Sunday 1/16/2022, At home in Santa Ana, CA
We got back safely on Sunday the 9th. See OPB for that day. What I want to do now is a brief epilogue to share a few thoughts and give some hard data. I also will be posting the photos of the inside of the Alto since some of you might like to see that. We had a few here and there but not many with the details. The outside showed up many times.
Looking out our bedroom window makes us appreciate how much we already have and enjoy just here at OPH. The bright sunlight outside with pine trees and a huge pepper tree enhance our courtyard/front yard. We are very fortunate. But we love going places and evermore, to see all of you along the way.
Overall it was a wonderful trip and adventure. Living in close quarters would seem stressful for some but we managed to survive along with Moreno, our dog. He was very good at moving from one end of the Alto to the other, depending on where we were or were not. When we went to bed he preferred to join us than to stay in his bed on the floor. We are used to his sleeping with us because "that is what he does at OPH". Like a sandbag dropping into bed with us. Better have your blankets where you want them, 'cause they ain't coming back.
Most of the day to day activity was driving. I suppose that helps in trying to not get in each other's way in the Alto. If we were to be living in it 24/7 would be different. But then we would be actually set up for camping at a campsite with our chairs and tables outside which would actually give us more space to expand into. We hope to do more traveling and camping with the Alto and Moreno. It was fun. Maybe we will pick a warmer month next time. We were very lucky that we never froze our water pipes. Or our selves.
Here are some numbers, a total of 28 nights:
6 Campgrounds
7 Harvest Host sites
5 Friends
1 Relative (9 days)
1 OPH
Total Miles travelled: 6587.8
Total gallons of gas: 611.113
Total cost of gas: $2197.94
Average cost of gas/gallon: $3.596
Cost of gas/gallon: Lowest $2.699 in Winona, MS
Highest $6.449 in Essex, CA (Route 66)
MPG: Lowest in Essex, CA (Route 66) where it was windy (40 mph headwind) - 7.0
Highest in Columbus, GA (driving without the Alto) - 18.6
One thing is very clear, towing the trailer is a strain for the Subaru. Without the trailer we were almost 20 mpg. With the trailer, at 60 mph or less, we were at 12 mpg. At 70 mpg, we were down to 10 and at 75 we were 8 mpg, headwinds cost another gallon or two. Texas' speed limits are 75 and if you do not drive 75, you become a speed bump. Headwinds, no matter the speed, were also a mileage drain. Basically, if you were not in a hurry, 10-12 mpg and 60 mph is probably reasonable. But it is really hard for Eldon to go that slow. He passed some people at 90 I think. [Yes, I did, but no tickets.]
For the most part, we did try to avoid the interstate highways and preferred to take the US highways. At the National Route 66 Museum in Oklahoma (covered in Day 3) we learned an important quote about the interstates "Now you can cross the entire country and see nothing." At the horse ranch, we met a couple that were driving from Florida to Illinois towing their Airstream, and they took only 2-lane roads. They could not believe that we had made it from CA to TN in 4 days, as they had been on the road for 6 and had only made it 300 miles. There is something to be said for that, ... retirement. But also seriously, there is a LOT to see and do along the way and we just could not fit any of it into this trip because each day was scheduled and each minute and mile were precious. "Next trip."
Aside from the expense for gasoline there were campsite costs and the items we bought when staying for "free" at the Harvest Host facilities. All those are worth the expense. We could not have seen so much nor visited with as many people had we been trying to do this by flying to places. The hotels and car rentals would have amounted to a lot more than we spent on gas. One thing we did not spend money on was buying ice. That was great because when you have to depend on a cooler that needs ice then you have to be emptying out the water and you cannot have frozen foods to heat up later. You also have soggy foods as no zip-lock is ever perfect.
We have a cooler unit (Dometic) that functions like a refrigerator and freezer. You can program the whole thing or part of it to be one or the other or both. We also have a small power unit that does not need gasoline and will power the Dometic for 4 nights when we are camping and the car is not powering the unit. It's like a large battery, but I think I already wrote about that. Both take up space in the SUV but this time we had space since we have a top carrier which stored the stuff we didn't really need on a daily basis or were taking one-way to Columbus for Christmas. It also included 2 sleeping bags which we thought we should bring in case of bad weather as well as a couple of chairs. We never needed it despite the bad weather we encountered.
All in all a great experience which I hope you can some day share with your family and friends.
I will post now the inside of the trailer and do captions to go along with them. You can also go to their website and see professional photos of them. Ours is an Alto R1713 in the Safari Condo website.
This is our "living room" with Moreno's hanging out space when he is not on our bed. He is very good at getting out of the way. To the right of my head is the bright sunlight from this very large window. Some Alto owners chose for no big window and have wall space where they can make cupboards and/or extra bunk beds. I suppose if we had kids that needed a real bed things would be different. We prefer the light.
Here I present to you the cupboard with the usual implements. Also you can see the microwave and the kitchen sink area. The sink is accessible now but it has a black glass cover that we put down when not in use. Makes for more counter space. There is hot and cold water.
Next to the sink is the 2 burner, gas stove. It too has a glass top that can be put down to make the space for more countertop. When I have dishes to do, I usually cover the stove and put my dish drainer there. You can see here a mini wok (cast iron) that we bought on this trip when we visited the Lodge factory in South Pittsburg, TN. We just stumbled onto it and debated if we should stop since it would seem like we own already everything a person would need from Lodge. But that debate did not last for long and we exited! Amazing, but oh yes, we "needed" a few things. Great and dangerous place!!!
Below the stove you can see our refrigerator. It also has a small freezer which makes enough ice so we can enjoy in our drinks. Since we have a heavy duty freezer/refrigerator in the car which is plugged in to the car (or electricity if we have that) then this small freezer is enough. As I commented on one of the Blogs that we did not need to buy ice along the whole way. That was a BIG plus. Mostly this refrigerator allowed us to have easy access to Moreno's food, and beers of course..
Here we can show you the "spice cabinet" located just behind the stove top. It's very cute for such a purpose but when Eldon cooks he needs many spices and he would need them perhaps during the actual cooking of the meal so it's best not to be opening and closing this area while you are trying to use the stove top. Not recommended. So we made some changes as to what would go where. There is coffee here, Starbucks instants, and spice tea. Cute but frustrating location when you have boiling water going on the stove and forgot to get the coffee out of the cabinet. After a couple days we never forgot again.
Here you are looking towards the back end of the Alto. The back window serves as an emergency exit window as well, hopefully never used. There are two little corner "nightstand" shelfs which is handy for glasses, cell phones and on my side (I'm sitting on my side) I have a little Kleenex box holder under the shelf. Under me is the area for linens and miscellaneous games. Across the aisle is our main pantry and also clothing supplies. The whole thing connects in the middle with cushions that make the whole area into a King Size bed. OMG, that is huge. But now that Moreno has gotten used to being in bed with us, we NEED all that space. We each get a third.
You are looking at the pantry and clothing space, under the cushion. Of course we need a "wine cellar" (lower left, now empty) for the "essentials". Too many items to itemize. Not important. We have whatever we need. And more. Most of the time so far we have only scratched the surface of what we bring. Especially in terms of clothing, cooking pots and pans, alcohol, spices, and just plain "stuff.". We are learning on each trip. Now we have more Lodge, ... sigh.
This is the back of the Alto area with full sections in place. Moreno is seen on the right side leaning against the mattress topper we added to give us more soft comfort. We roll it after getting up and it serves also as a backrest.
We have more storage as well by organizing the shelves behind the toilet. Normally they are shelves with 1" lip at the edge. On the road, nothing stays in place. So I found some clear, plastic bins that I put velcro on the underside so it does not fly off the shelf during the bumpy roads. Or any road, for that matter. Even west Texas. Again, we learn with every trip how to do it "better" next time.
The beige pocket storage item you see on the inside of the toilet door is like a "shoe rack" or storage compartment. It works great and I learned that from other Alto owners we met when we were picking up the Alto.
I also put a "shoe rack" hanger on the side wall of the bathroom next to the entry door. We use it for shoes and slippers primarily but also for other items we need quickly. Like flashlight, dog poop bags, keys, corkscrew, etc. In front I have placed this rolling Panama decoration that our friend Buddy just gave us on this trip. Thanks. It serves to hide some stuff.
This hanging thingy is actually on the left side as you enter the Alto. If we didn't have this you would be stumbling over the shoes and slippers, etc. I did not mention that the toilet door cannot really be closed while you are using it. So you want to plan accordingly. Good that we know each other very well! The door would not close if you are sitting on the toilet. Unless you want to have your knees jammed to your hip, or amputated about twelve inches above your knees. Best to just be "friendly".
So there you have it. Notice that the windows all over give us an outdoor/inside environment which is GREAT!!! We don't feel like we are in a cave and it's unbelievable to wake up and see how beautiful it is outside from inside, even the frosty windows from this trip. The black curtains make a total black out condition that if you were to want to sleep the day away, you could. It's wonderful. What? It is 9:00?
Moreno enjoyed the trip so much that here he is, on the bed ready to go. He doesn't know that I am just cleaning up and not actually getting ready for our next trip. Poor guy!!! His life is just so horrible at OPH. Guess we will need to get back on the road again. Soon.
And so, there you have it. Our 28 day, 6600 mile journey, to see and spend time with Erick and Judith's children and friends over Christmas and New Years. Wonderful time, awesome friends along the way, including theirs, great Harvest Hosts too, and a superb performance by the Subaru and Alto means that we not only lived, but even thrived on the journey.
When do we do it again? Hopefully sooner than later. Stay tuned.
