Saturday, March 22

The Not-So-Long Road Trip

It's the first day of spring break, so although I'm not going anywhere this week, my spirit is ready to hit the road. I shared a while back the road trip that I've planned for this summer. Nine states in three weeks! Lunch from the cooler in the backseat! Alphabet license plate games! Historical markers along the freeway! Good times ahead! Or maybe not.

I don't know if you've noticed, but gas prices have gone a little out of control. And they're only projected to keep going up. So here's a little math to work through. Let's say 4800 miles at 18 or so miles per gallon times $4 per gallon. I think that puts us at about...a whole lot of money. Like four numbers across - before the decimal point [cough, cough]. Of course that doesn't count food, a few days of lodging, and any sites that might require a few bucks (so much for a day at Disneyland).

Or, for the same amount of pesos (or pound), I could hop a plane by myself for ten days in Scotland.

Or, I could lock myself in my house, organize the basement and paint a few walls and not answer phone or email for a month.

It's a tough call.

6 comments:

Glenn said...

Have you noticed the discount rate of the dollar overseas lately? It takes $2.00 to buy one British Pound, and $1.54 to buy a Euro. I've noticed in our travels that a pound or a Euro buys about what a dollar will buy here. In Scotland you will pay about $7.00 per gallon American equiv. for a gallon of gas. If you rent a car there, a gallon of gas will cost you about what it would cost for a half gallon of paint for your basement. You can do a lot of painting for one tank of gas.

But Like "Fiddler On The Roof," "On the other hand," When your kids are grown and remembering the things you did with them, will your great memory be "we painted the basement together," or "we had a fabulous trip around the West, including Disneyland?" You will tell about the cheap gas on the trip because it will be $20 a gallon by then.

brenda said...

Gas sucks, I wish cars ran on water, that would be a lot easier for everyone! Good luck making this decision, it is a toughie.

Jennifer B. Davis said...

Perhaps, some local families should get together for the "not so much road" road trip. You could travel all the way out to Hillsboro and stay a few days with us and see some of the local sites. Maybe even a trip to Enchanted Forest outside Salem would be fun for the kiddos!

Aimee Jo said...

Oh, Kristi! I hope that somehow you are able to take your trip! I'm so sorry that you are in this predicament. Blessings on you as you make this decision. Let us know what you decide!

suzylu said...

my vote is for the road trip and great memories - but then I'm not footing the bill. But really, how long does a basement stay organized??? Once you get it good and clean that's just more room to store stuff.

Leah said...

If we are voting, I vote for Scotland!! What the heck! If you are going to spend the money, take Allan with you, leave the kids with the village you live in and have a good time. Take some pictures, bring home some stories and spend that time you day dream about in the beautiful rolling hills listening to your heart and spending it with your husband. The kids will be able to take road trips with you every now and then... shoot, people come to Oregon on vacation for cryin' out loud, there must be good stuff around here to do with the kids, and the logistics of road-tripping with a 2 year old and two other kids can't be THAT fun. Take them around the country when Fiona will remember it and Trinity can help drive.

Scotland is my vote... if we're voting. :)