Gas and holiday weekend hiking

[jmegillon149]

I think you should start anyway, $4 gas, Free Gas, doesn't matter.. I love it, myself and have been bike commuting since 2001.

kayaking on the Hudson this weekend, gas doesn't affect me, I mostly drive on weekends and Wednesday when I go hiking after work. And I have to buy Premium fuel for my Subaru (turbo).

Jay

Bike commuting is great.

With that savings in mind, I still feel that I will cut down on my trips up north, and try to compensate by overnight trips. I have yet to do the math, but driving up north, and leaving your car while you backpack for several days may be cheaper than driving around doing errands and close to home stuff. You'd be surprised how many miles you can accumulate just going about your normal routine.

Of course staying home as if it was a bunker is REALLY cheap.

 

[erugs]

Backpacking is a good idea but wouldn't work for me. Lack of time to do so is one reason. Desiring the weekly outdoors "fix" is another, and local walking paths just don't have the same health benefits for me. I'm hoping that carpooling will make a big difference. For sure, eating out will be cut back and adding dresss up clothes to the wardrobe for work will be sacrificed yet again.

 

[Grumpy]

... I have yet to do the math, but driving up north, and leaving your car while you backpack for several days may be cheaper than driving around doing errands and close to home stuff. You'd be surprised how many miles you can accumulate just going about your normal routine.

Of course staying home as if it was a bunker is REALLY cheap.

Once upon a time, the annual vacation jaunts Mrs. Grumpy and I enjoyed were fairly rustic affairs. Tent camping while traveling on the road was the norm, and we generally prepared our meals and ate in camp or had roadside picnics as we went. Many of our vacations involved multi-day backcountry camping excursions, either afoot or by canoe.

Our gear was high quality stuff, well used, seldom replaced or upgraded, but very serviceable. Only occasionally did we splurge on a nice restaurant meal, and that usually was something simple and relatively inexpensive like spaghetti and meatballs, washed down with local beer. Our greatest travel extravagance – expenditure-wise -- was purchasing books and maps.

The interesting thing about this was that we almost always got back home – even after a couple of weeks – with “leftover” money to plow right back into savings. It was somewhat hard to believe, but most years we actually spent less on vacation than we did at home in comparable periods of time.

That’s not the way we do things these days. But who knows? Maybe the high motor fuel prices that are making us wince will provide incentive to step back and go tenting once again as we travel.

The price of state and national park camping, and even the more rustic state and national forest drive-in campsites has gone way up, yet it still is way less per night than the cost of a decent motel or hotel room. And the thought of feasting on a nice pot of beanie-wienie prepped on the old Coleman two-burner has some real appeal.

We could be kids again.

G.

 

[Jay H]

And the thought of feasting on a nice pot of beanie-wienie prepped on the old Coleman two-burner has some real appeal.

We could be kids again.

G.

Yeah, the thoughts of my 3 older sisters + 2 parents trips to Calgary Alberta to visit my grandparents is highly refreshed in my mind now. Living on

1)Vienna Sausages
2)Deviled Ham
3)Spam

cooked on an electric hot pot in a Days Inn, in the middle of Fargo, ND with cockaroaches on the ceiling are nicely refreshed in my mind. When only my oldest sister and my mom and dad were eligible drivers in my father's Ford Country Squire station wagon, travelling the 120deg summers in the middle plains states... My steamed football jersey being imprinted on the Country Squire's vinyl bench seats due to the 120deg weather and the locusts imprinted on the flat radiator grill of the wagon, we'd pile in and trek 6 or 7 days from NJ to Calgary each summer to see Banff, the Calgary Stampede, and the Cupcake.


ahhh the memories!

Jay

 

[Stan]

My high gas price strategy:

Longer trips.
Drive slower.
More camping.

Is it too late to buy oil stocks?

 

[Neil]

My strategy: pretend it doesn't exist and hope it'll go away.

 

[DougPaul]

google "cheap gas" ... find websites that help you find cheapest gas, within range of whatever zip code you enter

http://www.gasbuddy.com/

Doug

 

[brianW]

My biggest concern here in GA is not the cost of gas but if I am going to find it. Since Hurricane Ike the southeast has had a shortage of gas with many gas stations running out and when gas is delivered the are only recieving small amounts.

I drive by 13 gas station on the way to work. Yesterday morning 3 had gas, on the way home none. I drove a little out of the way and waited in line for 50 minutes to get some gas on the way home. Had to make sure I have some for next week.

 

[Trainwreck]

Interesting thing happened to me last WE. Drove up on Friday to the Gathering. I was running late, filled up getting on 95. Burned 3/4 of a tank with my Subaru Legacy. I'm sure I varied my speed, as the Staties were out in force. On Sunday, I used my cruise control, set it at 65 and cruised home. Burned 1/2 tank (filled up in Randolph). Guess a constant speed beats going at 55, which would make me crazy. Will use it more often.
s.

 

[una_dogger]

Regular unleaded is 3.419 a gallon here in W. Acton, MA today.

Funny how that seems like a great deal....

 

[daxs]

Gas is south jersey averages about 3.30. Jim and I just did a 2 week vacation in Maine. With all the travelling, had 2 bikes on the front of the truck and 2 kayaks on the roof, we drove over 2000 miles and spent about $600 is gas! We have a chevy avalanche and the gas mileage is not good..

 

[Lawn Sale]

I also have a VW TDI.

Last year I was looking for a spare vehicle to augment my '95 Isuzu Trooper because it was getting up there in mileage (it has over 333,000 now), so I found a '97 VW TDI Passat with only 232,000 miles on it (it now has 266K). I enjoy it immensely and now I only use the Trooper as a utility vehicle and not a commuter, I drive 60 miles r/t for work.

It's averaging over 51 mpg for the warmer seasons and in the winter it gets around 47 mpg. With the roof racks on and 3 bike carriers, I drop to 49 in the summer, which isn't too bad. I routinely fuel up every 800 miles, but have had 3 tanks (18 gal tank) that went over 900 miles (918 to be exact). My highest tank was 56.4 mpg and my lowest was 42.4 mpg, which was highway cruising at 85 mph for most of a tank. No issues with winter starting, but I do add a conditioner below 0°F.

The only issue I didn't anticipate was that it gets such good mileage, my friends and I always end up taking it hiking because it costs so much less. It fits 5 plus gear, but 4 is more comfortable.

I am also on the tdi forums, lots of info with some great people.

 

[Mad Townie]

But how much more does diesel fuel cost? Being you, Lawn Sale, I have to believe that you've done the math to see how much you really are saving.
And I'll bet it's pretty good even with the price differential.

A friend of mine who owns a Prius remarked a few weeks ago that it's amazing what technological advances we've made over the last few years--now cars get fuel mileage almost as good as I got with my 1980 diesel Rabbit.

Hmmmm.

BTW, I didn't use any fuel conditioner other than what the companies add in the winter, but I did plug it in when the temps were below zero. Fahrenheit.

 

[Lawn Sale]

I did do the math, and have a handy calculator I setup on my spreadsheet program (the one with all the camping weights on it). To get the equivalent cost in mpg for a gas engine, a car would have to get 49.6 mpg. This was with fuel prices as I saw them today coming back from N. Conway.