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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Driving / January 2006Driving Vacations A Thing Of The Past?
Once upon a time Dad loaded the whole family in the car and headed for a series of attractions such as Yellowstone, Pikes Peak, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, and maybe a few cities thrown in, all to have a good time and educate the kids to the wonders of nature and to expereince new places. Now, Gas is $2.50 a gallon in the winter, and probably $3.00 or more (we'll see) in the summer. Anybody want to try to throw that many people and that much gear into a VW Jetta TDI and get 44 mpg. drive 6000 miles, and _still_ have it cost like there's no tomorrow? Didn't think so. And, if you have an ordinary car that maybe gets 20 - 25 mpg, that's 6000/25 or 240 gallons of gas for maybe $720. Just for gas. Then, it'll take about 2 weeks to do that 6000 miles and see all those things, for a series of maybe 13 or so motels at about $70 each. $910. Is it now just too darn expensive to do that any more? I think maybe yes, and what a sad situation that would be. Those vacations were so much fun. Wall Drug will surely go out of business, too... Dave Head > Once upon a time Dad loaded the whole family in the car and headed for > a series of attractions such as Yellowstone, Pikes Peak, Sequoia, Grand [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Dave Head Y'mean that tourist trap didn't die decades ago? What a shame. -Dave > Once upon a time Dad loaded the whole family in the car and headed for > a series of attractions such as Yellowstone, Pikes Peak, Sequoia, Grand [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Dave Head I sincerely hope not, because flying is such an uncivilized way to travel. nate (well, unless you fly first class, but I can't play those games...) It can still be done. It will just be more out of reach for some of the less well off families. East- >Anybody want to try to throw that many people and that much gear into a >VW Jetta TDI and get 44 mpg. drive 6000 miles, and _still_ have it cost >like there's no tomorrow? Didn't think so. Maybe more families will do what my family did, and find interesting vacations that aren't so far away? Growing up near Buffalo, I remember some of the coolest family vacations we took as a kid were to places like Burlington, Connecticut, NYC, Boston, Corning, the Adirondaks, and Toronto. None were a lot of gas away, and they all made a fun weekend (or longer) family vacation. We got down into the Carolinas and Georgia too, but when we only had a week for a vacation it was fun to go somewhere closer, save some gas, and spend more time on vacation than on the road. Maybe the gas prices now would only have allowed us to go to NC instead of SC, but with what most people spend on a vacation the extra tank of gas isn't going to break the bank. Given the number of people I've met since moving to California who've never been outside of California & Baja Cali, I don't think taking nearer family vacations will change the plans of many families. Unfortunately too many families are now too busy in their minds to take off for a week or more together. Dave Hogan >>Anybody want to try to throw that many people and that much gear into a >>VW Jetta TDI and get 44 mpg. drive 6000 miles, and _still_ have it cost >>like there's no tomorrow? Didn't think so. > >Maybe more families will do what my family did, and find interesting >vacations that aren't so far away? You can do that, but Yellowstone is unique, the grand canyon is unique, the giant sequoias are unique, etc. You either go see 'em, or you don't. >Growing up near Buffalo, I remember some of the coolest family >vacations we took as a kid were to places like Burlington, >Connecticut, NYC, Boston, Corning, the Adirondaks, and Toronto. What, no Niagara falls? <G> >None >were a lot of gas away, and they all made a fun weekend (or longer) >family vacation. But you didn't see a boiling mud pot or a geyser doing that. Not that one absolutely has to - the joy of such a vacation is sharing it with loved ones. OTOH, the 6000 mile vacation is 2 weeks, and the 600 mile vacation is probably 3 days. There's more joy in 2 weeks than in 3 days, I'd think. >We got down into the Carolinas and Georgia too, but when we only had a >week for a vacation it was fun to go somewhere closer, save some gas, [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >Unfortunately too many families are now too busy in their minds to >take off for a week or more together. Yeah, that sorta mindset sucks, for sure. Dave Head >Dave Hogan >>>Anybody want to try to throw that many people and that much gear into a >>>VW Jetta TDI and get 44 mpg. drive 6000 miles, and _still_ have it cost [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >You can do that, but Yellowstone is unique, the grand canyon is unique, the >giant sequoias are unique, etc. You either go see 'em, or you don't. So is the Burton factory in Burlington, or the Ben & Jerry's factory. So's piloting a steamship along a river in CT. I got to hang out at a Times Sq hotel with my older brother as a teenager, and he showed my NYC. Sequoias are unique, but so are all those events in my life. On top of it, these locations were convenient for family who lived out of town. I got to spend time fishing with my cousins. The time spent with my grandparents, who could not drive long distances above all are some of the best memories I could wish for. There's lots of great stuff out there to see, and yeah, the Grand Canyon is the biggest crack I've ever seen (and I've had several plumbers here recently), but I grew up next to Niagara Falls. Water falling over rocks that people fly thousands of miles to f.ck near. >>Growing up near Buffalo, I remember some of the coolest family >>vacations we took as a kid were to places like Burlington, >>Connecticut, NYC, Boston, Corning, the Adirondaks, and Toronto. > >What, no Niagara falls? <G> I was usually 19 or 20 when I went there, so let's leave it as I don't have many memories thanks to ONT's 19 y/o drinking age. ;) >>None >>were a lot of gas away, and they all made a fun weekend (or longer) [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >OTOH, the 6000 mile vacation is 2 weeks, and the 600 mile vacation is probably >3 days. There's more joy in 2 weeks than in 3 days, I'd think. We took plenty of two week vacations to Hilton Head, SC, before it had any overpasses or many tourists. I got to see Charleston, Charlotte, Savannah, Baltimore, DC, Columbia, and a ton of other cities along the way. I also got to see the damage of a hurricane, hail that was bigger than golf balls, experience a real hurricane warning, and survived a tornado. What more could a kid ask for? >>We got down into the Carolinas and Georgia too, but when we only had a >>week for a vacation it was fun to go somewhere closer, save some gas, [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >>Dave Hogan I remember in college meeting people who had never left the city limits of Buffalo, and that's a small city with a natural wonder 30 minutes outside it. One of them flew to San Diego recently to visit me, and now has moved about 10 states from NY after realizing there's a big world out there he's never seen. At least there's hope. DP Hogan >>>>Anybody want to try to throw that many people and that much gear into a >>>>VW Jetta TDI and get 44 mpg. drive 6000 miles, and _still_ have it cost [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >Times Sq hotel with my older brother as a teenager, and he showed my >NYC. Sequoias are unique, but so are all those events in my life. Gotta admit, those sound like really interesting destinations, too. >On top of it, these locations were convenient for family who lived out >of town. I got to spend time fishing with my cousins. The time spent >with my grandparents, who could not drive long distances above all are >some of the best memories I could wish for. Yep, I hear that. >There's lots of great stuff out there to see, and yeah, the Grand >Canyon is the biggest crack I've ever seen (and I've had several >plumbers here recently), but I grew up next to Niagara Falls. Water >falling over rocks that people fly thousands of miles to f.ck near. <G> Its a marvelous spectacle, regardless of how other people choose to use it. >>>Growing up near Buffalo, I remember some of the coolest family >>>vacations we took as a kid were to places like Burlington, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >I was usually 19 or 20 when I went there, so let's leave it as I don't >have many memories thanks to ONT's 19 y/o drinking age. ;) Hee hee! >>>None >>>were a lot of gas away, and they all made a fun weekend (or longer) [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >Savannah, Baltimore, DC, Columbia, and a ton of other cities along the >way. Sounds good, for sure. Still, the option to do longer routes seems to be diminished, and I'm just not a fan of any sort of diminishment in my life. >I also got to see the damage of a hurricane, hail that was bigger than >golf balls, experience a real hurricane warning, and survived a >tornado. What more could a kid ask for? <G> again - Tornadoes are exciting, too. >>>We got down into the Carolinas and Georgia too, but when we only had a >>>week for a vacation it was fun to go somewhere closer, save some gas, [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >limits of Buffalo, and that's a small city with a natural wonder 30 >minutes outside it. Wow - I wouldn't know how to live like that, I think. The draft, when that used to exist, musta been a helluva shock to people like that. >One of them flew to San Diego recently to visit >me, and now has moved about 10 states from NY after realizing there's >a big world out there he's never seen. At least there's hope. Yep. Dave Head >DP Hogan >>I remember in college meeting people who had never left the city >>limits of Buffalo, and that's a small city with a natural wonder 30 >>minutes outside it. > > Wow - I wouldn't know how to live like that, I think. The draft, when that > used to exist, musta been a helluva shock to people like that. There are way too many people like that. In my early twenties I was living in Turlock California and dating a guy who lived in Jackson. I drove three counties to see him on weekends but it was no big deal. Once he had some teenage cousins visiting and they took a ride with us. They positively *freaked* out when we crossed the county line, and they weren't even drinking. I was astonished at how big a deal they made out of it. And my mom used to be like that too, very provincial. I moved to Virginia fully expecting never to see her unless I went back to CA. She surprised me a couple years ago by actually going to Italy with a friend, and then the year after that, she came to visit us. She's still a homebody but her idea of the world is much bigger now. Oh, and it drives me NUTS when my step-dad's parents ask me how life is in Boston! (Virginia, Boston, it's all the same, right?) - Sharon "Gravity... is a harsh mistress!" > Once upon a time Dad loaded the whole family in the car and headed for > a series of attractions such as Yellowstone, Pikes Peak, Sequoia, Grand [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Dave Head I don't see the volume of travelling vacations changing much at all as a consequence of changes in gasoline prices if history is still a good guage. I certainly don't plan to change. , <rally2xs@att.net> was motivated to say this in rec.autos.driving on 26 Jan 2006 12:54:33 -0800: > Is it now just too darn expensive to do that any more? I think maybe > yes, and what a sad situation that would be. Those vacations were so > much fun. Wall Drug will surely go out of business, too... Not necessairly too expensive, but the trips will probablly be shorter (I can think of numerous places with in 500 miles of home to go see.) than in the past. Not only because of expense, but of scheduling (two parents having to arrange time off at the same time, juggling the kids soccer, dance and what ever else they do schedules, etc...) also. And that's if both parents can arrange vacation time at all in some companies. Where I work, arranging vacation time can be like pulling teeth from a shark. BTW, Wall Drug? Sorry, I grew up with the interstates, but I am somewhat familiar with how fun such vacations could be (getting there was most of the fun to me...). rally2xs@att.net wrote:<brevity snip> > And, if you have an ordinary car that maybe gets 20 - 25 mpg, that's > 6000/25 or 240 gallons of gas for maybe $720. Just for gas. Then, > it'll take about 2 weeks to do that 6000 miles and see all those > things, for a series of maybe 13 or so motels at about $70 each. $910. ----- I get your point... but 6000 miles in two weeks... you'd be vacationing like a long-haul truck driver works. That's 462miles/day figgering 13 days. 7.7 hr/day at 60 mph. I used to neglect exploring the area I was living in... somewhere else always seemed better than where I was. (Except Hawaii.) But I didn't take enough pictures anywhere... ----- - gpsman >rally2xs@att.net wrote:<brevity snip> >> And, if you have an ordinary car that maybe gets 20 - 25 mpg, that's [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >like a long-haul truck driver works. That's 462miles/day figgering 13 >days. 7.7 hr/day at 60 mph. Yeah - it was 40 years ago, or so, and I'm not sure - might have been 2 1/2 weeks, and we might have only gone 5000 miles. >I used to neglect exploring the area I was living in... somewhere else >always seemed better than where I was. (Except Hawaii.) But I didn't >take enough pictures anywhere... I take plenty of pictures, and have at least crawled the museuems and the zoo in DC. Revisited the Luray Caverns and have driven some more of Skyline Drive. There's undoubtedly more I could see - but I understand that the Baltimore aquarium ain't worth it. There's an IMAX in Richmond to go to, but I've been to them before, so no big deal. There's gotta be more stuff around here... Next semi-close attraction I think will be a coal mine tour - there's one up in Pennsylvania but doesn't operate this time of the year. Never been in a mine of any kind, but did take pictures of an open pit iron mine in Minnesota last year. Dave Head > ----- > >- gpsman > I take plenty of pictures, and have at least crawled the museuems and the zoo > in DC. Revisited the Luray Caverns and have driven some more of Skyline Drive. > There's undoubtedly more I could see - but I understand that the Baltimore > aquarium ain't worth it. There's an IMAX in Richmond to go to, but I've been > to them before, so no big deal. Who told you that the Baltimore Aquarium isn't worth it, and why? I used to go on and on to my then-boyfriend about how wonderful the Monterrey aquarium is. Then he took me to the one in Baltimore. I think it's almost as good as Monterrey's. Better in one respect: I like how the Baltimore aquarium is designed to lead you on a path through the whole thing so that you don't accidently miss anything good. The Monterrey aquarium doesn't have that so people are always wandering to and fro, it's easy to get lost and miss things and accidently see other things twice. - Sharon "Gravity... is a harsh mistress!" >> I take plenty of pictures, and have at least crawled the museuems and the zoo >> in DC. Revisited the Luray Caverns and have driven some more of Skyline Drive. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Who told you that the Baltimore Aquarium isn't worth it, and why? My best friend went up there and said it was small and we've already been to better. Of course, we've done things like Sea World already, so that's hard to beat. Dave Head I >used to go on and on to my then-boyfriend about how wonderful the Monterrey >aquarium is. Then he took me to the one in Baltimore. I think it's almost as [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > - Sharon >"Gravity... is a harsh mistress!" > And, if you have an ordinary car that maybe gets 20 - 25 mpg, that's > 6000/25 or 240 gallons of gas for maybe $720. Just for gas. Then, > it'll take about 2 weeks to do that 6000 miles and see all those > things, for a series of maybe 13 or so motels at about $70 each. $910. And to fly 6000 miles for 4 people would cost what? $720 is still competitive. All depends what your goal is. If the goal is to go from pt a to b without sight seeing, obviously flying is the way to go. If you goal is to enjoy the scenery the US has to offer, flying over mountains isn't the best way to enjoy them. >> And, if you have an ordinary car that maybe gets 20 - 25 mpg, that's >> 6000/25 or 240 gallons of gas for maybe $720. Just for gas. Then, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > And to fly 6000 miles for 4 people would cost what? $720 is still > competitive. Yup, and that's BEFORE rental car charges, and gas for the rental cars, is figured in. -Dave >> And, if you have an ordinary car that maybe gets 20 - 25 mpg, that's >> 6000/25 or 240 gallons of gas for maybe $720. Just for gas. Then, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >And to fly 6000 miles for 4 people would cost what? $720 is still >competitive. Yeah, but we didn't ever used to consider doing airplanes because that was absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt too expensive. Now, it looks like auto travel is becoming that way. I would be vacationing alone - I'm not married, and don't know anyone that would want to vacation like that anyway. But even with my new WRX getting its advertised 27 mpg, which it don't 'cuz I'm such a leadfoot, it'd still be seriously expensive. >All depends what your goal is. If the goal is to go from pt a to b >without sight seeing, obviously flying is the way to go. Want to see the neat/unexpected stuff along the way. >If you goal is to enjoy the scenery the US has to offer, flying over >mountains isn't the best way to enjoy them. Yeah, that's it. See the pretty stuff. Dave Head |
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