When to realize it's not worth it

Dakzuki wrote:
One of the main reasons I have the RV is so I can sleep in my own bed under my own sheets. I also get to eat/drink what I want when I want. I have spent too much times in hotels for work. The RV is an escape from that.

THAT is the key!
Many years ago, I worked on fire bombers. That meant that I spent nearly all summer, every summer, living in motels and eating in restaurants. The motels ranged from Motel 6 at $30 per night to the super duper exclusive motel on the lakeshore at $75 per night. Y'know, after a while, they all looked the same, and the food in the restaurants all tasted the same.
Given the choice, I will take the RV anytime I can. If snow and ice is likely, then perhaps a motel, but then there is the problem of finding a pet-friendly one that won't have a hissy fit over the dog. I will admit that pet-friendly motels are becoming more common.
Yes, driving the motorhome is expensive, but I was aware of that when I bought it.

WBWOOD - We used to switch off heading down to the Gatlingburg area between ELKMONT in the Natl Park and a cabin in Pigeon Forge at Riveredge. They have five or six very nice log cabins at their site just as you come into Pigeon Forge from Gatlingburg. Riveredge is in the middle of all the on-goings in the Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg area.

Well I called Recreation.gov and they are only dealing with it on a day by day basis. I went ahead and canceled and took the $10 hit. Not going to sit around and wait for them to decide the day before my reservations were for, to cancel and give me a full refund. If I wait that long and they get back up and running, then I will lose more money in the long run.

I sort of follow your convenience/financial logic as to why your not taking RV. However for me I am always trying to take RV.
Alternatives to the RV are never/seldom on the table. In my overall cost analysis if I am not using the RV why have it? The only way for me to get value out of the RV is to use it.
I have already committed to future fuel and CG fees when I purchased RV. I do not analyze my fuel/CG cost for each trip.
I know the RV will always be more expensive than just taking the car, but I get the pleasure of enjoying the RV which is the whole point of having it. When doing financial comparison of RV VS. car/hotel. Restaurants and eating out with the entire family becomes the financial equalizer favoring the RV.
When I start concluding that it's not worth taking the RV is when I will consider selling the RV and getting out of the RV game.
For me letting the RV sit idle is more of a waste than using it!

tracyb-oh wrote:
I agree, I like having my own bed with my own sheets. I love staying in our motorhome, even if it is more expensive, I prefer it. Also just because the national park will be closed, there are still plenty of private campgrounds still open where you can stay.

Like I've mentioned it's not the money. If it were a savings for this trip, then it might be something to look at. But the offset costs is a wash. As far as private campgrounds, yes, then you have even more additional costs to the tune of an extra $75-100 dollars over what the np cost for the entire weekend. Now it's making a worse case scenario for the rv if you are basing it on costs.

We've stayed in hotels and cabins and never ever had a problem with cleanliness. And sometimes travel does not opt for you to have your rv.

BurbMan wrote:

wbwood wrote:
As I mentioned, we were going to have to get my daughter out school early, plus I would of only had a few hours sleep from working the night before. All in order to try and be there before dark. Now we can leave when she gets home and I've had 6 hrs of sleep or more. My wife won't have to follow me in the car which we will need to go to where my family is staying. And did i mention hot tub? Woohoo! Lol

No, not cabins at Cade's cove. But over in wears valley.

Sorry I was referring to your post above.

Fuel is a different story...for us the Suburban is our road trip vehicle, it's got the room in case DW sees a "must-have-bargain" somewhere LOL. So I get 10 mpg on the highway empty and 7 towing the RV, so the fuel premium for me is only 3 mpg.

For a 200 mi trip, that's another 8.5 gals of fuel, and at $3.50/gal only adds about $30 to the trip. Plus you save on meals and snacks having the fridge and kitchen handy.

That said, we don't always take the RV either...it's not good in the winter months and not good if you need to be either downtown somewhere or there is no good RV park nearby....like where you can get at least electric so Momma can have her coffee pot and hair dryer....

Not trying to get you to change your mind, only pointing out that it's apples and oranges to say "RV I must arrive in daylight and cabin I can arrive after dark". Price of fuel is a whole different thing.

PS to gale, still over at Kenlake, hopefully will be on the way home tmw.

We are taking our SUV no matter what. The cost of gas for a 450 mile round trip is what we are saving on it (but spending on the cabin) That's a couple hundred dollars in gas just for the exact mileage. Of course we will spend more than that to fill it up.

It's not all about the cost. I don't have to pinch every penny. It's more to do with convenience and then when you add money into it, convenience outweighs it, at least to me. I didn't say I must arrive during daylight. Just that it will be more of a pain to arrive after dark in a place where there are no lights. I was trying to arrange our schedules to make it more convenient for us to get there before dark to set up. Then we would have to go through the process of preparing dinner. Actually I would probably want to stop anyway for dinner an having to do it at the campsite.

I agree, I like having my own bed with my own sheets. I love staying in our motorhome, even if it is more expensive, I prefer it. Also just because the national park will be closed, there are still plenty of private campgrounds still open where you can stay.

I know what you mean but I like my bed bug free bed and my extra clean bathroom.
Have you ever walked into a cabin or a hotel room and know its not clean. You have people making 8 to 10 dollars a hour working as hard as they can to keep up with all that cleaning do you think they do the best job ? I clean my motorhome inside and out before I leave and when I get home.
When I was working and traveled I always tipped the cleaning person everyday and my room was always clean.

One of the main reasons I have the RV is so I can sleep in my own bed under my own sheets. I also get to eat/drink what I want when I want. I have spent too much times in hotels for work. The RV is an escape from that.

Traveler II wrote:
If you figure all the cost RVing is not the cheapest way to travel, just a great way to travel.

I priced it 3 ways going to Disney. flying, driving in the minivan or taking the trailer. we took the trailer. it ended up only being about $200-$300 more than staying in a hotel and flying or driving. when your talking about a $3k-$4k trip $300 is nothing! and we were able to do a side trip to Stone Mtn GA!