The Numbers
As most of you know, Debby and I departed Springfield VA on May 1, 2010. Eight weeks later, and we have already added an incredible 3,860 miles on the truck’s odometer – yet we are only 982 miles from our home!!! Obviously, we have been lost much of the time – or we have taken plenty of time to casually explore as many of the sights as we can with each stop that we make.
We have moved from one campsite to another 12 times since we departed – averaging around 180 miles in distance from one site to another. Therefore, we have towed the RV around 2,160 miles and driven the truck solo about 1,700 miles. You might think that repositioning a large RV a dozen times takes a lot of effort, but Debby and I have worked out a system where we can pack up and be out of the campsite in less than an hour, and we can set up at a new site in less than two hours! We are prepared to continue doing this for at least another six months – maybe up to twelve months.
I’m pleased to report that we have averaged over 12.5 MPG towing with our diesel powered Silverado – much more than the typical gasoline guzzling RV, which can average as little as 6-7 MPG. On one 150 mile stretch across Ohio we averaged an unbelievable 13.6 MPG, but that may have been because tornados were chasing us.
While we are touring around town, we average about 16 MPG (i.e. combined city and highway). On the open highway, without the RV, we manage just over 20 MPG.
If you do the math, the numbers I just gave you mean that in eight weeks we have burned about 275 gallons of diesel fuel. At a cost of about $3.00 per gallon, we have shelled out a total of $825 consuming one of America’s most precious non-renewable energy resource. I hope our younger readers are thinking about our energy waste, and are planning to do something about it. Personally, I put my faith in wind power – and I base that on personal observations made during this trip. We see wind turbines springing up everywhere, and we often see gigantic propellers – over one hundred feet long – being towed on major highways. I haven’t seen any wind powered vehicles yet, but they are out there somewhere. My favorite saying is “there is still room for inventions”.
The Unit
I don’t hesitate to say I love our 2006 Keystone, 34-foot, Montana fifth-wheel RV trailer – but I only tell people whom I trust that I actually have a love affair with our 2005 Chevy Silverado diesel powered truck. It is a dream to drive, very easy to maneuver, and it is equipped with some pretty sophisticated bells and whistles for towing. For example, is you are driving on a very steep downhill incline and suddenly find yourself going almost 70 MPH (I think they call it “free wheeling”), if you apply the break, the engine automatically drops into a lower gear – which I think is called “engine breaking”. This nifty feature is designed to prevent the owner from frying the brakes.
The RV is equipped with many features you would expect in a home – albeit a very small home. The advertising brochure uses the term “residential quality”. For example, we have a “residential quality” porcelain toilet and a “residential quality” two-tub kitchen sink. Top of the line features include a king-size bed, two Sony TVs, full sized dining room chairs, a microwave oven, and a turkey-sized gas oven that has never been used since we purchased the RV five years ago. It is all very comfortable and there is no sense of claustrophobia. Like I said, I love the RV, and, thank God, so does Debby.
The combined weight of the truck and RV is 18,210 pounds – that is, fully loaded with two passengers and about a week’s supply of food, clothes, and whatever. I am certain about the exact weight because on a trip to KY, two years ago, we drove the unit onto a truck weight scale. The trucks weighed in at about 6,000 pounds and the trailer made up the other 12,000 – meaning the truck is towing exactly twice its weight. I thought something might be wrong when I learned that a good farm horse can pull three times its weight – but then I realized probably not for 3,860 miles in only eight weeks.
The Life Style
Technology plays a large part in achieving our comfort. For example, we have a Garmin GPS that I depend on for all our navigational needs. We have used it for three years and have become very proficient. Most people probably don’t know they can set the GPS to identify “attractions”, such as museums, not only in the current location, but along the route you are driving. We use it for important discoveries such as finding grocery stores and calculating the distance from the campsite to the nearest gin martini. Fortunately, the Garmin has a setting for “truck” versus “car or motorcycle”. This feature helps ensure we don’t end up on roads too narrow or with curves that are too sharp for an 18-wheeler.
We also have “mobile broadband” for our laptop – which means we can access the internet without wires anywhere in the world – even when we are underway in the truck. Debby uses the laptop as a resource in selecting campsites and planning tourist excursions. I also manage all our banking and other financial affairs on the internet – just like I have been doing for years at our kitchen table at home. We have also used the laptop to set up the blog you are reading. I have to say that Debby, with some help from our son Jay, is responsible for that success.
Neither the GPS nor the laptop has ever failed us. Well….. almost never. On one occasion in Ohio, if we had followed the GPS to a particular campground, nestled deep in farm country, we would have ended up at a dead end dirt road. That is my greatest fear in towing the RV – ending up somewhere we can’t turn around. Fortunately, Debby had made the reservations for this particular campground on the internet and along with the return email confirming our reservation was an ominous, red-lined, capital letter warning “DO NOT USE YOUR GPS FOR DIRECTIONS TO OUR CAMPSITE – IT WILL TAKE YOU TO THE WRONG PLACE!”
Okay….. so maybe there was also one tiny problem with the mobile broad band. While we were in Welland Canada, we used the laptop about 12 times during our one-week stay – accumulating over $325 in “roaming charges”! It took at least two hours of phone conversations with a variety of Verizon staff members, and one threatening email to their “North East Area Executive Relations” department, to have these charges erased from our bill. Our position was pretty solid. We explained that the vendor has an obligation to forewarn customers when they are encountering usurous and onerous additional fees.
I could not imagine making the trip without my iPhone. It is the third passenger on our trip. Not only does it serve the all-important function of receiving calls, text messages, and emails from important people, it also provides real-time weather forecasts – which include “severe conditions”, such as high winds and frosts. If there was a tornado in our path, I would know it just as fast as anyone watching TV. However, the bad news is that there would be no place for us to seek shelter. There is no basement or any other safe haven in an aluminum-sided RV. It is designed for easy towing rather than withstanding 200 mile an hour winds that might accompany a hurricane. Maybe we could seek shelter in the campground restroom. But we would have to get there first, because that is exactly what everyone else would want to do.
Using technology frees up our time for more important things, like enjoying our first morning cup of coffee a little longer and spending more time touring the local attractions. I can’t imagine life on the road without technology.
We also bought a “converter box” for the TV, so we can view a few local TV channels (when we don’t have cable). We have also started using Redbox to rent movies for only a dollar a pop. We use the iPhone to locate the nearest outlet, and the laptop receives the steady and endless stream of emails telling us what movies are hot, and why we should rent three movies per night instead of two.
Our life inside the RV is very much like at home. We both still enjoy reading, sit-outs at the campsite, seeking out card players, and watching TV. Food preparation and clean-up is pretty much the same as home, but we do miss a dishwasher.
I can’t think of anything we lack for. You might find it surprising to learn that we have no sense of being crowded in the RV, and we have lots of empty storage space; our needs are pretty simple. And yes, I still feed corn and breadcrumbs to the critters that I can encourage to visit our campsite, we continue to look for friendly people to chat with, and, we always have dinner by candlelight!
The Budget
I spent 30 years dreaming about – and planning – our trip. I meticulously calculated the costs – even adjusting my budget estimates each year for inflation. On the day we departed, I predicted the cost could be as high as $200 per day. That is clearly an extravagant amount for us – but keep in mind we have been saving for this excursion since our wedding vows.
I expected the distribution of the $200 would be $25 for fuel, $50 for “lodging” (campsite), $50 for food (dining out at least once a week), $10 for technology (such as the phone bill), $20 for touring (such as entrance fees to museums), and $25 for incidentals (such as clothing and martinis). The balance of $20, I figured would be set aside for contingencies, including repair and maintenance. All in all, after eight weeks, we are pretty much on target – maybe a bit under, but I know I will need to replace the tires on the truck within the next month. Fortunately, the truck is under a extended bumper to bumper warranty until March 2012. We are taking our chances on the RV, but I am okay with that knowing that Montana has been the hottest selling fifth wheel RV for six years in a row. Besides, I figure the only mechanical failure that could really get us in trouble would be something related to the axle or tires – so we did invest $300 in a Good Sam emergency road service program. The policy will not pay anything for the cost of repair. It only covers the cost of sending out a giant tow truck and moving us out of the way of following or on coming traffic.
The way I figure, which is not always mainstream, our $200 per day is well below the $500 - $1,000 per day that is often spent on the beach, in a hotel resort, or a cheap cruise. Of course, the $200 does not include the cost of the RV (about $37,000) or the truck (about $40,000). Bottom line here, is that we are living our life-time dream for less than $200 a day – about twice as much as it would cost to sit at home and watch TV.
What makes this all possible at our income level, is the fact that we don’t have any expenses associated with our home on Elgar Street. Thankfully, our son Brian and his wonderful wife are living in our home – and paying all the expenses. It works out well for both of us. They won’t have a mortgage payment, since they have a contract to sell their home in Waldorf, MD in July, and each month they stay in our house, they are able to make a small dent in recovering the extraordinary loss in the sale of their house. And, most importantly, they are poised to purchase a new home in the Northern VA area - and it is definitely a buyer’s market. I hope they don’t rush because I can easily see us being away for a full year. We also hope they buy a house right next to ours, because I love them like oysters – and they are so much fun to be around.
The Company You Keep
I saved the most important dimension of RV travel for last. There is no escape in a 34 foot RV, so your choice of traveling partner does matter. I am the luckiest camper in the world to be traveling with Debby. She is always caring, patient and accommodating; and she is so much fun to be with. She always has been and always will be the love of my life - and my best buddy. I have always preached that what makes a marriage work best is both spouses having common interests. We are an uncommonly happy team in everything we do while on the road, as well as at home. We truly enjoy each other’s company, and every thing we do is together, from start to finish….
