Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
May 16 ~ Day # 6
Budget to date
Spent today
Total to date
Daily average
Total
$600
$128.55
$705.06
$117.84
Current Location: Carlsbad, NM
Mileage: 472 Total: 1933
Total Expenses: $128.55
Transportation: $59.01
Accommodation: $44.75
Food: $24.79
Entertainment: $0.00
We slept in again this morning so had to scramble a little to get everything packed away. We did take a few minutes to check the level of the river and it looked like it had crested some time in the night. Areas where we had walked taking pictures yesterday were now under eight feet of muddy water.
I don’t remember when I first became aware of San Antonio but I do remember what did it. A photograph of a boatload of happy people gliding along past little boutiques apparently in the center of San Antonio. One of the reasons we chose the route we did is so that we could “do” Riverwalk – which is what this area is called.
We made a quick stop at a Wal-Mart Super Center then told “Madge” (the alter ego of our Magellan GPS) to take us downtown. Even on a Sunday finding somewhere to park is challenging. Sure there are lots of parking garages charging exorbitant rates but we are trying to bring this trip in under budget so we went around the block and found some space in front of the San Fernando Cathedral.
With luck this happened to be right by an entrance to Riverwalk. Shit brown is not a good color for water, especially when it is part of a tourist attraction. The recent rain had stirred up a lot of mud and I guess it will be several days for things to get back to normal.
Anyway, my imagination of the Riverwalk experience had far outstretched the reality. Unfortunately we were running late and did not have the time to take one of the boat tours but we did stroll a ways along the footpath. It’s OK but it certainly isn’t Venice.
In fact, I’m sorry to say it but San Antonio is a tired looking city. There may be many nice parts we didn’t see but downtown and the route to the highway was all buildings in need of repair and sidewalk grass waiting patiently to be cut and weeded.
Our next goal was Carlsbad Caverns and the drive from San Antonio was uneventful but because of our late start it was almost 10pm before we got to Carlsbad, NM. Since we had no prior reservation we decided to stay at a highway hotel for the night.
One of the things we want to do on this trip is evaluate the pros and cons of camping vs inexpensive hotels. Very often, particularly in major cities, you can find highway hotels for less than the cost of a camp site. In many states highway rest areas have magazines full of coupons for hotel discounts. You can also find these magazines in the fast food restaurant that cluster around the highway ramps.
The cheapest we could find in Carlsbad was $39 for the night. It was remarkably unspectacular but at least it had a working refrigerator so we could pre-cool some more water for our Koolatron cooler. It was also an opportunity to recharge all our electronic gadgets – computer, cell phone, movie camera, iPod, tooth brushes, etc. But the advertised free WiFi just wasn’t happening so catching up with our posting will have to wait until tomorrow when we head to the Carlsbad Caverns.
Geoff mentioned the rain we got in the middle of the night in his post yesterday and as we are each posting every other day, then officially that ran into my day so he left further explanation up to me.
We both heard the rain start last evening and the rain we had driven through the day before gave us some cause for concern about how heavy the rain might be. Keep in mind that this was only the third time we had pitched our new tent and it was about to be baptized for the first time.
The rain started gently at first and I guess we just drifted back to sleep. Then the lightning and thunder started and that registered somewhere in my semiconscious and very sleepy mind.
And then the rain came – really – I swear the sky simply opened up and dropped what it had directly on our tent. The wind kicked in too, just to add to the excitement. But, everything seemed to be holding together okay so I just pulled the blanket over me and attempted to get back to sleep.
Well, at about 2am I was rudely awakened by a gush of ice cold water directly on my feet. Now that is NOT the way to be woken up at any time let alone 2am! I sat bolt upright and tried to determine what the problem was. Geoff was now wide awake, too, and I think that may have had something to do with my screeching about being soaking wet.
What had happened, apparently, was that the water channel on the hatch of the Jeep had gotten clogged with leaves and it couldn’t run off as it was made to. Kind of like guttering getting clogged the same way. But, it just didn’t drip. Oh, no. It waited until it couldn’t hold any more water and then poured everything it had on my feet!
So, there we both were cleaning handfuls of leaves out of the channel, throwing towels on the floor of the tent to soak up the spill. We put all the stuff we have on the trip with us on the floor of the tent each time we set up camp so that we can then sleep in the back of the car. So, all that stuff was in danger of getting drenched, too.
Fortunately, once we got the leaves cleared out the water channel began working properly and no more water got onto me, the mattress or into the tent.
We both crawled back into bed and tried to get back to sleep, curling our legs up so they didn’t touch the wet blanket and sheets. I know I laid awake for quite a while listening to the storm and for any signs that it might be abating. It did start to move off, the lightning and thunder got further away and I think I was able to get a couple more hours sleep before we got up for the day.
The campground we’re in is very close to the San Antonio river and with all the rain they’d had, it was predicted to overflow it banks. The usual camping area was down in a valley closer to the river but the owners of the campground suggested that we camp on higher ground and directed us to a good area for that. It was a good thing, too, because the San Antonio River did indeed overflow it banks and we watched throughout the day as the water continued to rise and put the entire camping area where we could have been totally underwater. We watched two picnic tables in that area disappear totally under the water, so that gives you some idea of just how deep it got. Had we camped there we most certainly would have floated away!
We had planned for Saturday to be a “do nothing” day. Just sit around the pool and recuperate from the amount of driving we had done so far. And that was a really good thing because we wouldn’t have wanted to pack the tent away wet.
Saturday actually turned out to be a beautiful day. While we were sitting around the pool an impromptu game of water volleyball broke out and they needed more team members, so Geoff and I joined in and, although we weren’t very good at it no one seemed to mind and we had a great time. We tried not to spend too much time in the sun, but obviously we weren’t that successful, as we both ended up with pretty bad sunburns. We hadn’t brought any sunscreen with us but we’ll pick some up tomorrow because we need to grab a free groceries when we get back on the road.
Because we had decided on some down time it was also a pretty inexpensive day. Just the cost of camping as we already had all the food we needed with us.
Speaking of food, just because we are trying to keep expenses down doesn’t mean that we aren’t eating well or that we’re eating junk food. For breakfast we had homefries and fried eggs. For lunch we had some leftover chicken, salad and some flatbread. Geoff already told you about the lovely dinner we had last night for his birthday. Tonight we had sausages, red beans and rice and sauteed yellow squash and zucchini and the rest of the strawberries for dessert. We’re starting to get quite adept at making nice meals with the resources we have.
It’s back on the road for us tomorrow morning heading towards Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.
I’m glad we pushed through to the west side of Houston last night so we didn’t have to deal with the morning rush hour traffic.
The Free Continental Breakfast at the Day’s Inn was the typical uninspired selection of bagels, cream cheese, sugary cereals, muffins and white toast. I always wonder why these places don’t spend another $1 a guest and make their free breakfast something spectacular.
Every so often you run across a place that does it right. A make it yourself waffle machine, boiled eggs, wheat toast, fresh (not packaged) donuts and big Costco style muffins. Once in a great while you are offered omelets or porridge.
Anyway we had our bagel and cream cheese plus the coffee I need to pry open my eyes in the morning. Vicky is one of those annoying “morning people” that wakes up wide awake and then chatters about the day ahead for the first hour or so. Even after 22 years of marriage she still doesn’t understand that until I’ve had my first coffee I just don’t hear her.
Anyhow today is my birthday so I was serenaded by several chorusses from the Beatles – When I’m 64. Which of course is why we are doing this mega trip. Do it now because if you don’t it’s a crap shoot that you will be able to next year. Not that I plan to give up any time soon but I get a little shiver any time I hear of someone my age checking out early.
The original plan had been to make it to San Antonio yesterday but that was just more driving than we wanted to do and then we would have to put the tent up in the dark which we haven’t done yet. We only had a couple of hundred miles to go so it was going to be an easy day – or so we thought.
About 50 miles outside of San Antonio we came over a small hill and faced an ominous black cloud on the horizon. Within the space of ten miles the temperature dropped from 80ºF to 60ºF and the sky opened up to dump every last drop of rain directly on us. Sure glad we had Madge (our Magellan GPS) to guide us to our destination otherwise we may not have found it.
San Antonio is one of the few places in the US we have not yet visited so the plan is to stay a couple of days before we move on. We are staying in a 25 acre camp right beside the San Antonio river. Two pools, hot tub, club house and high on Vicky’s must have list – a laundromat.
It was still raining when we arrived so we delayed putting up the tent and spent an hour in the hot tub. The sky soon cleared and we got the tent up then learned from a fellow camper that the tree above us was full of caterpillars that were searching for places to build their cocoons. We soon confirmed this by looking at the picnic table and the ones that had already claimed their spot on our tent. So with the help of another couple we picked up the tent and moved it to another spot.
Vicky made and extra special supper of filet steak, cheese and broccoli rice, and vegetable melange. She followed this with fresh whole strawberries. Pretty spectacular for being prepared on a single burner camp stove.
The sky was pretty clear when we crawled into the back of the Jeep and drifted off to sleep but the weather gods had not done with us yet. At about 2 o’clock in the morning………
But this is Vick’s blog day so you will have to wait for tomorrow’s exciting episode.
Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
May 13 ~ Day # 3
Budget to date
Spent today
Total to date
Daily average
Total
$300
$94.83
$395.18
$131.72
Current Location: Houston, Texas
Mileage: 607 Total: 1285
Today’s Total Expenses: $94.83
Transportation: $44.00
Accommodation: $50.83
Food: $0.00
Entertainment: $0.00
Mad Dash
We had very ambitious mileage plans for today that, unfortunately, just didn’t work out. We had hoped to get from Milton to San Antonio in one day and as we started our drive we realized that that just wasn’t going to happen.
We slept in a bit – not a bad thing, really. After all this trip is not about getting across the country at breakneck speed. So, we didn’t get on the road until about 10am – after we’d had breakfast and broke camp.
However, we did end up pushing pretty hard and didn’t get into a motel just outside of Houston until about 10pm.
That leaves us only about 200 miles to San Antonio, so tomorrow should be a pretty easy drive.
Keeping Expenses Low & Popcorn in Mississippi
We were able to keep our expenses down to just gas and the motel. We already had enough food with us for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Also, along the way we stopped at a Mississippi Welcome Center and apparently this is National Tourism Week. It was amazing, there was a band playing, we were greeted by some lovely people from Mississippi Tourism who were giving away free bags of popcorn. I love popcorn! We had a great chat and got a few more samples of stuff from other people that had set up booths to celebrate National Tourism week.
It was wonderful, so “Hi!” to the great folks from Mississippi Tourism.
We had planned to camp but it was just too late at night to even think about putting up the tent let alone look for a camp ground. So we chose the Day’s Inn option.
King Size Bed!
On the plus side, that gives us an Internet connection, a king size bed, a bath tub that I intend to soak in for a while, air conditioning and a free continental breakfast.
We will be camping in San Antonio.
I have learned on this trip that I can actually type stuff into the laptop while Geoff is driving. As a kid any time I tried to read in a moving vehicle I would get a horrible case of motion sickness. Seems like that doesn’t happen any more – or at least it hasn’t yet. So far, so good.
I’ve only camped a couple of times in my life and Vicky hasn’t camped since she was a kid. Our first night under canvas was not the most comfortable. Once we rearrange the mattress as Vicky explained yesterday I was able to get to sleep but I sure needed my Ibuprofen this morning.
Lake Como Resort
Lake Como resort is a permanent or winter home to about 500 people and there are some pretty spectacular mobile homes and RV’s parked on the grounds.
By the time we had our oatmeal and coffee, struck the camp, and completed a conducted tour of the grounds, we were late getting on the road. It was past 10am before we got on the road so it was good we did not have plans to go a long way.
Today’s Goal
We have driven across the US and Canada several times but always using the Interstates and have never had the chance to really enjoy the trip. We want to slow down this time and only travel in daylight. Also the Magellan GPS system allows us to explore some of the smaller highways that we would not have attempted if all we had was a map. We have decided to name the female voice of the GPS system, “Madge”. Not very imaginative but it works.
Today’s goal is the Sunburst resort in Milton, Florida which is almost to the Alabama border. That’s just over 400 miles so if we were not going to face putting up the tent in the dark we needed to get cracking.
Vicky had made some beef and cheese wraps so we didn’t have to stop for lunch. It also helps to keep the cost down and it is much more nutritious than stopping at some greasy fast food joint.
Good Job Madge
“Madge” (Magellan GPS) directed us flawlessly without using an Interstate highway but it was a good job we are traveling west and are able to take advantage of the extra hour you get when crossing time zones. By the time we got to the Sunburst resort the sun was setting and we still had to set up the tent and the Jetboil.
This time putting up the Sportz SUV tent was easy and only took about ten minutes. The Jetboil however was not behaving like it did yesterday. I thought at first we may have already gone through a whole can of fuel but connecting a new can did not improve things. It was still working but not anywhere near as efficiently as it did yesterday. I think the fuel line is clogged but I will have to wait for daylight to check it out.
When we checked in to Lake Como yesterday we were unpleasantly surprised to learn that we (me) had not fully read the fine print. We ended up paying $18 each for ground fees and $12 for camping for a total of $50. And that’s after our AANR membership discount.
Sunburst Resort
The Sunburst resort on the other hand just charged a single $16 ground fee and the camp site was free. With tax we paid a total of $17.04. That certainly helps to keep our daily average expenses down.
Our New MacBook Pro
One thing I had not allowed for was how long it takes to configure your computer the way you like it. We have a couple of Mac desktops at home with all the websites we check and their passwords stored in Firefox. Everything gets backed up each hour to the Apple Time Capsule and I could have brought that with us to make a mirror copy of our systems. I didn’t because the new laptop we chose for the trip – a 13″ Powerbook – does not have a hard drive big enough to hold a copy of the almost maxed out home system.
Consequently I’m turning the car air blue quite frequently as I realize there is yet another resource I don’t have readily available. Truthfully I also thought blogging along the road would be much easier but by the time we reach our destination I’m not much in the mood to edit video, register software and download updates. This will get much easier when we get somewhere we can spend some time.
We are planning a couple of days in San Antonio soon so maybe we can get caught up then. It’s easy enough to write while Vicky is driving – like now – but you, our readers, don’t get to read it until it is polished and uploaded.
We are doing the $100/day challenge to prove that even baby boomers with limited resources can travel the world and enjoy retirement to the full. We would really like to hear from you with questions and suggestions. We will respond, although that will be subject to getting a decent Internet connection.
We slept in again this morning so had to scramble a little to get everything packed away. We did take a few minutes to check the level of the river and it looked like it had crested some time in the night. Areas where we had walked taking pictures yesterday were now under eight feet of muddy water.
