So, have you already taken your Staycation? Or are you planning one?
I've heard that a lot of motorists, faced with skyrocketing gas prices, can't afford to go on vacation this year. So they're staying at home.
Me? Since I ride a bicycle, my transportation budget hasn't been affected in a meaningful way by gas prices. So a vacation is still in the cards. In fact, since my "dream vacation" is motorcycle touring, but I hate heavy traffic, I'm looking forward to fewer cars on the road this year!
(Fuel cost will obviously factor into my plans. I typically average about 250 miles a day; that's about 5-6 gallons of gas. So my gas will cost maybe $5 or so more than it did last year, per day. I can deal with that.)
My plan is to visit northern Arizona and New Mexico - from Flagstaff/Grand Canyon to Taos, and points in between. And of course, riding down there and back. And I'm even toying with the notion of riding from Taos on over to Boise City, Oklahoma, and the tip of Texas... just so I can say I've been there. I hope to leave shortly after Labor Day, and will probably be gone for 10 days or so.
For those of you who drive, and are planning a Staycation, here are some ideas:
- Sit on the edge of the bed and stare at the floor. Or curl up into a fetal position.
- Write letters to your elected officials, bemoaning how miserable you are on account of high gas prices. (If you're from Idaho, Senator Mike Crapo was specifically asking his constituents to send in their gas price sob-stories.)
- Watch the thermometer on your back porch, to see if the globe is really warming.
- Get a driving simulation video game and play it for 8 hours a day. (My friend Woody got himself a sweet PS3 and a bigscreen with his check from George W. Bush. He's got a car-racing game that is just mind-blowing, the graphics are so good!)
- Pull that big rig of yours out into the driveway. (Or put it in neutral and roll it, if you can't afford the gas.) Give it a good washing and a wax and thorough detail-job. A lady who lives up the street bought a shiny new red Hummer a few months back, probably when gas was between $2.25 and $2.50. She could get that thing lookin' spiffy over her Staycation!
Tireless advocate for the most efficient form of
human transportation ever devised - bicycles!
6 comments:
Sounds like a Route 66 road trip is in order. Enjoy your ride!
ed w ... someday... someday... the Good Lord willin'. (I actually am plotting out "Route 66" on my Google Earth. But that's probably one for after I've been put out to pasture. An experience to savor and perhaps even prolong.)
(Ahem) not that I'm touting Oklahoma or anything, but the state has the most remaining miles of the original Route 66. There are places where the original road is now an almost unused county road. I've ridden parts on my Bianchi, especially around the Tulsa and Catoosa area where there are parts of the Osage Trail, a road that pre-dated Route 66.
"Oklahoma Route 66" by Jim Ross is an excellent resource.
I'd really like to ride some of the roads out west of OKC into the panhandle. I think Jim Foreman did it once and he wrote about it on his website. Like you, I may have to wait for a while. It would take an act of God to get me a kitchen pass for a trip like that.
The company I work for has facilities in Dallas and Tulsa. A few years back, I was upgrading hardware and drove between the two in my rent-a-car. Took the "scenic route" one way, stopped over in OKC to see the Murrah Park (fantastic but somber), then mostly drove 66 from there to Tulsa. It gave me the itchin', that's for sure!
Interesting point of view. Personally I think maybe the fact that people aren't going as far might be a good thing, at least from an environmental perspective. That, and the idea that you have to go somewhere exotic to have a vacation rubs me the wrong way. I could easily spend a week or two off in the area near where I live and have some grand adventures. In fact, sometimes I wish I had time to do just that ...
I'm lucky and live in an area with a lot of recreational opportunities, but my point stands: you don't have to go far to have a great time.
Thanks for the laugh. The staycation plans fit some people I know very well.
Post a Comment