by dark. They say the Wal-Marts, Brookshire's, etc are out of gas right now. One of my buds says the same thing is going on over in Jackson, MS with gas being over $5 a gallon in places.

It's crazy.