To RV or not to RV.....

[jodann]

that is the question.

I realize that, considering this is an RV site (the best, I have to admit) answers may be 'somewhat biased'.

The wife & I are in the early planning stages of a 2 month (more or less) cross country trip, taking a northern route in one direction, then heading home in a southerly route, with a total mileage of about 8-10K miles. The object of this trip is to see parts of our country that we have so far only flown over on our way to & from the coasts visiting our g'kids. Here is our dilemma.

I would like to tow our 26' TT across country at a penalty of 10mpg, knowing that I have clean sheets, a clean bathroom & pretty much everything I (we) need within reach.

I feel as tho we can leave trailer behind at cg's to be able to explore highlites of our country we feel are most interesting. In effect, I can't imagine living out of motels for a 2 month period.

The wife, on the other hand, feels as tho we can book discount motels in advance, eat at 'fast food' restaurants when necessary, average 20mpg or more without dragging trailer. This would also give us the option of a tent which we own that hooks up to the rear hatch of our station wagon or seeking camping cabins as needed.

When I run the numbers, leaving trailer at home is most cost-effective. The price of gas seems to be the deciding factor. Your thoughts & comments would be most welcome.

PS: As an aside, what are we to do with a 12 year old dog? It does not seem fair to take dog along & leave her in trailer while we are seeing the sights. We have boarded our dog for a week at a time but I can't imagine leaving her for 2 months as we have no one to leave her with. Problems, problems.

[jodann]

that is the question.

I realize that, considering this is an RV site (the best, I have to admit) answers may be 'somewhat biased'.

The wife & I are in the early planning stages of a 2 month (more or less) cross country trip, taking a northern route in one direction, then heading home in a southerly route, with a total mileage of about 8-10K miles. The object of this trip is to see parts of our country that we have so far only flown over on our way to & from the coasts visiting our g'kids. Here is our dilemma.

I would like to tow our 26' TT across country at a penalty of 10mpg, knowing that I have clean sheets, a clean bathroom & pretty much everything I (we) need within reach.

I feel as tho we can leave trailer behind at cg's to be able to explore highlites of our country we feel are most interesting. In effect, I can't imagine living out of motels for a 2 month period.

The wife, on the other hand, feels as tho we can book discount motels in advance, eat at 'fast food' restaurants when necessary, average 20mpg or more without dragging trailer. This would also give us the option of a tent which we own that hooks up to the rear hatch of our station wagon or seeking camping cabins as needed.

When I run the numbers, leaving trailer at home is most cost-effective. The price of gas seems to be the deciding factor. Your thoughts & comments would be most welcome.

PS: As an aside, what are we to do with a 12 year old dog? It does not seem fair to take dog along & leave her in trailer while we are seeing the sights. We have boarded our dog for a week at a time but I can't imagine leaving her for 2 months as we have no one to leave her with. Problems, problems.

[Route 66]

You are not the first to be in this predicament.

It comes down to personal preference, and as your post notes, there are two valid sides to this.

Often, the lady of the manor doesn't view a RV trip as a "real" vacation as some housekeeping and cooking is involved.

Some folks, as you note could never leave their pet behind.

However taking your pet with you now requires your schedule to accommodate the pet's needs.

Unfortunately, there is no one answer for all.

[AL]

Hi Jodann,

Only you & your wife can real answer this question? Since the two of you realy know what you are willing to spend do or not do? However since you asked, I am going to add my 2 cents into it! In 1995 myself, wife, son 11 and daught 8 spent 6 weeks going cross country and back. All of us have agreed over and over again that there is no way to put a price on the adventure we had! Nor the memories and family bonds that were made during that time togeather! Hope this helps some and enjoy the trip no matter which way you end up going!!!

[GaryKD]

Hi jodann,
Based on your OP that brings the question down to fuel costs, consider boarding the dog and taking the motel route as your first choice. The reason I make this recommendation is:
1. RVing is not about cost. It is about the freedom to do the trip in a way that you'd never do using the motel option. Because you have a trailer and registered on iRV2 in 2005, I assume you know the advantages of RVing and have experience doing so. I will not restate those advantages. Your wife has forgotten or it may nolonger be important to her why we RV instead of taking the motel choice. If it is no longer important to her, then the motel choice is the way for you to go.

2. If you decide to RV your way accross the USA, the only consideration in taking the dog is has the dog enjoyed RVing in the past. If the answer is yes, the decision is an easy button. Take the dog. The wide open spaces (ex. National Parks) we visit there are no problems with dogs.

FYI, fast food places will kill you with their "dead" food. There are no live nutrients or enzymes in fast food. Both are needed for us humans to survive. If you took a Golden Arches hamburger (plain) and put it in a sealed plastic bag for a year or more, do you know what would happen to it? The answer is nothing. Not even mold can grow in a dead environment.

If you want:
1. to do the trip your way
2. eat whole food (your own food). Purchased and cooked to keep the nutrients alive.
3. have the family dog with you
4. make trip/route changes as and when you see fit to do so
5. eliminate the threat of budget motel parking lot dangers
6. eliminate staying in rooms that have huge amounts of chemicals in them since the owner must clean from whoever was there before you.
7. Use the National Park Campgrounds and enjoy the National Parks as a resident guest, not a day visitor.
8. Put the sight seeing activities and local area unique offerings as the #1 trip priority.
9. Eliminate having to carry your stuff into the motel and then return it to the car.
10. Eliminate forgetting and leaving something at the motel.
Choose the RV trip over the motel trip. Good luck with your choice, whatever you choose have fun.

[Izzyblueye]

My vote is with the TT and see the country, live clean, take your dog, he deserves it. The bed situation alone absolutely dictates my choice. The cost will be about the same either way.

[Ken Roberts]

jordann, as you said we are a biased group and for me in my other life, aka working, I slept in enough motels/hotels to last me this and several other lifetimes. One suggestion I would offer regardless of which option you choose, and definitely choose one and go, is to spend as much time as possible travelling the red roads as there is so much more to see than there is on interstates. The interstates are for expedience and the red roads are for experience, Ken,'04 DSDP

[mountainkowboy]

It is really up to you but we have been in the same boat and RV'd with great results. It was a higher cost in the long run but was much better in the long run...does that make sense! After that we got a RPI membership which made the campgrounds MUCH cheaper and ofsets the cost of the "fuel" thing and makes RVing more fesable. JMHO

[TXiceman]

I'd rather be in my own bed. After some of the stories you hear about hotels and not being clean, I'll sleep with my sheets and use my towels....

Ken

[Paul Heuvelhorst]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> ...I would like to tow our 26' TT across country at a penalty of 10mpg, knowing that I have clean sheets, a clean bathroom & pretty much everything I (we) need within reach. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
We completed a trip similar to what you are proposing with our TT. We left home on June 19 and returned July 31, traveling a total of 7500 miles through the mid-west. We averaged 10.2 mpg at an avg. cost of $3.06/gallon. The price of fuel has decreased just a bit since we returned home.

I would not do an extensive trip like this any other way. When time is a factor, we consider flying, or driving our car and staying in a motel for a couple of nights, but not on an extensive trip as we did.

All the others have covered the good reasons to take the trailer. I'm just confirming that the cost of fuel isn't as large a factor as you may think it is.

Enjoy!

[MonacoMama]

Take the TT and treat your wife by cooking half the meals...maybe she does not want to cook -and the hotel choice takes care of that... so make a deal with her and help out on the meals.

I cannot imagine 2 months in a hotel ...after just doing it for 2 weeks recently ...
Good Luck and have a safe journey!

[nhgeezer]

Lucy and I just finished a trip like this in our 1990 38' Foretravel MH. We averaged 12.1 miles per gallon on diesel and camped in National Forests, State parks, etc and had a wonderful time sleeping in our own queen sized bed. Our Kitty kat earl enjoyed the trip as well playing dash mat most of the way. The nice part was we were not locked into a motel reservation at a specific time and if we decided to chage our route or lengthen or shorten our stay, that was easy. Now to let you know how unstable we are with travel plans we crossed the Continental Divide 9 times heading west before we got to Seattle from New Hampshire. When we ran the numbers it was to our advantage to run the coach for the trip considering we would have driven the Tahoe at 18 miles per gallon. Yep we are biased, but not being tied down to reservations was worth every extra penny if it did indead cost us extra pennies. Oh, by the way, I love to cook so DW had a vacation. Had some of the best sweet corn on the cob that I have every had in Ohio and that fresh grilled salmon that we cooked in Seattle was ..........

1990 Foretravel
Soetimes towing a car trailer with a Tahoe on it.

[digNbubbs]

Two months (or even two weeks) of eating out would have decided it for me. I would go broke and bust the 300lb mark for sure!



--kev

[jodann]

Thanks to all who have responded. I had been leaning on taking the RV for all the noted reasons & now 'WE' will most definitely choose that route.

BTW, what is an RPI membership? How do I go about joining?

Thanks again, Jodann