Vancouver, BC - Las Vegas (West Coast down, ID back up)

[benjis_monikuss]

I never plan our fuel stops exactly, but knowing where the fuel might be super-expensive and avoiding those, is important if you have a vehicle like ours that can swallow 35 gallons quickly. If we're at a hotel with internet (and that's what we always want), I use the evening's relaxation to look ahead on gasbuddy.com to see where fuel is cheaper than other places. As a *general* rule of thumb, fuel is usually cheaper on the outskirts of larger cities than in the middle of the boonies. Some states, like California, have obnoxiously high fuel taxes that cause the gasoline to cost 40c/gal more than in the neighboring state. (We will wait until Arizona to fill our fuel tank, for that reason, or fill up just before we enter the state.) So I can understand your need to "preplan" your fuel stops. You just might want to wait until the night before each travel day, because gasbuddy can help you get better prices.


Donna

I have fuel my route favorited on my laptop and planned on doing just that. Changing our 3 day means I'll fill up near Medford, OR then near Reno, NV before we head back into Cali. The rest I'll work out day of. Ta!

[Southwest Dave]

If you want a nice view looking down on Mono Lake and/or you are ready to eat, you can turn right onto CA120 and take a left turn 300 or 400 yds along the road. You will find Whoa Nellie Deli in the gas station which serves up some great food [gas probably expensive here] and just up the hill past the gas station is a small parking area that overlooks the lake. From here it's about an hour and a qtr to Bishop.

[glc]

Gas is very expensive in Lee Vining - today's price is $4.89 according to Gasbuddy. It's about $1 cheaper in Nevada.

[benjis_monikuss]

Gas is very expensive in Lee Vining - today's price is $4.89 according to Gasbuddy. It's about $1 cheaper in Nevada.

Yeah, that'll be the tricky fill up I think. I can get it about 20-30c cheaper in Reno but then it's about 520 miles until I cross back into NV (Pahrump first cheapest gas) taking my route through Bishop to DV. But I'll figure it out, I'll just choose the lesser of two evils haha. Whatever the cheapest CA gas I can find will have to do out of necessity but that's ok.

And thank you SWDave! I'm not too sure how we'll be looking by the time we get to Mono Lake, we may end up going to Rock Creek Lake resort for pie but I've written down almost every suggestion you guys have given me so we could end up going there on a whim and if we do get there around sunset your viewpoint sounds like it would make great photos. I can't thank you guys enough, I wouldn't have half the awesome suggestions I do without you guys! I really appreciate what you guys do.

I was also wondering if anyone knows anything about State Line Rd/Bell Vista Rd that cuts from the 190 at 127 and goes straight across to Pahrump? Google shows a drivable road and it seems the faster/ more direct route as opposed to taking 127 S, then NE on the 178. I'd obviously like to take the faster road but I was just curious if anyone knew what condition those roads are in, it looks like on the NV side of the border Bell Vista is a community area so I'm hoping that means it's a common short cut haha

[DonnaR57]

Bishop is a lot cheaper than Lee Vining. Regular Unleaded sitting at $4.13/gal today.



Donna

[benjis_monikuss]

Definitely! I even see there's one a little down the road that's $4.09 so I'm not too worried. I could even just put enough gas in to get me comfortably to Pahrump where I can top off.

[glc]

What you do is fill up in Minden or Gardnerville instead of Reno - it's actually cheaper. It's just under 400 miles from there to Pahrump. Arco is the cheapest major brand, but pay cash. They don't take credit cards and they have a surcharge for debit cards.

Bell Vista is a good 2 lane well maintained road with a 55 mph speed limit till you get to the edge of Pahrump, where it becomes a city street. It is a well known and traveled shortcut.

[benjis_monikuss]

Sweet! Yeah, 'Reno' is just an estimate, it's around the place along our route where the gas gets much cheaper. I'll be using the fuelmyroute/ gasbuddy site each morning and try to find say the 3 cheapest places for the day. Arco, ok I've written that down as I'm unfamiliar with that haha. Awesome!

[DonnaR57]

Here's our rule of thumb for Arco/AM-PM stations: there is usually a 35c surcharge for debit cards. If we are buying 7 gallons, that raises their price 5c per gallon. So if the neighboring station wants that extra nickel anyway, we're not saving anything by using Arco. If the neighboring station wants more than a nickel extra per gallon, we'll go ahead and use the Arco unless the lines are extraordinarily long (like they often are at a station we liked to use in Yuma, AZ).


Donna

[benjis_monikuss]

When you are used to playing closer to $6 a gallon on the north side of the border, even $4.80 doesn't seem that bad haha. As long as I'm in the 5-10c range of the cheaper gas in the area I'll be happy. I just don't want to run out =P!