We just got back from a month on the road. Traveled first with good friends over to the Olympic Peninsula (WA). They just took possession of a brand new
Escape 19 (lucky them!) and this was their "maiden voyage". They returned home after 5 days and we continued on down the Washington and Oregon coasts, then to the Reno/Carson City area, then into Utah before looping back home through eastern Oregon and up I-5.
Highlights of the trip were Virginia City (NV), Cathedral Gorge State Park (NV), Zion National Park (UT) and the Columbia Gorge (OR). A great trip overall in spite of some very cold and very windy weather. One thing we will never do again though is plan a trip that overlaps spring break! Campgrounds were full in a lot of places and there were crowds at all the popular destinations.
Cost for our trip of just over 4,000 miles was approximately $2,277. We ended up spending more than we usually do for camping ($822 for 32 nights = about $26/night) because we had to stay in private enterprise campgrounds more often than usual for us due to the national and state parks being full ($44 a night to stay in an RV park in Springdale, UT, just outside Zion. Ouch!). Gas averaged $3.78/gal and we didn't get as good of gas mileage with our van as we'd hoped (only about 11.5 miles/gal). We pulled the trailer up and down a LOT of high passes though, many of them well over 5,000 ft (the highest over 7,00 ft) and we encountered some strong headwinds too. Miscellaneous expenses came to $122 (museum fees,
propane, souvenirs, etc.). We were gone for 33 days so our cost per day was about $69/day. Guess you couldn't travel too much more cheaply than that and still be able to go where you want and see what you want when you want!
A few pictures attached and more in a set on Flickr:
Spring 2013 Trip - a set on Flickr