A cheap escape from the workweek...
A cheap escape from the workweek is very possible if you dry-camp under the stars with just the basics.
The economy is a little different than it was a few years ago, when everyone seemed to be doing well. Many of us are now working three times harder, and we find ourselves pinching pennies wherever possible. With all the economic worries, there's no better relief than a trip outdoors, where the BlackBerry doesn't have service and you can't hear (or see) the city for miles.
Costs for even simple trips, though, add up quickly, especially when friends are involved. But a cheap escape from the workweek is very possible, as I learned, if you dry-camp under the stars with just the basics.
Actually, it wasn't as bad as it seemed. It wasn't the Ritz, but there were plenty of good times, as four of my friends pitched in to rent an RV and head out to one of California's most pristine desert landscapes. Together we anted up $1,000 for the weekend ($200 per person), and no one was going to eat steak for dinner.
Early morning coffee never...
Early morning coffee never tastes better than it does in the most remote places.
What might have seemed like hopelessness actually was easily achievable after I located an RV rental facility with the right accommodations for the group. By sheer luck, I did a quick search online for an RV rental facility and came up with OC RV in Anaheim, California. They had the perfect RV for us, an '09 Fleetwood Pulse 24D, which slept five adults and even our dog Ally. At $229 a night (plus $69 prep fee, and we opted to spend the $89 cleanup/dump fee) my friends and I could forgo sleeping in flimsy tents and spend our nights inside this warm and comfortable Pulse, which had a large slide-out that increased the interior space 33 percent.
The rental RV's interior had all the amenities we could ask for, including shower, refrigerator, and TV. The trip cost us $72 in fuel, and we covered 298 miles of road.
Another big reason that our group decided to go with the Pulse was that it had a 3.0L diesel engine. The little diesel built by Mercedes was amazingly quiet on the road and got excellent fuel mileage.
The Fleetwood from OC RV towed...
The Fleetwood from OC RV towed my Jeep on a double-axle trailer without a problem and still got fine mileage, 14.6 to be exact.
One of the biggest areas where we had to watch our spending was food. If you don't pay attention in the grocery store you can spend several hundred dollars. So my friends and I ate well before going shopping for the weekend. That way, there were no last-minute temptations. Shopping on an empty stomach can mean spending more money than you planned.
My girlfriend is a thrifty shopper. She brought along a fist full of coupons and planned a menu around ordinary camping fare. No steaks, no pork chops, nothing other than the basics. For breakfast we had cereal, eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Campfire-roasted hotdogs for dinner. Not to mention all the fixings for s'mores and some trail mix. She spent a total of $98 on food for the weekend for five people.
For breakfast we had cereal,...
For breakfast we had cereal, eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were lunch, and campfire-roasted hotdogs were dinner.
Our final destination was Calico, in the high desert of California. We were there to explore the old silver and soap mines, drive on some extreme off-road trails, and sit around the campfire and enjoy the fresh air and stars. One of the benefits of Calico's remote location is that it's on Bureau of Land Management land and we had acres of potential camping spots to choose from, all free of charge.
After locating the perfect spot with a fire ring already set up, I set the parking brake and pushed the button to operate the slide out. Once the slide-out was fully extended it was time to set up camp. My friends took the Jeep off the trailer, set up our chairs, stacked some firewood, and made the beds. Finally, all of us were in the great outdoors with no cell phone service and no noise except the crackling of the campfire.