coach vs motels

[erniecarpet@...]

In a message dated 4/7/2008 7:11:41 P.M. Central Standard Time, jqrjr@... writes:

once a birder always a birder!

well, after owning some various plastic/aluminum skinned "palaces" it did take me a while to get -like my old D I in the Air Force would say-" Get your mind right"

Ernie Ekberg
83PT40
Livingston, Montana

Sheridan, Wy

---

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[Ernest Ekberg]

Would take our coach hands down over any motel. Since I have been
traveling with 2 of our 4 mutts, motels want to stick it to ya with a
non refundable pet fee. With all the fees I have been shelling out, I
could have driven the bird to Florida and back and sleep on my own bed.
Oh, the only bird I saw was Ralph and Charlottes coach when I stopped
by Duncan, Ok.
Ernie- coachless, with lots of hidden fees
Sheridan, Wyoming- 4 hours away from my bed

[jim riordan]

once a birder always a birder!

jim riordan

Ernest Ekberg wrote:

Would take our coach hands down over any motel. Since I have been
traveling with 2 of our 4 mutts, motels want to stick it to ya with a
non refundable pet fee. With all the fees I have been shelling out, I
could have driven the bird to Florida and back and sleep on my own bed.
Oh, the only bird I saw was Ralph and Charlottes coach when I stopped
by Duncan, Ok.
Ernie- coachless, with lots of
hidden fees
Sheridan, Wyoming- 4 hours away from my bed

---

You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.

[Ryan Wright]

On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 5:41 PM, Ernest Ekberg wrote:
>
> Would take our coach hands down over any motel.

Motels & airports. I never want to step foot in another airport again
if I can help it (as a traveling member of the public, anyway -
private charter is different). Would much rather spend a week crossing
the country in my coach than deal with the goons running our country's
airports. I'll never again sleep in a rented room if I can help it,
either.

The coach is more expensive to operate than flying and/or staying in
hotels, most of the time, especially with the price of diesel these
days. I don't care, though. The luxury of my own private everything
and ability to pull over and "camp" whenever and wherever is just too
nice. It'd be a bargain at twice the price.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

[Dorn Hetzel]

Hmm, with my wife and four kids there aren't a lot of places I can buy six airplane tickets to for the cost of driving there in my bird

Dorn Hetzel
77FC35
Hogansville, GA

On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 2:44 PM, Ryan Wright <"ryanpwright@gmail.com"> wrote:

On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 5:41 PM, Ernest Ekberg <"erniecarpet%40aol.com"> wrote:

>

> Would take our coach hands down over any motel.

Motels & airports. I never want to step foot in another airport again

if I can help it (as a traveling member of the public, anyway -

private charter is different). Would much rather spend a week crossing

the country in my coach than deal with the goons running our country's

airports. I'll never again sleep in a rented room if I can help it,

either.



The coach is more expensive to operate than flying and/or staying in

hotels, most of the time, especially with the price of diesel these

days. I don't care, though. The luxury of my own private everything

and ability to pull over and "camp" whenever and wherever is just too

nice. It'd be a bargain at twice the price.



-Ryan

'86 PT-40 8V92

[Ryan Wright]

On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 12:05 PM, Dorn Hetzel wrote:
>
> Hmm, with my wife and four kids there aren't a lot of places I can buy six
> airplane tickets to for the cost of driving there in my bird

Well, I don't have four kids. Everyone's situation is different.

Still, if you were flying cross country - from my location in
Washington State, to get to Disney World, United is $285/person round
trip. So, $1710 worth of airfare. Driving would be 2,925 miles
according to Google Maps. My PT-40 gets 5mpg on a good day, but I'll
bet your FC gets 8, so we'll use 8. So you'll eat 366 gallons of fuel.
At $4/gal that's $1,464 each way ($2928 round trip), plus meals for a
week's worth of driving, campgrounds (if you use them), etc. Lodging
wise, you'd spend $75/night to park the coach in a campground near the
resort, or $200 night for your average hotel. On a 7 day stay the
hotel will cost you an extra $875 vs. your coach - still not enough to
make up for the fuel.

So, even your 6 member family would still be ahead, financially
speaking, to fly, given a cross-country vacation. Still, I'd much
rather spend the extra money and take the coach.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

[Dorn Hetzel]

Actually I've been getting a good solid 9.8 to 10.0 mpg so far

Dorn Hetzel
77FC35
Hogansville, GA

On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 12:10 PM, Ryan Wright <"ryanpwright@gmail.com"> wrote:

On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 12:05 PM, Dorn Hetzel <"dhetzel%40gmail.com"> wrote:

>

> Hmm, with my wife and four kids there aren't a lot of places I can buy six

> airplane tickets to for the cost of driving there in my bird

Well, I don't have four kids. Everyone's situation is different.



Still, if you were flying cross country - from my location in

Washington State, to get to Disney World, United is $285/person round

trip. So, $1710 worth of airfare. Driving would be 2,925 miles

according to Google Maps. My PT-40 gets 5mpg on a good day, but I'll

bet your FC gets 8, so we'll use 8. So you'll eat 366 gallons of fuel.

At $4/gal that's $1,464 each way ($2928 round trip), plus meals for a

week's worth of driving, campgrounds (if you use them), etc. Lodging

wise, you'd spend $75/night to park the coach in a campground near the

resort, or $200 night for your average hotel. On a 7 day stay the

hotel will cost you an extra $875 vs. your coach - still not enough to

make up for the fuel.



So, even your 6 member family would still be ahead, financially

speaking, to fly, given a cross-country vacation. Still, I'd much

rather spend the extra money and take the coach.

-Ryan

'86 PT-40 8V92

[Dorn Hetzel]

And of course if we flew we'd want to rent a car when we got there, instead of just
driving around in our bus

Also, living in Atlanta airfare is expensive and we're within 1000-1500 miles of a lot
of the country


DH
77FC35
30230

On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 12:10 PM, Ryan Wright <"ryanpwright@gmail.com"> wrote:

On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 12:05 PM, Dorn Hetzel <"dhetzel%40gmail.com"> wrote:

>

> Hmm, with my wife and four kids there aren't a lot of places I can buy six

> airplane tickets to for the cost of driving there in my bird

Well, I don't have four kids. Everyone's situation is different.



Still, if you were flying cross country - from my location in

Washington State, to get to Disney World, United is $285/person round

trip. So, $1710 worth of airfare. Driving would be 2,925 miles

according to Google Maps. My PT-40 gets 5mpg on a good day, but I'll

bet your FC gets 8, so we'll use 8. So you'll eat 366 gallons of fuel.

At $4/gal that's $1,464 each way ($2928 round trip), plus meals for a

week's worth of driving, campgrounds (if you use them), etc. Lodging

wise, you'd spend $75/night to park the coach in a campground near the

resort, or $200 night for your average hotel. On a 7 day stay the

hotel will cost you an extra $875 vs. your coach - still not enough to

make up for the fuel.



So, even your 6 member family would still be ahead, financially

speaking, to fly, given a cross-country vacation. Still, I'd much

rather spend the extra money and take the coach.

-Ryan

'86 PT-40 8V92

[Gardner Yeaw]

I try not to think of the coach as a destination vehicle but rather
a touring vehicle. When possible we plan stops where we can spend
some time doing something and then move on.

We went to Maxton last week, around 1230 miles round trip ($642 in
fuel). We left in the afternoon on Wednesday and stayed in a Wal-Mart
for the night. We got to Maxton Thursday ($10 total for the three
nights)and left on Sunday afternoon. We stayed in a campground near
Washington (Way over priced, $56) and headed for Mt. Vernon on
Monday. It was raining and there were 10 or more buses full of kids
unloading when we got there. So much for the touring Mt. Vernon that
day. We headed home. So, $708/6 days = $118/day. We didn't have to
dine out and so there were no real food expenses above what we would
have had at home. Since it was a rally we had pot-luck meals two
nights, but our contributions were not very expensive and I wouldn't
consider them expenses above normal.

Now $118 a day isn't bad for a vacation. Of course I am not
including the yearly expenses of owning the coach and such, so
truthfully it costs a bit more. But, I prefer to go in the coach than
deal with the airports, taxi's, and hotels.

Gardner
78FC33




--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Dorn Hetzel"
wrote:
>
> And of course if we flew we'd want to rent a car when we got there,
instead
> of just
> driving around in our bus
>
> Also, living in Atlanta airfare is expensive and we're within 1000-
1500
> miles of a lot
> of the country
>
> DH
> 77FC35
> 30230
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 12:10 PM, Ryan Wright
wrote:
>
> > On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 12:05 PM, Dorn Hetzel
>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Hmm, with my wife and four kids there aren't a lot of places I
can buy
> > six
> > > airplane tickets to for the cost of driving there in my bird
> >
> > Well, I don't have four kids. Everyone's situation is
different.
> >
> > Still, if you were flying cross country - from my location in
> > Washington State, to get to Disney World, United is $285/person
round
> > trip. So, $1710 worth of airfare. Driving would be 2,925 miles
> > according to Google Maps. My PT-40 gets 5mpg on a good day, but
I'll
> > bet your FC gets 8, so we'll use 8. So you'll eat 366 gallons of
fuel.
> > At $4/gal that's $1,464 each way ($2928 round trip), plus meals
for a
> > week's worth of driving, campgrounds (if you use them), etc.
Lodging
> > wise, you'd spend $75/night to park the coach in a campground
near the
> > resort, or $200 night for your average hotel. On a 7 day stay the
> > hotel will cost you an extra $875 vs. your coach - still not
enough to
> > make up for the fuel.
> >
> > So, even your 6 member family would still be ahead, financially
> > speaking, to fly, given a cross-country vacation. Still, I'd
much
> > rather spend the extra money and take the coach.
> >
> > -Ryan
> > '86 PT-40 8V92
> >
> >
>