Gas Prices and RV'ing

[meowmarie]

Just curious, how are the gas prices affecting you RV'ers? I can remember as a kid my dad pulling a 20+ foot TT with a '78 Suburban. On this one trip he was only getting like 6-8 miles to the gallon. (Sold the Suburban after that trip!) He'd get in these horrible moods every time he filled up, and he'd get real quiet for like an hour. Then every 5 minutes or so he'd roll the window down and yell "I'm throwing another dollar out the window!" And that's when gas was only $1/gal! Are you taking fewer trips and staying closer to home, or does your love of RV'ing trump all that? I miss RV'ing, wish DH was into it!

 

[Disney Campers]

Fewer trips closer to home for us. fortunately the Fort is only 100 miles for us.

 

[meowmarie]

Oh that is lucky!

 

[clkelley]

I bought small in the first place, and I get about 13MPG towing.

 

[BigDaddyRog]

...Then every 5 minutes or so he'd roll the window down and yell "I'm throwing another dollar out the window!"

My dad used to do this all the time.....we we're always accused of throwing money out of the window!!!!! I was completely confused.....I never even HAD a dollar.....Im ONLY 5 DAD!!!! I just like the way the wind makes my hand go up and down in the wind !!!!

It wasnt till I was in my mid 20s that I realized it cost the same amount of gas to run the car's air conditioner whether the window was open or closed!!!! That when I heard about Santa too....so I dont even believe in the President now, ya can fool me once, but.......Im NOT STUPID!!!!! As if someone as goofy looking as GW could actually be in controll of something.

Gas prices have slowed OUR travelling down quite a bit..AND I DONT EVEN OWN A CAMPER. I can barely afford the gas for the lawnmower and because of that will INSIST that the grass only gets cut once a month this year!!! (I'll let you guys know how that goes over...if the wife buys it...youre welcome to use it as your excuse also)

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

We've chosen to work less and camp more this year. I rather put gas in my TV for camping anyday than to put gas in my TV to goto work. Most of our trips this year are in the USA with a few back home here in Canada. Most or trips are 2 to 5 hr drives @ 10.5 mpg average. Yeah it sucks tailpipes but we love camping that much. Instead of a bunch of shorter trips we are doing several week long trips. Less driving involved.

 

[MadFF]

We've only got two long trips this years... Gettysburg (Artillery Ridge Campground), and Fort Wilderness. All the rest are pretty much less than an hour away in-state (Connecticut).

My F-250 diesel averages 13mpg towing, which is pretty good so that makes me feel a little better when filling at the higher price.

When I used to just jump in the truck, I "borrow" the wife's Focus all the time now when I am running out for an errand. And wife and I try to combine errands now into fewer trips.

Another way to think about it... is the time relaxing at a campground is time that you are not home, running out all the time for weekend errands (using fuel).

 

[Escape Artist]

Gas prices aren't really affecting our RVing...since we have a popup, the impact is pretty minimal anyways. And with my kids getting more grown up by the second, my camping time is so precious that I'm willing to make it a priority and put off other things as I see fit.

But, as auntie pointed out in a similar thread, the cost of fuel (and everything else that's going up) is affecting our overall lifestyle. So far we're eating out a lot less, and when we do, it's more likely to be lower end (less expensive restaurants) or lunch instead of dinner, or just the adults, and leave the kids out of it. Not that we're any fancy gourmets anyways, but even the chain places like Chili's and Macaroni Grill add up fast! I don't even remember the last time I went to either one of them.

We just got home from CA and our trip to FW is still in the works, although it won't be as fancy a trip as last years. (Less sit down restaurants, no dining plan, no Discovery Cove). The other trips I'm working on are more limited by DH's vacation time and kid commitments than by $$$.

On the other hand, if we were in a financial position to take advantage of the current economic situation, what a great time this would be to buy a MH or heavy duty tow vehicle! Unfortunately, that won't be us, buy maybe somebody is having a lucky time here.

Sue in Texas

 

[mjohns]

Just returned from a trip to Yellowstone. We're just pulling a pop-up so we got a little over 13mpg. But... the trip was planned before gas got this high. So what are you going to do?

Still planning on spending New Years at the Fort but were in Atlanta so that won't be so bad on gas.

 

[auntie]

We are seasonal in an upstate NY campground. We did this before the gas situation..just because we weren't using our trailer and it was sitting in the driveway. This is our fourth year being seasonal, and gas is an issue for us...even without towing. We would shoot upstate after work on a Friday, and return home Sunday night(something we wouldn't bother to do if towing)...and we've done that exactly twice since May 1st. The first time being to open up for the season. This is with taking my husbands 6 cyl. car. Which I'm grateful we have. At least we don't have to take the truck upstate if we don't want to. The trips aren't for quick weekends anymore, gas eats into a huge part of the budget. We're lucky in that at least the camper is now paid for...I'd hate having a payment, and not using it. That would hurt. We did hope to get into a larger trailer and were looking around last year. Gven the way things turned out, I'm glad we opted to stick with what we have. I will say that there are ALOT more RV's in the storage lot of the RV resort we stay in. Seems the storage rate of only a $1.00 a day is way cheaper than the gas to tow their rigs home and back if they planned a return trip. Also...the seasonal sites have SOLD OUT. There is now a pretty significant wait list. I guess others have gotten the same idea.
We're also at a crossroads right now as far as a truck. I have waited for years to get a pick up. We have a 98 Expedition.(new to us in 2000) This towed our trailer, and hauled the kids for the past 8 years. Now, my youngest takes his road test in about a week. and I can finally get that pick-up I've wanted. Or...Maybe not. I'm worried about the gas. Although my husband says the gas for a pick up won't be any worse than the gas on my 10 year old gas guzzling SUV. So who knows. Only...it's paid for also.
Kind of holding our breath..not wanting to make any changes until we see what's going to happen.
With the price of groceries sky rocketing..I can't believe what I pay at the grocery store and don't even come home with enough to make a meal sometimes. The increase in our utility bills(I'm one of those parents who have screamed.."why don't you just take the dollars and throw them out the window! when I find the AC on..and a window open ) The tolls on our roads and commuter rails have raised their prices. Our health insurance increased...(don't get me started on THAT crisis! ) There seemed to be alot of things coming into play besides the actual dollar price of the gas. The trickle down effect it has on the other aspects of our economy
is scarry. I wish it was as simple as just more money for the gas tank. It's seems to be much further reaching than that. Touching almost every aspect of our economy and lives.
I'm getting weekly e-mails from certain RV dealerships with "great prices"...apparently they aren't moving off the lots. I fear we are only beginning to see the effects the increase in the price of gas has on our economy and our lives.

 

[RvUsa]

Just to add to Aunties thread a little, hope you don't mind.

While I was getting my tire fixed the other day, there were a couple of farmers there getting some implement tires fixed. They were talking about what they were getting paid for their milk, they were just told that they would be getting $2 LESS a hundred pounds of milk. LESS can you believe that? The company that buys their milk said that fuel prices were making them cut prices. So on top of paying $5 a gallon to run their tractors, they are getting paid less for what they produce.

This country needs to wake up and think about whats important. Between turning beautiful farms into plywood kingdoms with cardboard castles, and making it impossible for family farms to survive, we are all gonna be more worried about what we are going to eat at our next meal, instead of how far we can afford to drive our rv's.

I am all about helping those who need help, but we need to look next door before we look to the other side of the world!

JMHOSBY

 

[BigDaddyRog]

A friggin MEN!!!!!!

 

[kc5grw]

It wasnt till I was in my mid 20s that I realized it cost the same amount of gas to run the car's air conditioner whether the window was open or closed!!!!

Well, only at idle. If you're tooling down the road at 65, the open window will increase the resistance your car has moving through the air and subsequently increase the energy required to push your car down the road.

 

[Shannone1]

We've cancelled a couple of camping weekends and relocated them closer to home. We went down to FL (1100 miles each way) over Easter break and it cost us about $1200 in gas...and that was at $3.85 a gallon.

We had about 85 nights worth of camping on the books for this year and I think we are going to do them all...we just are doing them a little closer to home.

We are still planning on going to FW over Christmas as long as gas isn't over $5 a gallon by then. No matter what- we are going on our 8 week trip out west next summer. 7000 miles round trip. I am hoping we don't have to cancel FW but if that is the only way we will be able to make our big trip then I will have no choice.

 

[RvUsa]

Shannone will you adopt me??? I will even pull for detroit teams....no I just can't do it, I tried, but I can't do it....

 

[bwvBound]

Just curious, how are the gas prices affecting you RV'ers?

We switched to a smaller RV. Our new-to-us baby turned in almost 17mpg on the drive home (1300+ miles) earlier this month.