BIRDS
Life Birds (4)
Flame-colored Tanager, Elf Owl, Whiskered Screech-owl, Lesser Prairie-chicken
Trip Birds (107, including the four life birds)
Best Trip Birds: Golden Eagle, Lazuli Bunting, Painted Redstart, Harris's Hawk,
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Virginia's Warbler, American Dipper, Mountain Bluebird
TRIP COSTS:
Fuel
4155 miles in truck
438 gallons of fuel for truck
9.5 mpg average in truck
$3.58 average cost of gas per gallon on trip
$1565 cost of gasoline for truck
$0.38 per mile in truck
Camping
$480 cost of RV parks for 15 nights [This would have been $1200 at $80 per
night in motels]
$32 average cost of RV park per night [$80 if motel]
23 days (16 nights in RV parks, 6 free nights at daughter Shandra's, the last
night is at home in San Jose)
Birding (gas costs under "Fuel" above)
$240 birding guide for Lesser Prairie Chickens
Car Rental With Jerry and Shirley
$220 approximate cost of our half of Jerry and Shirley's rental car and gas
Combined Costs
$2044 combined cost of truck gasoline plus RV parks (not counting trailer meals)
$2505 combined cost gas, RV parks, birding, Santa Fe car rental share
Many people have asked, and I have been curious, so let's try to calculate
the comparable cost if we had been in a car, staying in motels and eating in
restaurants.
In a Car:
Fuel
4155 miles in car
$3.58 average cost of gas per gallon for car
27 mpg in car
154 gallons in car (438 actual, in our truck)
$550 for gas in car ($1565 actual, in truck)
$0.13 per mile in car ($0.38 in truck)
Motels
$80 per night (assumption)
16 nights
$1280 motel costs ($480 for RV parks)
$40 per person per day in restaurants vs. est. $10 per person per day in trailer,
so differential is $30 per person per day
9 differential restaurant days (21 less 6 in Santa Fe and 6 in Lakewood)
$270 differential cost to eat in restaurants for those 9 days
Same Costs Either Method
$220 approximate cost of our half of Jerry and Shirley's rental car and gas
in Santa Fe
$240 birding - Lesser Prairie-chicken guide
Combined Costs
$1830 combined cost of car gas plus motels
$2100 combined cost gas, motels, differential restaurant vs. trailer
$2560 combined cost gas, motels, restaurant difference, birding, Santa Fe car
rental share
CONCLUSION:
The two methods (truck, trailer, RV Parks, meals in trailer vs. car, motels,
eating in restaurants) of basic trip cost are about the same:
$2044 for truck/trailer/camping vs. $2100 car/motels/restaurants. These numbers
are dependent on the price of gas. As gas prices rise above the average $3.58
per gallon, the advantage goes increasingly to the car/motel/restaurant method.
However, the non-cost advantages of the trailer remain huge. For example,
eat healthier,
eat when we want to,
sleep in reliable, known, comfortable bed each night,
no time wasted loading and unloading luggage every night,
ample storage space for clothing, parkas, boots, binoculars, scope, books, games,
gifts, laptop, batteries and chargers,
ability to stop and take a nap any time,
your rest room is following behind you, so you never have to look around for
one, with unreliable cleanliness,.
Actual total cost of the trip, including park entry, souvenirs, museum, movies, etc. is more, but those costs would have been the same in both comparison cases.
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Birding Trips
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