trip planning, need cross country answers Options

[scotty914]

okay as some of you know i am driving to the wcc from maryland, about 2700 one way. i would like to know which gas stations are cheaper, how much is gas, cigarettes, and stuff.

one reason i ask is i dont use credit so i will be doing things like prepaid gas cards, that way i cant spend all the cash and not have cash to get home. and if cigarettes are way more expensive i might bring some extras ( hint ) i can get name brands for 22 bucks a carton, and i could sell them in new york for 50, but i am not going to new york so how much in kali .

[lapuwali]

QUOTE (scott thacher @ Mar 21 2005, 04:34 PM)

okay as some of you know i am driving to the wcc from maryland, about 2700 one way. i would like to know which gas stations are cheaper, how much is gas, cigarettes, and stuff. one reason i ask is i dont use credit so i will be doing things like prepaid gas cards, that way i cant spend all the cash and not have cash to get home. and if cigarettes are way more expensive i might bring some extras ( hint ) i can get name brands for 22 bucks a carton, and i could sell them in new york for 50, but i am not going to new york so how much in kali .

I'd worse-case it: $2.50 for gas at 25mpg, 5400mi not including what driving you do here, that's $540 just for gas alone. Given gas in the Midwest is still under $2 (at least in MO, where my dad lives), you'll be spending less than that, but who knows how much you'll use up driving around in CA before you head back, and it's better to have too much than too little.

Note that some gas companies have a very small presence in some areas, so don't count on always being able to find a station for a particular brand. Particularly west of Missouri/Arkansas, the stations thin out pretty seriously. By the time you get to Colorado/New Mexico, you may go 50mi or more before you see a gas station. There are stretches in Utah and Nevada where you can go over 100mi between stations, and you'll need to get gas whenever and however you can. The more remote the area, the more expensive the gas, and brand is essentially unimportant. Here in California, gas prices even with one brand can vary by 20-30 cents a gallon within 10 miles.

You didn't ask about routes, but I'll give you some advice on that, anyway, at least from the Mississippi westwards (did that drive about a dozen times). If you just want to get there, take I-44/I-40/I-15. This route is reasonably quick, doesn't include many steep climbs. It's fairly dull, but gets you there reasonably quickly. If you'd like to be more entertained, take I-70 to I-15. Kansas and Eastern Colorado are painfully boring (so are Oklahoma and Texas in the other route), but west of Denver, this is a far nicer route both in terms of scenery and driving. You might even try one way there and the other way back. On I-70 between Vail and Denver you'll top 12,000 ft, which should be a good test of your cooling system.

For me, East to West this is about 3-4 days. West to East it's 4-5 days. Heading West, you're always driving with the Sun, so the light lasts longer and you don't get quite so tired. Heading East, the days are shorter, and I just can't go as far. Perhaps that's just me. When I was 20 and first made this drive, I could have done NYC to SF in three days, no worries. Now that I'm 40, I doubt I could do it in less than 4, even with much higher speeds (legal 85mph in AZ) in the West.

I wish I could be there, I'd love to get a close up look of your Soob conversion.