Road Trip by The Numbers

This summer I set a budget for myself as well as some goals to achieve while on the road. 

Orignal Goal: 7 National Parks. 

Updated Goal: 10 National Parks

Achieved: 10 Nationals Parks- Blog to come on General Park thoughts. 

My estimated budget vs. What I actually Spent

Lodging: 

Budget: $3676

Spent: $3058 - Only because my dad paid for Denver- Thanks Dad

Gas: 

Budget: $1007.06

Spent: $812.06 - Gas is a lot cheaper in the Southwest than it is in the Northwest

Food: 

Budget $1315

Spent: $1150 - This surprised me the most, given I ended up eating out more than I had planned.

Activities/ Souvenirs

Budget: $975

Spent: $728.18 - I had originally planned to go horse back riding but when that Airbnb Canceled so did that activity. 

Overall Budget: Just under $7000

Actual Spent: Just over $6000 including some misc things on the road. - However I did have an unfortunate ambulance ride and visit to the ER- so I'm sure that extra $1000 will be spent soon. I also had a crown pop off and have to be seen by the dentist at home- I've run out of Dental Insurance for this years so that's not going to be fun either. Finally I had some car trouble outside of Boise, was told it was safe to drive home, but that repair is around $600. So over all I will be "Over budget" but this is why I have an emergency fund for every trip.

Between my emergency fund and the $1000 I was under budget I should be okay. 

On this trip I set some walking/hiking goals for myself. Knowing that I had a lot of drive days I set a goal of 250,000 steps/ 100 miles and 250 flights of stairs for June 28th- July 31st. I am pleased to say I met all of those goals, even spending 1 day in a hospital bed, few 5+ hour drive days and 2 migraine days. 

Totals: 

255,367 Steps

103.81 Miles

431 Flights 

My longest mileage day was a day in Denver with my dad: 7/18 7.34 Miles/18337 steps 

My greatest elevation day was in Yellowstone: 7/5 6.15 Miles, 15205 steps, and 99 Flights (actual elevation increase was 1400 ft) 

My highest point was in the Rocky Mountains: 7/15 3.89 Miles, 9649 Steps, 65 flights, topping out at over 12,000 ft. 

My hardest day was at Arches- Devil's Garden 7/23 6.62 Miles, 15417 steps, and 32 Flights. 

My lowest walk day was 7/11- it was a recovery and rest day: 0.32 Miles, 714 steps.

I had planned to send post cards from the road but ended up really enjoying that part of the trip. My niece got 1 postcard for every National Park (10), but in addition I sent out another 40 post cards to people this summer, including family, friends, and colleagues- thank-you to those who asked to be part of the trip; it was fun. 

Mileage- If I'd just gone from point to point the road trip would have come in around 4000 miles, but thats not the way road trips work, or the way National Park exploration works. I came in at 6000 miles for this trip, which is under what I expected, but due to the car trouble at the end, it did change some of my paths, as did staying in a hotel in Moab rather than out at a remote campsite. 

MPG- I averaged 27.3 Miles Per Gallon on this trip.  The car trouble I ran into in Boise does adversely impact my gas mileage for the last 3 days. 

Pounds of Ice: I started this trip with 80 Pounds of ice in my coolers. Over the trip I used an additional: 140 pounds of ice. 

Blog Views: 324 - I hope you have enjoyed following this journey. Thank you to everyone who sent me encouragement along the way. Your are all my cheerleaders! 

Claire