SuperC RV GroupThe home for SuperC Information

* 13,105 miles driven
* 1,489 gallons of fuel
* $3,805 in Fuel Expense
* 8.90 Average Miles Per Gallon (Usually towing something and lots of
hills)
* Worst Tank - 7.0 MPG (may have been corrupted data?)
* Best Tank - 12.38 MPG Empty, flat and 55 MPH
* $2.55 Average price paid for fuel so far
* $4.49 Most paid per gallon (Recently in CA)
* $2.019 Least paid per gallon (Quartzite, AZ)

Its not a
good coach to drive across country in back and forth anyway.

into account other service, storage, shit breaking, tire depletion, time
spent screwing around with it etc. Fuel is irrelevant.

I have a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) spreadsheet

Be well and travel safe this holiday weekend. We commit to staying
within FIVE MILES of home on these holiday weekends.

Oh did you hit a lot of key points for us Greg.

on a Four Corners trip again in Sept.

we have a 183 day limit in the US

Booking motels/hotels is a PITA, no question.

Travelling in the MH we really find 350 to 400 miles a day is our
preferred limit. By car, we can comfortably go 600 to 700 per day

come out of FLA time or my son's racing in Michigan.

to be Albuquerque and Balloon Fiesta.

to Moab (Arches NP and Canyonlands)

Page for a Lake Powell cruise to Rainbow Bridge, Antelope Slot Canyon tour etc.

being awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for my
contribution to the investment industry since 1967.

visit to Hubbell's Trading Post

juggle campgrounds and times with the MH it would have given me an
extreme headache.

Now, not taking the MH to Florida any longer (we put a
41 ft destination trailer on our second lot), we need much more room
in the car for DW's "stuff" as she takes everything and anything

for a Chrysler Town & Country Limited and with the stow and go seats
we now have a cavern to store everything

Pity it isn't towable without a lube pump.

Much of our planning for the 4C area is a result of what we've seen
RVers doing and reporting on over the past decade.

I'd switch our winter location to AZ from FLA.

things to see (future trips will take in Bryce & Zion, LV and
Hoover, Salt Lake City, Yellowstone, etc.) and age overtakes us.

On 2012-09-02, at 11:11 AM, Greg Gimlick wrote:

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Don Leslie wrote:

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Oh did you hit a lot of key points for us Greg.

Sometimes the brain works....other times, well......:-)

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on a Four Corners trip again in Sept.

I'm jealous.

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we have a 183 day limit in the US

This just seems like such a stupid thing to this ignorant American.

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Booking motels/hotels is a PITA, no question.

Yup, I just got back from a business trip to Muncie, IN and on the way
up and back I was wishing I had the motorhome simply because when I
wanted to stop, I couldn't find a reputable motel. It was also close to
$100 night which I hated since I was by myself and just wanted to sleep.

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Travelling in the MH we really find 350 to 400 miles a day is our
  preferred limit. By car, we can comfortably go 600 to 700 per day

That is definitely a point. We generally keep it to 350 - 400 miles with
the motorhome. I'm getting lazier and lazier too, or more easily bored
as I get older :-)

We find stopping and setting up by 4:30 to 5pm is enjoyable and makes the evening a relaxing one.

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come out of FLA time or my son's racing in Michigan.

Is he still racing D Sports class?

Unfortunately the DSR was beyond repair at a reasonable cost. He now runs a GT2 Fiero - that means it has two door panels from a Fiero and he built the rest (tube frame) himself. Looks like it will be very competitive if he ever gets more time (he is moving today - and will now be 1400 ft from us as the crow flies and 6/10ths of a mile by road - we will see MUCH more of our grandchildren now - had them since Friday and we are already beat). He has only been out once this year (3 races over Sat/Sun) and had a lot of teething problems. In the feature he had moved to 3rd behind a BMW M3 and Z06 (and had third fast lap of the day ahead of the rest of the Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs) and then a sensor on the crankshaft failed and the engine just stopped. Once he is settled in the new home he has to have a double garage added to the existing double garage for the tools - lathe, welding equipment etc - and the car. So, with only one race so far, we didn't consume 6 x 4 = 24 days in the US at races which lets us use more time out west and in FLA. I'm hoping the senate will pass the bill that will allow Canadians 240 days a year if they are over 55 and retired. All we do in the US is spend and create jobs. Actually, in 2011 we spent $60k in the US.

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to be Albuquerque and Balloon Fiesta.

This is on my bucket list.

The only reason it made our bucket list and rose to the top was comments from RVers. Once we started investigating we got more excited about doing it soon. Have a fingers crossed for good weather since there are no refunds if the weekend rains out.

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to Moab (Arches NP and Canyonlands)

Love these places!!!

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Page for a Lake Powell cruise to Rainbow Bridge, Antelope Slot Canyon tour etc.

You will not regret those! We loved Lake Powell and the cruises. Our
only complaint with the cruise was we were too polite in letting people
on ahead of us so we ended up in the lower deck where much of your view
is restricted. If it's not 110 degrees, then the upper deck is the place
to be so you have unrestricted views. We missed a lot by being trapped
inside. Be sure to tour the RV park while you're there too. It's a great
park with great views from almost any site.

Thanks, that is really good info to know. They go to one cruise a day when we are there so I'd better book for our day soon. I didn't expect it to be that crowded. As I recall, lower deck is enclosed and upper deck is open. Is that correct?

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being awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for my
  contribution to the investment industry since 1967.

Wow, VERY nice honor! I don't blame you for wanting to be there. I
should get an honor for being the worst investor in North Carolina. Ask
me about my 33% loss in precious metals over two years

Losses in the market - we can all join you in that department.

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visit to Hubbell's Trading Post

We visited that on our long trip last year. I will admit to being
largely unimpressed. It's neat because of the history, etc, but we
couldn't get the house tour when we were there and there really isn't a
lot to see. If you had to cut something for time, this would be one you
could cut.....your mileage may vary of course. It's a historically
significant place.

That is disappointing to hear but it will be on the way to Page from Albuquerque and we figured we could do Canyon de Chelley for a trip around the rim (won't have enough time to do the floor) and drop into Hubbell's. We will also drop by Window Rock and Fort Defiance (anything to see there?).

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juggle campgrounds and times with the MH it would have given me an
  extreme headache.

Yup, we've all lost some deposits because of that I'm sure.

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Now, not taking the MH to Florida any longer (we put a
  41 ft destination trailer on our second lot), we need much more room
  in the car for DW's "stuff" as she takes everything and anything

Oh I thought you still took the motorhome to FL. What did you do with
the other lot? You're all staying in the new trailer then, eh? I thought
that was your son's chateau for the winter :-)

We have a 42 ft Eagle Chariot park model on one lot and the other that was for the MH is now used for a 41 foot destination trailer. Phil uses the trailer (bedroom and bath in front and bunkhouse and bath in back) as do our son and family and Bev's brother and sister (they each come down for 2 to 3 weeks with their spouses). The trailer had to be hauled to the storage area for the summer (I hope it isn't soaked and soggy and a throw away now) since it was not tied down and skirted. The minute we tie it down, or block it or skirt it our insurance is no longer valid. Crazy since the insurance companies suggest it be tied down in case of a hurricane.

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for a Chrysler Town & Country Limited and with the stow and go seats
  we now have a cavern to store everything

My oldest son just bought one of these and loves it. Of course they are
in the kid hauling mode with three under the age of 5.

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Pity it isn't towable without a lube pump.

But it is a solution if you decide to go that route. Take it over to
Ron's house...he'll install it :-) Probably during lunch :-)

I still get tired just thinking of all the work Ron does. Of course, I'm not that far from Ron so he better start hiding.


Oh, this will be the first time since 2003 that I've had to winterize a motorhome. What a PITA it can be. It was much easier to take it to Florida. And the cost of gas was a trade off with storage costs but now that is not the case. But going by car we will save two days each way so that is four days we can spent elsewhere in the US than on I-75.

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Much of our planning for the 4C area is a result of what we've seen
  RVers doing and reporting on over the past decade.

We just love it out west! I like driving there much better than back
east and there is just so much to see. Our long trip last year was a
test....it showed us that:
1. We weren't quite financially prepared for retirement and travel
2. We REALLY want to retire and travel :-)
3. Even after spending close to six months on the road (we were home for
a month at one point so it wasn't continuous) we weren't tired of it and
didn't kill each other or the dog.
4. We canned our fiscally responsible thoughts of giving up RV's.
5. We want to do it again.

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I'd switch our winter location to AZ from FLA.

We love our semi-annual trips to FL, but with the oldest in Denver and
the majority of the grandkids there, we've talked about eventually doing
a condo there and one here after selling the house. I have a
mother-in-law here two doors down that is taking more of our time now
though so we need to concentrate on things here and travel will be more
limited.

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things to see (future trips will take in Bryce & Zion, LV and
  Hoover, Salt Lake City, Yellowstone, etc.) and age overtakes us.

That is part of why we did our big adventure last year. Kathy isn't
quite ready to retire, but could take a few months off before returning
and only working part time. Her mother was doing okay after a couple of
rough years so we had a window of opportunity. I was doing okay after
some challenging years too so that window was open for us. IOW, we
thought we'd better do one big trip while we could so we wouldn't regret
missing it later.

Have fun on your trip!

Bev and Phil are counting on it so my name will be mud if we don't.

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Greg

Thanks for all the good info.


Don

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