Southwest Trip–Recap

Rushing through the adventures and challenges in life, be they major projects at work or major life events, I’ve noticed that we seldom take the time, after the fact, to reflect on those events and understand more deeply what we enjoyed most, what we’ve learned and how we can add more quality to our work and our lives as a result.  After I added a ‘lessons learned’ phase to my project methodology at work, it proved to be extremely enlightening and seems like it could provide similar advantage in our ‘adventure’ projects.  In that light, I’ve decided to provide a recap of our first ‘snowbird’ adventure to the Southwest.  Best case, this exercise will help Ken and I mold even greater future adventures based on what we saw and learned, also perhaps help family and friends get to know us a bit better by understanding what stands out to us, and last but not least maybe provide a reader or two some ideas of how to add to the quality of their own adventures.

Route - 2011 Southwest Trip

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To add structure to the recap, I’ve developed a series of ‘Fab Fives’ in the areas of:

• Locations visited
• Attractions
• Camping sites
• Restaurants
• Photos

To be sure that you got both Ken and my picks, I made a list of each category and then independently Ken and I listed our top 10. I then did an average of his picks and mine to come out with our top 5 picks.  Yes, very anal and analytical but that’s not a habit I’ll probably ever break!

But, first here I thought I’d include a few general statistics.

. Days on the road – 71

. Miles travelled in motorhome – 4111

. Miles travelled in jeep – 2000, swag based on gas used…we forgot to track

. Estimated mpg motorhome – 9 mpg

. Estimated mpg jeep – 16 mpg (swag based on past history…we forgot to track)

. Average price of diesel (motorhome) -  470 gallons used averaging $3.59, lowest paid $3.09, highest paid $3.90

.Average price of gasoline (jeep) – 116 gallons averaging $3.28, lowest paid $2.95, highest paid $3.59

.Number of different sites we camped overnight - 18

.Number of nights boondocking - 13

.Average cost per night of RV site (includes free boondock nights) – $17

.Most paid for an RV site – $33.33

.Number of blogs posted – 53

Overall Cost of Trip

$1183            RV sites

$1685            Motorhome fuel

$382               Jeep fuel

$1400            Grocery Store/Walmart – includes non-food items such as soaps, paper goods, sundries, batteries, over-counter drugs, beer/wine, stamps, etc.,

$1736            Eating out

$128               Entertainment/Entrance fees

$195               Clothing/laundry – tennies for hiking, new spring coat, Ken new hat, T-shirts, plus laundry

$362               RV/Jeep maintenance-Hot Water Heater repair, wiper blades, waterless RV wash and brush with extension, water filter replacements, water regulator gauge, parts for hubcap when hit cone on highway, door clip replacement

$56                 Propane

$220              Gifts for volunteers handling mail, snow removal, watching house

$199               Miscellaneous - $19.50 Oklahoma Turnpike; $22 Collapsible cooler; new ceramic heater $42; Southwest cookbook $15; New Vacuum Cleaner $40; dog grooming $60

$7546            TOTAL

There were certain expenses that we have set up in such a way that we can easily move between home and RV such as phone, internet and satellite TV.  Since we pay the same whether on the road or home, they are not included here.

With the exception of the RV site costs,  motorhome fuel, and having people watch the house, we spend about the same amount on the other categories whether at home or on the road so the true ADDED cost of being on the road was only in the $3000 range…..and of course, the ‘adventures’…..PRICELESS!!

Stay tuned for our ‘Fab Five’ posts!

Hugs, C