Question: Will current gas prices curb the distance of your trips?

[Tom McRae]

Gas prices will not reduce the time or distance of trips in the Casita. What will change it the amount we spend eating out and buying coffee on the trips. (Joyce and I are both big coffee drinkers).

In February we spent about 3 weeks in Texas State Parks to escape the Kansas cold. We did not eat one single meal out. Did buy some coffee and a few ice cream cones at McDonald's.

Next trip we will be making all coffee in the Casita, even on the road. We have an old fashoned Percolator.

I spent many years working at a lousy job so I could enjoy travelling in retirement and am not about to change my Casita travel plans due to high gas prices. We will cut out the crusies and air travel, however.

Tom

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by melissab

Hubby says he saw where in Mexico gas is 2.80 a gallon. Can you drive across to fill up?

A San Diego Union-Tribune article quotes that $2.80 per gallon price (8.92 pesos per liter Mexican), but you have to figure in Mexican Auto Insurance (American policies not valid in Mexico) sold at the border ($5.00 per day minimum liability only comprehensive extra), plus the border inspection wait times in both directions (News radio quoted 2 hours wait for northbound traffic this morning at 9:00AM PDT). I don't think those hurdles are worth $17.00 per tank savings.

[RichardinBC]

I'm with you Tom, I bought my 13'Trillium so I could make traveling affordable.

Gas prices are nothing compared to motel's and eating out.

I will be doing the Oregon Coast this June and Utah in September, the gas will just not be that much.

[Sharon G]

We will be going to Florida in May and camping free on relatives' rural land, so the cost of that trip will be mostly the gas. We'll skip eating out except for coffee on the road.

The rest of our camping this year will probably be in Georgia or Alabama Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds or national forests where our senior passes make it very affordable.

[honda03842]

We're beginning our 9 day trip home in the morning from FL and except for 2 nights where we want to be near relatives, we'll be staying in Passport parks, paying 1/2 price. This does help to reduce our camping fees.

Norm

[SherryNPaul]

Originally Posted by Borden

No New York parks for us then
We love our dogs
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ers-45110.html
all the parks we have camped dog friendly with no do and have dog beach area's

Our experience has been quite different from that. We've camped a bit in New York, (three parks last year, several the year before...) and I can't remember stopping at a state or DEC campground that didn't allow pets. However, some, like Letchworth, only allowed pets in certain loops. Pet policies differ from park to park, though.
For those of you who camp a lot with pets, here's a link to a recent study that may help as an initial tool to plan your trip around New England. Check the website for the parks you're interested in to find out the individual policies:
STATE PARK AND CAMPGROUND PET POLICIES

Sherry

[rgrugg]

Won't stop us. Gotta do something with our money so the kids won't inherit it.

[5thwheelreviews]

Originally Posted by rgrugg

Won't stop us. Gotta do something with our money so the kids won't inherit it.

BaaaHaaHaaahhaaahaa. CUTE !!!!

No, it won't deter my travels. But, I did get the Sirius Travel Link subscription, which gives me the fuel prices along my route. I used it for the six month trial period, but when it expired, you had to buy a whole radio subscription to get the Travel Link. Someone found intelligent life at Sirius and realized that they could make money just selling the Travel Link subscription without a radio package to people who would otherwise buy nothing. I did, and I do save money on fuel from this sweet little service. I think it ran me about $75 bucks for a year. Sirius Travel Link - SiriusXM Radio

[Borden]

The gas is 1.376 Litter X 4 US Gal = $5.504 for a week now.

Still need a trip with some real distance to fully test our setup. Around town or local is not a problem. Then we will have a more accurate estimate of the actual fuel costs.

[Bruce Thomas]

on the news today they're talking about it hitting $6 a gallon now by summer....

[5thwheelreviews]

Originally Posted by Bruce Thomas

on the news today they're talking about it hitting $6 a gallon now by summer....

Yeah, it will probably hit around six bucks a gallon, then they'll lower it to 5.50 and everyone will feel like they're getting a great deal

[mcbrew]

Originally Posted by Bruce Thomas

on the news today they're talking about it hitting $6 a gallon now by summer....

What news do you watch?

I was laughing at the news yesterday... they had an "expert" on there who said that the price might level out soon... or maybe keep going up. Gee...ya think? I guess the price of gas is all they have to talk about these days.

[Greg H]

It's going to at least $5.00 because that # is stuck in their head, just watch. Now also believe it or not the price of gas is actually causing me and my family to move back to the midwest, from Texas of all places where gas should be affordable but it's not because I live in the desert near a self proclaimed tourist area.

[mcbrew]

Originally Posted by Bruce Thomas

on the news today they're talking about it hitting $6 a gallon now by summer....

Originally Posted by Greg H

It's going to at least $5.00 because that # is stuck in their head, just watch. Now also believe it or not the price of gas is actually causing me and my family to move back to the midwest, from Texas of all places where gas should be affordable but it's not because I live in the desert near a self proclaimed tourist area.

Being close to oil reserves doesn't account for much. It's not like the state or US gov't is pulling the oil out of the ground and handing it over to us. For-profit companies, many of the foreign, are taking the oil out and selling it to us at a hefty profit. That's why I laugh when people say we need to drill offshore in order to bring the price down... who do they think is drilling... uncle Sam?

[5thwheelreviews]

The problem isn't supply or where it's coming from. The problem is that we allow oil speculation on Wall Street. Gasoline and diesel fuel should be treated like any other utility. It should be closely regulated, and we saw what gift Enron gave us when we allowed them to speculate on electricity. Higher fuel prices effect literally everything. I mean bananas don't walk to the grocery store - they have to hitch a ride on a plane and a truck - both which are burning kerosene. Fuel needs to be a regulated utility.

[Mike Magee]

I've heard several times that if speculators weren't bidding up the futures prices, gas prices would not be rising like they are. It sounds right, in a way. But then I'm not sure I understand. Let me explain.

Let's suppose a bunch of people bought orange juice futures, betting that a hard freeze would hit Florida. It would push the futures price up for the time period when they were buying... say, January futures. But why would that make the actual orange juice price rise? There would still be ample OJ supplies in Nov and Dec. And if the freeze did not hit in January, the price would stay low... the folks who bought futures would lose their money, that's all that would happen.

So I don't get how it raises actual gas prices when the gas futures get bid up by speculators buying futures. Still plenty of gas and oil. Refineries aren't at capacity, no production or delivery bottlenecks. Can someone explain to me the mechanism by which futures purchases drive up the current price of the actual product?

[Alf S.]

Hi: Mike Magee...GREED!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[mcbrew]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

I've heard several times that if speculators weren't bidding up the futures prices, gas prices would not be rising like they are. It sounds right, in a way. But then I'm not sure I understand. Let me explain.

Let's suppose a bunch of people bought orange juice futures, betting that a hard freeze would hit Florida. It would push the futures price up for the time period when they were buying... say, January futures. But why would that make the actual orange juice price rise? There would still be ample OJ supplies in Nov and Dec. And if the freeze did not hit in January, the price would stay low... the folks who bought futures would lose their money, that's all that would happen.

So I don't get how it raises actual gas prices when the gas futures get bid up by speculators buying futures. Still plenty of gas and oil. Refineries aren't at capacity, no production or delivery bottlenecks. Can someone explain to me the mechanism by which futures purchases drive up the current price of the actual product?

Mike, I can give you one reason, although I am Sure there are other factors involved. I have a friend in the gas station business, so that's where this info comes from. His underground tanks have to be filled very often -- a few times a week. He only makes a few cents a gallon on regular unleaded. If he sees that the price is going up, he has to charge more for the gas he already has in order to be able to afford to refill his tanks. It's a very difficult game to play when prices rise quickly, and that's why a lot of gas stations go under in these situations.

Think about this: You buy 10,000 gallons of gas for $3 a gallon and sell it for $3.05 a gallon. You make $500 in profit, so now you have $30,500 in the bank. Then the wholesale price goes up to $3.20 a gallon. Now you need $32,000 to fill your tanks. That extra $1,500 has to come from somewhere. Now imagine that happening a few times a week for a few months!

[honda03842]

We're not ready to sell our CRV. It has 140,000 miles on it and we're going for 250,000. When we're done we usually give them to the 'kids'.

It's been a great tow vehicle, taking us every where in NA with great gas mileage

Safe Travels

Norm

[RRIZZO]

We will probably not go very far on trips. Probably stay inside CAlif. Have two trips planned so far. Lake Casitas in Oct and Bishop this month.