Long trip, what did it cost?

[Desert_Captain]

We just returned from a 38 day, 4,107 mile trip through seven sates. We, my bride, Millie (our Greyhound) and I, traveled in our 2012 Nexus Phantom 23P (24'), Class C with the Ford E-350 Chassis and the 6.8L V-10 w/5 speed transmission. The Cruise Control was never set to more than 60, and we managed to avoid the interstates 90% of the trip preferring the windy two lane highways, done mostly at 55. Several folks have asked what it actually costs to do such a trip so here are some hard numbers:

We paid for a CG or RV site 26 times having had a free full hook up site on our friends 6 acres in Nevada City for 11 nights. This was probably one of the most beautiful places we visited, fresh blackberries to pick, gold panning from his creek, the pool and his own private shooting range... but I digress.

The remaining 26 nights were split between CG's (USFS or National Parks whenever possible-love that Geezer card). The CG rates varied from a high of $33 in California at Burney falls with no hookups (but gorgeous), to $2.50 a night at the USFS North Fork CG 7 miles north of Sun Valley/Ketcham Idaho. Again no hookups but right on the Big Wood River in an empty CG (if you don't count the Elk and mountain lions).

We were surprised how many CG's offer at least 30 amp service at somewhat reasonable rates. Cape Blanco State Park in Oregon was only $20 a night, Bear Lake in northeastern Utah was $25 and Buckskin SP right on the Colorado River was $30. Total bill for 26 nights came to $510.50 for an average of $19.63 a night. Had we not been able to stay at our friends property the additional 11 nights would presumably added another $215 based upon our average. We had no electric for 11 nights and ran the generator a total of 11.5 hours.

The RV parks were a necessary evil and ranged from $19 at Sam's Town in a Vegas to $35 at a number of places including the Edgewater in Laughlin. We would utilize an RV park only if there were no decent CG's nearby or if we needed to do laundry or drop our tanks. All of the parks we stayed at were nice, most offered free WiFi, some free cable.

Fuel is obviously the big number and here is how it came out:

4,107 miles took 431 gallons for a trip total average of 9.52 mpg. This includes a lot of dirt roads, city traffic and 11 hours of 4Kw genny run time. Cruising at 55 to 60 we consistently got 10 or even a little better (best run of the trip was 10.56 on I-15), as shown by the Scan Gauge and verified at the pump. Highest price paid was $4.13 in Crescent City (I only bought 10 gallons) and the low was Tucson at $3.24. Average fuel cost per gallon was $3.60 and yes that is for unleaded. Total cost for fuel $1,543.

Having a 55 gallon tank is a huge perk. When gas was pricey we just took a little and moved on. With a 500 mile range and a 50 mile cushion to boot, coupled with the Gas Buddy App we were able to save some serious dollars.

Food and drink were a wash as we eat and drink in the rig just like we do at home. In 38 days we had one dinner out and couple of sit down (Burger), lunches but did see a lot of grocery stores. We aren't souvenir shoppers so other than two $5 T shirts In Sun Valley (I was out of clean ones), we simply did not buy anything.

RV Parks and Campgrounds - $510

Fuel - $1,543

Total Trip Expenses: $2,053 Divided by 38 days = $54 a day

The biggest money savers were the 55 gallon fuel tank along with the Gas Buddy App and our Senior (Geezer), Pass combined with doing virtually all of our eating and drinking in the rig. It was an amazing journey and we can't wait to go again. :B

[Skid_Row_Joe]

Great trip report, Desert Captain! Every time I leave town in the coach, I know I'm going to spend $600 to $900 for two to three weeks out working my territory, but I eat all my meals out and overnight in Walmarts and Cracker Barrels, when I don't need AC, and the tanks are good with capacity left or can get fresh water-fill every day or two.

[Supercharged]

Gas doesn't have a $5000 deductable on it like the wife's Blue Cross has. So the gas was well worth the money.

[Supercharged]

ReadyToGo wrote:
That is exactly the kind of trip we usually take and as Supercharged posted, we don't worry about the price of gas, except to get it cheap when we can.
Some people like to eat out a lot, some like movies, plays etc, some like cable tv etc. We like to travel and eat in with 3 buck chuck for wine. To each his own. I think I could travel with Captain Desert and supercharged.

Thank for that, some people know good folks when the read them.

[Grey_Mountain]

We've been on the road for 78 days, with five days to go.
So far, we've traveled 4808 miles with about 900 to go for a total of 5708 miles.

Camping fees were $2226, with about $200 more before we get home.
Fuel - $3200
Camping - $2426
Repairs - $1500
Canadian foods - $1300
TOTAL: $8426
Other - $2077 (non-essentials such as food, entertainment, etc.)
GRAND TOTAL: $11,535

[jmanatee]

We went 50 nights from CT to CA and back... total expense including fuel, campgrounds, entrance fees and exhibits. $6,500

We didn't count food, we ate like we would at home, shopping in supper markets. (packing lunch when we were out for the day) so we would have eaten either way.

[Grey_Mountain]

Fuel is usually one of our gretest expesnses. We get about 7 to 7 1/2 miles per gallon. So far, we've spent $2793, and expect about another $500 in fuel to get home. Oh, and there was the expense of changing the air in the tires from standard to metric when entering Canada, and reversing that process upon our return. I thought about not changing, but I was afraid to take that chance. The consequences are severe if caught, and one of my Canadian friends would probably have ratted me out. Neither one of them likes me much.

GM

[belfert]

I just did an 8 day trip with six of my friends. All total we spent right about $3,000 including event fees of $40 each. We drove 3,800 miles and spent four days at the event. My bus conversion got about 7 MPG. Majority of the cost was $2450 in fuel.

That much travel in 8 days is not everyone's idea of a great vacation, but most of us have limited vacation days so we don't have much choice.

[Grey_Mountain]

We used very little on-board propane. We have electric heat, so we use that for the frosty nights. My wife did a small amount of cooking inside using propane, but I have three outside propane grills/stoves hooked to a ?25 pound propane supply. I do most of the cooking there. We don't get in a hurry. I make no advance reservations except for a destination - otherwise, we'll call an enroute park the day before we expect to get there. Seldom ever have a problem finding an open spot.

[noe-place]

Good price for propane too!!

[Veebyes]

Then there are the WHAMMIES that hit you when least expected. A tire blowout, a mechanical breakdown, a failure of something somewhere. They are going to happen. A couple hundred there. A couple thousand here. Real spoilers that can mess up a day or days & drive those averages way up in no time at all.

Ah, the joys of traveling the open road. As long as you are not on a really tight schedule you just go with the flow & change plans on the fly.

[Desert_Captain]

No, did not include the trips to the grocery store since our costs to eat and drink are exactly the same as at home. I love to cook and no I don't make much of a mess for my bride to clean up. Usually one pan meals where ever possible. Most dinners are large enough to generate leftovers which become lunch down the road. For the record we eat very well, Coconut Shrimp to Prime Rib, pork roasts to chicken done 7 ways etc., no beans and weenies or Dinky Moore for us. :B

Oh I did forget one cost incurred, propane. We left with a full tank and bought and additional 6.4 gallons up in Idaho. The nights on the river were down in the upper 20's and the furncae kicked on a lot. Paid $2.90 a gal which came to $18.56.

[ktmrfs]

We've done long and short trips and I keep a pretty detailed log with our costs. Not that we really make any decisions based on the travel cost, more just out of curiosity. We go where we want, when we want and do and see things along the way we like.

My cost/day covers about 300 days over the last 4 years. We do eat out occasionally. When we are in a small town and see/hear of a good local eating establishment we will patronize it. Lunch is our favorite. Have found many a small town with some outstanding eating establishments and it's fun to talk to the locals and learn about the area, find things to visit etc. Otherwise we fix and eat in the trailer.

And we often will pay to go through museums etc. Starting last year DW hit 62 so we no longer pay for National park, COE etc visits and often get the 50% discount on camping fees.

And about 1/3 the time we have grankids and DD, SIL with us which we included in the costs, rather than separate them out. That's part of the fun camping, letting the grandkids see the country. My cost/day includes groceries and eating out. Not clear if yours included groceries


Our average is a shade over $80/day. So at $55 your doing very well. BTW I have a good friend that did several cross country trips and we were comparing costs one day. His was also a shade over $80/day.

But like someone said, we spend more than $80/day sitting at home!! And there is no way we/you could do this kind of trip using hotels for anything close to this cost/day.

[Go_Dogs]

Very nice post. I'm so glad you got to go. That Gas Buddy is a big help. I think you did that trip about as inexpensively, as you could, and still have a memorable vacation.
My brother/SIL are returning from a week in Arizona. They flew/stayed in hotels/rented a car/ate at restaurants, paid to have their truck parked at our airport, etc. He was bragging that he used some frequent flyer miles, but I will still be curious what he spent.

PS: I know you have to factor in the cost of buying/maintaining the RV-but that takes all the fun out of it!

[ReadyToGo]

That is exactly the kind of trip we usually take and as Supercharged posted, we don't worry about the price of gas, except to get it cheap when we can.
Some people like to eat out a lot, some like movies, plays etc, some like cable tv etc. We like to travel and eat in with 3 buck chuck for wine. To each his own. I think I could travel with Captain Desert and supercharged.