In a time when watching budgets is critical, we turned our discerning eye to a timely topic: could we accomplish a one- or two-week RV vacation for $100 per day?

This was just our type of planning challenge!

We began with guidelines we already knew from previous RV vacations, such as plan regionally and fully stock the RV locally with food and supplies to curb impulse spending.

We knew that membership warehouse club gas was the cheapest in the Inland Empire location, so we plotted these locations for possible fill-ups. Truck stops are also great for good gas prices.

Don’t let your tank get to empty before you start thinking about filling up. Each stop was more than $300, so the gas price does matter, and stations near the freeway can charge up to 50 cents more per gallon for convenience.

Starting from Hemet, we used an RV travel directory’s software to research stopping points and RV resorts that were within 600 miles. This meant two days of traveling, reaching our destination and enjoying our vacation time.

We have learned from past experience that driving every day in an RV is not an ideal, restful vacation, and with today’s prices we would never achieve our budget goal.

We chose the Sacramento area because it was close to San Francisco and Reno for day excursions and the area has a wide range of RV park choices.

It is possible to find an RV park or campground for around $33 per night, or $150 weekly. If you prefer a large RV resort, adapt your budget to $125 per day.

Each family should think about the amenities essential for a good vacation. For us, it was full hook-ups, cell phone coverage, Wi-Fi Internet, a swimming pool and shade trees.

More than 80 percent of the parks Advertisement
had Wi-Fi, and as we interviewed fellow travelers, we learned that the West Coast is excellent in this amenity, much more hi-tech than the East Coast.

However, we were prepared to be self-sufficient with a wireless card that allowed us Internet access, even while driving, for $60 per month.

A pleasant surprise as we drove through California was the wildflowers still blooming just off the freeways and how nature is surviving our drought conditions.

People typically think "beach" to describe California, but the farming and forests of Central and Northern California were vibrant with color and wildlife.

We actually drove into the lightning storm that caused the summer fires in the Northern California area. Watching the jagged lightning cut through the dark clouds, we could smell the rain coming.

As we drove, we randomly called RV parks to ask: Do you have an available space for a 35-foot RV towing a small car? We found an available space in every call.

For us, this only indicates that travel vacations are down this year due to the economy, but it also means that spontaneous weekend trips are now an option.

Many parks are offering special offers which give you a third night free if you stay two nights.

So, don’t sit at home this year when some careful planning can make the difference in visiting family, enjoying the great outdoors and sitting on the beach at sunset.

Here is a general guideline of our two-week travel budget: 40 percent gas, 20 percent RV parks, 20 percent food and 20 percent fun activities.

Georgie and Dennis Rhein are mostly retired seniors from Idyllwild. Since they both were writers in their given careers, they enjoy writing travel stories to share with fellow RVers, especially the internet research to find good values for RV travel.

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