You can get significant savings on campgrounds if you have the Federal Senior Pass if you're 62 or older. We stayed in your hometown of Payson at Houston Mesa Campground for $12 a night with the pass. We also stayed at Canyon Point,a Forest Service campground on 260 for $19 a night with electric. We usually go to Texas from Pa every year and one Federal Campground in Arkansas is only $7.50 a night with water and electric. Then we stay at Canyon Lake which is north of San Antonio for $19 a night with water and electric and we are lakeside. Like you we do most of our own cooking. For the trip,my wife makes meals you can freeze and then thaw out in the microwave. She makes pot pie, shepards pie,ham and string beans,lasgna and other things like that. Hotels,especialyy good ones are expensive.And like you said,eating out has gone up alot in the past year.So we spend more on fuel,but save on food and overnight stays. We feel it is worth it to sleep in our own bed and use our own bathroom.
