Details on the trip south so far:
Took us 9 overnight stops to get here - Tuesday, October 18th to Thursday, October 27th. 4 nights were spent at RV parks, 5 were spent boondocking:
- Oct 18th Coulee Playland - Electric City, Washington $18
- Oct 19th Coulee Playland - Electric City, Washington $18
- Oct 20th Stinkers fuel station - Caldwell, Idaho FREE
- Oct 21st Cabelas sports store - Salt Lake City, Utah FREE
- Oct 22nd OK RV Park - Moab, Utah $18 (Passport America park)
- Oct 23rd Santa Ana Casino - Albuquerque, New Mexico FREE
- Oct 24th rest stop off I-40 east - Chillicothe, Texas FREE
- Oct 25th Fernbrook RV Park - Longview, Texas $16.50 (PA park)
- Oct 26th rest stop off I-10 east - Breaux Bridge, Louisiana FREE
Total cost for RV parks over 9 nights = $72 (CAD)
We made 8 stops to refuel JohnnyDisco along the way, including the initial fuel-up in BC before we left. Gas ranged from $3.07 per gallon (in NW New Mexico) to $4.05 (Washinton state).
Total cost for gas, from BC to Alabama = $1710 (CAD)
We filled up our propane tank once = $27.50 (CAD)
Groceries, booze, RV supplies, electronics, gifts = $628 (CAD)
Gulf Coast RV park for November (full hook-ups, 50 amp) = $430 (CAD)
We're way under budget for RV parks (compared to last year) and on budget for gas and groceries.
In the next few days I'll write up a quick post about the RV park we chose, Peanut Park. That's not the real name - I call it that because Southern Alabama is peanut growing country and our park is surrounded by peanut crops. You probably already knew this but I had no idea that peanuts grew underground.
And folks down here boil peanuts in salt water and eat them as a snack. We bought some from a roadside stand a few days ago and they're pretty good.
We also picked up a pound of pink-eye purple hull peas (cost me $1) and made them with steaks last night. I chopped off the ends, put a little butter and salt on them and cooked them like string beans. The pods were too chewy to eat - apparently you're supposed to shell them first. Oops. But the peas were really good and we'll be getting more from the roadside farmer.
Messing up new recipes is one of my fave things about traveling somewhere new :)
Hey Kelsi, how fast were you driving (on an average) and which park are you at? There are lots of parks in alabama averaging around $350 a month with full hookups, just curious on where you ended up.
stay safe!
Posted by: Karyn | October 29, 2011 at 08:18 PM
Hey K - My Fella was usually doing the speed limit except in Texas where we drove a little under that because the wind was pushing against us so hard. We had some longer days (9 hours) mixed in with shorter ones (about 6 hours).
The real name of Peanut Park is Emmaus RV Resort in Baldwin County. There are quite a few parks in this area but this one really fit our needs: the sites are huge and you are a looong way from your neighbours, it's quiet and caters to adults only, the internet is reliable and very speedy, it's not in the middle of a city, etc. And it's a short drive to the Tanger Outlets, the Gulf Coast, Pensacola, Mobile, etc.
All the other parks we saw - ranging in price from $300 to $500 - had RV's really packed in close together and that was the #1 thing we wanted to stay away from.
Posted by: kelsi | October 30, 2011 at 06:13 AM