I think it clarifies the mind to do the math. I don't know where you're
going but driving 1000 miles from Grinell, Iowa will get you to almost
anywhere in Colorado.
If your Cherokee gets 15 miles/gallon you'll need to buy 133 gallons of
gas for the round trip. If you take the Prius you might get by with a
little as 40 gallons. So the difference for getting there and back is
93 gallons. At $4/gallon it will cost you $372 to take the Cherokee vs
the Prius. Since you'll have to give up the camping gear you'll have to
stay in motels. $372 doesn't go very far for motels. In addition you
won't be able to take all the gear you really want to. If gas drops by
50 cents/gallon by summer as some analysts suggest you come out a little
bit better. But even if it goes up to $5/gallon you're still probably
ahead to take the Cherokee and the camping gear.
Take the Cherokee. It might actually cost you less in the long run and
you'll be a much happier camper. (pun intended) :-)
Chuck Norcutt
On 5/10/2011 12:00 PM, Ken Norton wrote:
> So, with Summer coming up, the family has been discussing ideas of
> camping. Back at Christmastime, we travelled through the U.P. of
> Michigan, but we're thinking Colorado again this year. The dunes have
> pretty much become our family favorite spot.
>
> Well, with gas prices through the roof, we've been thinking of going
> suicidal here and taking the Prius instead of the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
> Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible for a family of four to
> spend two weeks camping with a Prius. Probably the only way we could
> do that is if we bought our camping gear and clothes out there and
> gave it away. By the time we buy/give the gear, we could easily pay
> for the additional gas to feed the Jeep. Besides, the Jeep is more fun
> and gives off-road adventure possibilities.
>
> Also, it really isn't so bad, because we tend to stay put for a few
> days at a time so our overall gas consumption for the two weeks is the
> same or even lower than in our normal lives.
>
> So, going back a few months before the last trip, I considered doing a
> film-only trip. I almost pulled it off, but the film didn't arrive in
> time. Serious bummer!!! The last time we were out in Colorado, I was
> almost entirely film-based. That turned out pretty well, actually. In
> fact, just a few days ago, I FINALLY got all the slides sleeved.
> There's some seriously good stuff in there that I haven't even thought
> of scanning yet.
>
> So, the thinking is this: Travel very very light. No laptops (have
> iPad and cellphones for communications). Well, my wife will bring her
> tiny laptop because she's working on another book, but it's about the
> size of my iPad. No digital cameras at all. Nope. Just the OM bodies
> and a careful selection of lenses. I will bring my big tripod this
> time, though. I'm tired of stooping. The idea is that the ENTIRE kit
> will fit in just the one backpack.
>
> I used to be able to do that, but since digital, my bag holding the
> chargers takes up as much space as my entire camera bag did 7 years
> ago!!!!
>
> I really liked how it went last Colorado trip. I shot tons of Provia
> and Velvia and had the mailers. Before leaving Colorado, I mailed the
> film to DeWaynes and it arrived home a couple days after I did. It
> actually went very well and I'll do the same again next time.
>
> This last weekend was a good experiment. We travelled for a two-night
> stay in the Prius. No camping gear, just hotelling it. The way the
> packing went, I think we could do the trip in the Prius if we didn't
> camp or if we took no creature comforts. But then we ran into a little
> problem. I'm so tall that the car really is uncomfortable for anything
> more than a couple hours drive. I am thinking that burning up a couple
> of extra dinos is the way to go.
>
> AG
--
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