Help planning my road trip to West USA

[romanampuero]

Hi everybody, im leaving from Philadelphia to the West for 35 days, i need advices please im going with my wife and 1 year old daughter , i have a 2001 good maintanced Subaru Outback 3.0 . The car is in good condition but no new. Im planning to star in Rapid City ( my wife and daugther may fly from philly to there) , watch Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grant Teton NP, Jackson Hole, Salt Lake City, Park City, Archs National Park, 4 Corners, Zion National Park, Dixie National Forest, Capitol Reef NP, Canyonland NP, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Sequioa NP, Kings Canyon NP, Yosemite, (take Tioga exit) , Reno, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento, Redwoods National Park, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver. Come back to Seattle send me wife and daugther in a plane back to Philly. Drive back to Philly in my Subby. I want to ask how much money maybe i will need? im leaving on June 9 , my wife meet me June 12 in Rapid City, i have to come back to Philly July 10, 2010. Thanks for your help.
P.D
I try to rent a car but it will cost me $ 2400

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

There are several major components to any RoadTrip expense account:

1) The car and gas. Or in your case just the gas. You can use the Fuel cost Calculator at the upper left of this page if your numbers are significantly different, but for a ballpark estimate let's say you get 20 mpg and gas costs $3.00 a gallon. That means you can expect to pay around $1350 just for gas.

2) Lodging. This won't change much whether you're alone or have your wife and child with you. A motel room will generally run you anywhere from $50 to $100 a night depending on class of motel and service, location, and season. So for an estimate, say $75 a night for 31 nights or $2325.

3) Meals and 'amusements'. A big variable, but let's say $50 a day each for you and your wife, out of which will come the infant's needs as well. so $50 times 31 days for you and 22 days for your wife, or a total of around $2650.

4) Airfare. Roundtrip airfare for your wife into Rapid City (expensive) and home from Seattle (reasonable) should run on the order of $400-500.

So round all those numbers a bit and you get a rough budget of $6700. You can work around the edges to cut costs, but such a major trip is going to cast a good bit.

One other thing. While you might be able to make the drive from Philadelphia to Rapid City in three days. They are going to be long, driving filled days if you hope to cover the nearly 1700 miles. Plan on your wife and child arriving as late as practicable to give you any chance of being there to meet them.

AZBuck

[romanampuero]

Thanks a lot, im thinking now , $ 7000 for a month is a lot jeje

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

There are several major components to any RoadTrip expense account:

1) The car and gas. Or in your case just the gas. You can use the Fuel cost Calculator at the upper left of this page if your numbers are significantly different, but for a ballpark estimate let's say you get 20 mpg and gas costs $3.00 a gallon. That means you can expect to pay around $1350 just for gas.

2) Lodging. This won't change much whether you're alone or have your wife and child with you. A motel room will generally run you anywhere from $50 to $100 a night depending on class of motel and service, location, and season. So for an estimate, say $75 a night for 31 nights or $2325.

3) Meals and 'amusements'. A big variable, but let's say $50 a day each for you and your wife, out of which will come the infant's needs as well. so $50 times 31 days for you and 22 days for your wife, or a total of around $2650.

4) Airfare. Roundtrip airfare for your wife into Rapid City (expensive) and home from Seattle (reasonable) should run on the order of $400-500.

So round all those numbers a bit and you get a rough budget of $6700. You can work around the edges to cut costs, but such a major trip is going to cast a good bit.

One other thing. While you might be able to make the drive from Philadelphia to Rapid City in three days. They are going to be long, driving filled days if you hope to cover the nearly 1700 miles. Plan on your wife and child arriving as late as practicable to give you any chance of being there to meet them.

AZBuck