This post is from Donna's Looping the USA field report from Summer, 2012. Read the complete report here.
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It's taken me a few months to reckon with the expenses of the trip. With others planning long trips, though, and my husband bugging me to figure it out (so we can calculate WHEN we can take another long trip), I finally got around to completing the statistics!
Total miles added to our pickup truck = 8971.
Overnights = $1852.26. (Average=$84.19 for paid nights; highest was $104.85 in Portland, ME, and lowest was $43.51 in Dayton, OH. Oh, WDW's Pop Century was around $130/night.)
Fuel = $1808.88. This did not include fuel for the rental while in MO. Our lowest price per gallon was $3.35 in Kingdom City, MO, where our highest (other than home in CA at initial fill-up) was $3.89 in Primm, NV. This was for diesel. Our MPG was between 14 and 16, usually.
Restaurants = $1120.80. Does not include 4 meals at WDW (I can't find the bill right now)
Other food/snacks/drinks = $73.29.
Sightseeing =- $632.00. This includes 2 people for 4-day-park-hopper tickets at WDW (military special rate), 2 people at Universal 1 day-1 park, 2 people at Kennedy Space Center, National Park admissions, and 2 tickets to Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty. We prepaid some of these online or at our local base to get a better price.
Ice = $55.15. This surprised me. The price of keeping our stuff cold, I guess.
Tolls = $45.30, despite attempting to avoid tolls wherever possible.
Parking = UGH = $47.00 (Universal, Philadelphia, other)
Misc = $22.00 (laundry, etc)
Souvenirs = $218.60
Total normal expenses = $5875.28
Repairs = $1300.12 (included alternator, actuator, oil change, and the deductible to repair the broken headlamp and crunched corner of the truck from Philadelphia)
Total expenses = $7175.40
Trip reflections (written down several weeks after we got home):
* Good trip!
* Enjoyed Maine the best, would love to retire there but it's too far from our family.
* Liked the Florida parks, but we still are mad about the rain!
* Don't take the campstove and pots next time unless we really intend to camp out. Stick to the electric fry pan.
* Don't haul a lot of food stuff. Stick to the simple, it will lighten loads and keep us from the need to supply TWO coolers with ice.
* Plan around family and friends as it really gives us a nice break from sightseeing and the road, and allows us to keep in touch with those around. We really enjoyed this!
Donna
