Trip Costs

I wrote up the following not too long after my arrival at home. I kept thinking I would tighten up the numbers particularly since my gas expense was $100 less than 2008 when I drove 7500 miles. These numbers though will have to stand as I at least have a pretty clear picture of the costs. Yesterday I took the van to the storage facility. Only one camping trip in the near future, Sept 12 in Titusville to do an evening kayak trip. There will be Roadtrek rallies each of the following months which I plan to attend. Meanwhile my focus is to get those photos posted and prepare for my bicycle tour from Prague to Vienna beginning Sept 21. Here's the cost info:

I am surrounded by piles of receipts but I primarily used my daily log and credit card bills to give a rough estimate of the costs of my 3 month odyssey. One of my surprises was that the cost of fuel and the cost of campgrounds was not that far apart. In Canada, gasoline frequently averaged about one US dollar a liter which would make it over $3 a gallon which certainly was less than I paid in Canada in 2008. The total costs will come in around $8400 I think. Camping facilities totaled $1842 and gasoline $2242. There are many places to camp for less cost but they were not as convenient or as comfortable in many cases. Food including restaurants, groceries, and odds and ends, though I can’t say every ice cream cone is counted, was $1172. Tours including the Talkeetna air flight, the Tracy Arm boat ride, and the Kantishna Experience in Denali was around $1000. The ferry rides on the inside passage totaled $1746. Admission fees were approximately $200. Propane refills were $32. For 90 days of travel, food and lodging and related costs it will come to slightly less than $100 a day.

Alaska Bound Days 91 and 92

Day 91 Miles 527 Total trip miles:12,374 Home Sweet Home, Stuart Florida

Yes I pulled into my driveway shortly after 7 p.m. The day went surprisingly well considering I did not make many stops and had rain off and on all day. As I was about to leave the campground, a thunderstorm hit so I delayed since I wanted to pump out my tanks. It was still raining when I finally did pump out and as a result the inside of the front door was pretty wet. There seemed to be more northbound traffic the entire way and I saw several accidents. I was lucky to get through most of the Orlando area before rush hour. Thank goodness for my Sun Pass as there were few toll booths open and long lines. I stopped at the rest area just south of Orlando. When I emerged from the van, I felt my first 90+heat and thought how good it felt, almost like getting into those hot springs. As I approached my home area there was a rainbow in the sky. It was quite a welcome back to the sunshine state.

Day 92 This will complete the Alaska Bound “series” but I will post a summary of expenses and other data. It will take a while to sort everything out. I just continue to marvel at my good fortune to have had a wonderful, safe and healthy trip filled with such incredible experiences, breath taking scenery and great people. Today it seems almost like it was a dream. Of course the reality sets in as I do the laundry, sort the seeming tons of stuff coming out of the van and try to find a place for it all. I caught up with some of my neighbors including the 5 p.m. gazebo bunch where there was a beautiful onshore ocean breeze.

As I unpack I am already giving some thought to my next adventure when I fly to Prague in September for a two week trip that will include a week of bicycling from Prague to Vienna. I inflated my bike tires tonight and hope to get a short ride in the morning. Some of my Alaska wardrobe and my passport have been set aside ready to go again. First however I want some more time to savor the past 3 months and revisit through my photos and travel information. I am going to try to do a condensed version of my photos and have a slide show on the blog.

Alaska Bound Days 88,89 and 90

Note: Couple of photos from the Rock City Day parade that I was able to download from the web.

Day 88 Clarendon Hills, IL Preparing for my departure tomorrow, I updated the Garmin maps and my I Phone as well as studying road maps. Ginny and I took a long walk viewing all the new “monster size” houses in the area and admiring the gardens. I checked the oil which has slightly less that 5000 miles since the Fairbanks change. I’m hoping to make the next 1300 and do it in Stuart. I’ve been running the refrigerator on propane and that gage has lowered so I will have to keep an eye on it. At least I know I won’t need the heater from this point on.
Emily will stop by tonight to say goodbye and then it’s homeward bound in the morning.

Day 89 Miles 457 Flying J off Exit 2 I-65, Franklin, Kentucky Another first for me and Big Mama. I have friends who like to stay at Flying J’s (a truck stop facility) but I’ve never tried it before. I may have to pull out the ear plugs to drown out the diesels but I think it will fill the bill for tonight. I had selected a KOA in Franklin but it seems to have disappeared. I checked the Wal-Mart and they thought it was still there so I went back to the area a second time. Wal-Mart said I could stay there but it was pretty isolated and no other RV’s. Here there is only one other so far but lots of trucks and activity. I even treated myself to dinner in their restaurant, a good ole Southern buffet. Since my lunch had consisted of all day snacking, I thought a regular meal was a good idea. It gave me credit on my “rewards” card which I’ve been carrying for 2 years and a senior discount. Now if I can just sleep.

I left Ginny’s driveway about 8:30 and had light traffic around Chicago on I 294 to I 80 to I 65 which runs the length of Indiana. I saw very few RV’s on the road and more trucks than cars. Before and after Louisville I had some intermittent rain, some fairly heavy, but short lived. They were predicting heavy rains tomorrow night but hopefully I’ll be away from that pattern.

Day 90 Miles 407 Ozark RV Park, Ozark, Alabama (southeast corner of Alabama on route 231) I stayed in this park almost 2 years ago as I was making my way home from my first “long” Roadtrek trip to Cincinnati. It’s a nice park but hardly anyone here. My neighbors though have been here 3 weeks with a sad and scary story. They are from Ocala, FL and were on the first day of a trip to Michigan with a pickup pulling a trailer when a young man lost control of his vehicle coming out of a Wal-Mart down the road. Their truck had major damage and the trailer some damage. It was a miracle that no one was killed as other vehicles were hit as well. When the truck repair is completed they’ll return home to get the trailer repaired. It is a sobering story.

I left Flying J about 7:45 a.m. and had intermittent rain enroute to Nashville but fortunately none going through town as happened in Day 2 of this trip. However it continued off and on all day, at times quite heavy. A couple of times Big Mama caught a gust of wind and it was good I had both hands on the wheel. I debated going further but the storm clouds, fatigue and uncertainty on where to stop were enough to get me to quit while I was ahead. Tomorrow however will be a 9 hour day if I decide to get all the way home. I have mixed feelings. I’ll miss my cozy “quarters” believe it or not. I do hope to do some short Florida trips and definitely have some camping rallies in October, November and December. Lots of other plans including a late October visit by Michael and his family to celebrate granddaughter Katherine’s 2nd birthday in Florida!

Alaska Bound Day 86 and 87

Day 86 Miles 125 Ginny’s house, Clarendon Hills, Il A beautiful summer day again and clean up time at the Davidson’s. I’m not sure how many people slept on the property last night but heads kept popping up during the morning. Emily, Brett, and I caught a mid morning breakfast and then prepared for our departure. I decided to take back roads and avoid Illinois’ toll way system which penalizes for not having an I Pass card by charging double and causing you to go off the road into a toll area. It added time and some miles but the roads I took luckily were lightly traveled on a Sunday afternoon.
My plan is to start for Florida on Wednesday and perhaps arrive by the weekend. I sense that I am ready to get home and “regroup.” It was great to see Ginny and her beautiful summer gardens. She’s a friend of 40 years and a winter neighbor as well. It’s almost like being home to visit her.

Day 87 Clarendon Hills, IL Michael and Katherine picked me up and we headed for the Brookfield Zoo. She loved the bears which were surprisingly active for a summer day. They cooled off in their pools and then moved about looking for food. There were polar and black bears from Alaska. We bought some lunch after visiting the children’s zoo. She was starting to get sleepy and so was Grandma, so not long afterwards we headed out.

The Lutzow’s invited me for dinner which was a delicious cookout eaten on their patio. Very few bugs joined the crowd. Getting in and out of Ginny’s narrow driveway is a challenge but I managed ok coming in the dark. I’m leaving Chicago without making many of the contacts I planned. I regret this but I think it is a sign that I am getting anxious to get the next few days of straight interstate driving behind me. The Chicago area with family and friends is a “return engagement.”

Alaska Bound Days 84 and 85

Evan, Jim and Brett perform; Katherine checks out Grandma's van; Emily leads her Swiss Canoe crew.

Day 84 Davidson’s Driveway, Rock City Illinois The day began quietly and I used my time to do some catching up with the blog though there is very limited Wifi that I can only pick up with luck and no ATT & T cell phone service! I used my sister’s phone to work on some arrangements for the coming week and reactivate my home telephone by August 1. I’m starting to feel like the horse with the barn in sight. My mail has been forwarded here until recently so I had a pile of that to sort and review.

By afternoon the family began gathering as did nature’s storm clouds which brought thunderstorms by evening requiring dinner for 35 to be inside. The food was delicious wherever and the celebration was for my nephew Luke’s 30th birthday. His sister Sarah had purchased a kayak and driven all the way from Ithaca NY with it on the top of the van. Two of the guys carried it in amidst the birthday presents much to Luke’s surprise.
Most of the crowd headed for the street dance on Main Street around 11 when the skies had cleared. I was happy to have Big Mama into which I could call it a night.

Day 85 Davidson’s Driveway, Rock City, IL I started by walking a few blocks to the Lions Club Pancake breakfast. It was a busy place shortly after 7:s0 and a delicious breakfast. As I left the house, one sleepy head appeared ready to begin work on the parade float. However when I returned everything was status quo with the flat hay rack only showing wisps of hay evident. The participants were rubbing sleepy eyes and moving uncertainly. The theme was “the world comes to Rock City”. I was to play Amelia Earhardt. Emily had found a leather jacket and purchased a cap, goggles, and scarf at a costume shop. She put together a cardboard box with wings on the side, a propeller and “nose” on the front. It was taped around me with duct tape. So remarkably by 10:30 Amelia and others including the Statue of Liberty (Emily), the Pope, Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, Hurricane Katrina, Sara Palin, Mickey Mouse, Bart Simpson on a skateboard, the new Supreme Court Justice, Queen Elizabeth, a Harlem Globetrotter, Fidel Castro, Chiquita Banana, and several others to whom I couldn’t quite identify but were amazingly costumed were lined up on a float whose cardboard banner read “Nuts about Rock City” were waiting in the parade staging area along with a contingent of motorcycles, floats from churches and various organizations, and vintage cars.

I was on foot in front of the float and flew my plane back and forth across the parade route streets in my plane sometimes asking the crowd if they could direct me to Hawaii or Guam. I have to say it was fun and I was surprised at my stamina. The disappointment is that I wanted to take photos but hopefully I’ll eventually get a copy of others’ photos.

Son Michael and his family arrived in time to see Grandma “in action” and after the parade we went together to all the activities going on in town throughout the day. It was fun to see granddaughter Katherine’s development after four months and her two brothers enjoyed the various activities for children but also a dip in the above ground Davidson pool. My sister Gayle and her family came from Madison, WI and brother Jim and wife DeAnn from Rockford. Jim played guitar along with nephew Evan and Emily’s partner Brett in a set of music performances at my sister’s gift and flower shop’s late afternoon “gazebo presentations.

The day ended there for me as I watched a great fireworks presentation from there with Margaret and some of her friends. The weather had been perfect and it was fun to be a part of an event of which I’ve known about but not witnessed before. I was probably the first to bed in my van using my ear plugs for the first time on the trip as the street dance continued at a loud volume a few blocks away.

Alaska Bound Days 80-83

L Rock City, Galena, Missippi River

Day 80 Miles 300 (exactly!) Red River State Park Campground, East Grand Forks, Minnesota This is a fairly new park along the Red River. The area had been a housing development at the time of the 1997 flood and the state agreed to take the property for a park. Streets and sidewalks still exist. Unfortunately I can’t see the river, only the bridge.

I didn’t wake up until 7:45 which resulted in a later start than planned. The campground owners had given me a computer map indicating where they thought the RV dealer in Winnipeg was located. I had found an address on the web with a postal code and decided to use that for the GPS. I followed the GPS which was a mistake and ended up in a residential neighborhood. Fortunately I found a Chevrolet dealer nearby who researched on their computer and gave me another map and talked me through the details. Even then I had to be on the alert to see the place. The “donut” was still in the box which took some searching to locate and then a while for a price -$33 with tax. I’ve become so used to going without it and knowing how difficult it is to replace, I’ll probably continue holding the waste hose down with a rock (be sure to see Judy’s blog for a photo of our pumping out).

The next challenge was to find North Dakota, but fortunately that wasn’t too difficult though I have to say not very well marked. I had a nice visit with customs/immigration though the facility was a bit confusing partly because half dozen huge trucks blocked the sign and the way. Apparently it is a crossing used more by the truckers than passenger cars but there were 3 lanes open for cars and only 1 for trucks.

Into the US I turned on my phone and managed to connect with daughter Emily. Since then I’ve been catching up a bit with family and friends. I’ll visit Stuart winter neighbors, the Schauers, tomorrow near St. Cloud MN, about another 300 miles.

The road today was again for the most part flat and straight with fields of canola (bright yellow) and flax (lavender) which really makes the ride more lively. I haven’t mentioned all the grain elevators or the shiny silver silo type structures which reflect the sun almost blinding to the viewer. I would not hesitate to recommend this route on the Transcanada Highway 1 at least as far as Manitoba. It’s four lane and though the pavement is a bit rough in places, the traffic was light and towns were few and far between.

Day 81 Miles 274 Schauer’s driveway, Clear Lake, Minnesota I took a short tour of Grand Falls before filling up the gas tank and getting back on I 19. I seem to remember working on a project for downtown revitalization for Grand Forks in the early 80’s. What I saw looked pretty healthy almost 30 years later. A nice park has been created on both sides of the river.
I 29 had construction from the border to I 94 and much of it was two way traffic. Once into Minnesota with more construction, rain was added to the equation. Fortunately when I arrived at Schauers it was dry but rained soon after. They are in a beautiful manufactured home park and they over look the Mississippi River. Bird feeders and large oak trees abound. I enjoyed seeing their “summer” digs and we caught up on each others lives. They have been Rv-ers in the past so had an appreciation of my days on the road. Barbara fixed a great dinner, my first home cooking in a long time.

Day 82 Miles 324.Govenor Dodge State Park, Dodgeville, Wisconsin I am in the rolling hill, limestone cliff area of southwest Wisconsin not far from Spring Green, site of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin. About 30 years ago I tent camped here with my kids. It’s a beautiful park but not very many campers. I meandered my way here south from I 94, enjoying the beautiful countryside. I saw horse and buggies so there must be a pocket of Omish. The weather is in the low 70’s and I did have some rain coming through the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Lots of bird calls here but tough to spot them with all the foliage. One of the campground handouts was discouraging campfires and encouraging stargazing or seeking out wildlife with a flashlight. No bear warnings were seen though.

Day 83 Miles 126 Davidson’s Driveway, Rock City, Illinois A beautiful morning with the sounds of birds started my day in Wisconsin. I had a shower at the campground facilities which had no temperature controls and seemed to shut off every time someone flushed the toilet, but nevertheless was warm enough water. Today is a difficult day, July 23. It would have been my husband Les’s birthday and so it is one of the “trigger” days when tears come easily. It also marks 2 years since I decided that the answer to dealing with my grief was to get an RV. Looking back over the last two years, I can’t imagine life without “Big Mama”, my Roadtrek, and my travels I’ve done and the friends I’ve made. It has been an enriching and affirming experience. Some might call it escapism, but I call it continuing the life adventures I had in my time with Les.

I had telephoned an old friend of Les’s and mine, Tom Sprague. He and his wife had retired to the Galena Territory Development outside Galena, Illinois once the home of Ulysses S. Grant, General and President. It’s a town full of beautifully restored buildings. The southwest Wisconsin area and Northwest corner of Illinois are beautiful hills or ridges, as they are referred to here that the glaciers “missed”. Eagle River, where the Spragues live epitomizes that terrain which results in a development where houses are tucked in among the hills and lush greenery is abundant. It was great to see them enjoying their beautiful new setting and to hear that Tom continues as a Kiwanian in the Galena group.

A little further east is the town of Rock City, population 313, or so the special postmark designed by my brother Jim (He won the contest!) states. It will be used Saturday to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the town. My sister’s house was built only 6 years after the town. Only a short distance from the Wisconsin border, there are many dairy farms in the area. Rock City Day on Saturday has a full line up of events beginning with the Lions Club breakfast and ending with the fireworks. Our family will be represented by a float and music performance as well as many of the games and contests of the day.

Tonight though was a delightful evening in the garden drinking some of brother in law Dennis’s great wine made from his own vineyard and catching up with some of the family who had arrived from New Mexico and New York. Many more will arrive tomorrow including daughter Emily. On Saturday, son Michael and his family will come for the day.

Alaska Bound Days 78 and 79

Day 78 Miles 266 Prairie Oasis Motel and Campground, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan I had an early start at 8:15. Yesterday I telephoned the Roadtrek dealer in Winnipeg and my “donut” is there. I decided to push on rather than staying at Cypress Hills. I am happy though that I made the 40 mile round trip. The terrain in the area is fascinating with high rolling hills, primarily grazing land for cattle. Bright yellow fields stand out. I later confirmed this is canola being grown. It makes a colorful landscape sometimes paired with purple flax. I didn’t mention that both yesterday and today there are oil wells pumping in the area and also I think gas pipelines. At the information center when I entered the province I was told all of the southeast area is booming with gas and oil exploration. The landscape both days has been much more interesting than I expected. One anomaly today was piles of white material looking like snow but is some form of salt. Dinosaur bones are a frequent find in the area which has an ancient and fascinating story.
Moose Jaw itself is not what I expected. A thriving town less than an hour from larger Regina, one of it’s claims to fame is Al Capone. The Chicago gangster ran a bootleg operation here and I took the “Tunnels” tour, a type of moving “theatre” telling the story of those years. Capone would take the train from Chicago and live quite royally in Moose Jaw. A web of tunnels under the building and secret doors hid the comings and goings of the operation. All furnished in the period of the times, it was entertaining. I was with a group of 15 traveling together. 2 were young boys who became somewhat part of the show to the amusement of the rest of us and added to the improvising of the actors. An annual four day event in which I’d hoped to sample is Moose Jaw’s “Festival of Words” with authors and playwrights putting on workshops and presentations. It looked like a great program but none of the times worked with my hours in town. The program’s website for future reference http://www.festivalofwords.com/ I learned this at a wonderful bookstore, Post Horizon Booksellers where I stopped to check on some titles that Judy recommended. Neither were available but I still walked out with 2 books. They sell online through http://www.abebooks.com/
I was disappointed in the laundry facilities at Prairie Oasis. There really is only one working washing machine and most of the room is taken up by machines designated for the motel operation. It is a very large park with a number of permanent installations as well as transients. I’m again in a type of “overflow” but do have electric and water for the first time in almost a week. I’ve been pleased at how well my battery has performed with the dry camping. I have yet to run the generator though with the warmer days I may need to if no electricity is available for the AC. Today was as high as 87 but fortunately a nice breeze. The name Moose Jaw is said to come from the Cree word Moosegaw meaning “Warm Breezes” which perfectly describes today.
Day 79 Miles 272 Meadowlark Campground, Brandon, Manitoba I decided to hold off on the laundry and the facilities here are great and the most reasonable I’ve found. I had an early start even allowing for time to upload some blog entries before leaving the campground. The terrain flattened considerably east of Moose Jaw but the road was straight with little traffic and I was able to set cruise control at 62 mph and just cruise along for more than 2 hours. CBC broadcasting is great company with good programming that I can usually connect to all along the way. Apparently there have been recent changes to Highway 1 and the GPS frequently thought I was off the road. It has been four lane all the way which is quite a change from the previous weeks.

I arrived here at 2 p.m. local time, central daylight. This was a good day to loose the hour. Tomorrow I will head into Winnipeg and then on to Grand Forks, ND. After laundry, I did some reorganizing and repacking of clothes. It should be warm weather from here.
I tried to put a new map together tonight but I still don’t have the hang of charting my path on Google Maps. If anyone has a suggestion, I’d sure appreciate it. Just email me sandy41mail@gmail.com