This.

You know, I'm starting to think there just might be something to this whole ingenuity and determination stuff.

will monitor

We're filling in details now. We have Saturday nights on the road in Montana. Pretty much all campgrounds are full already. Don't want to risk sleeping on no reservations accepted BLM land. Nothing would be worse than to roll up and find no availale sites after driving 8 hours. So we're staying in the Billings KOA one night.

Gotta find another place the following Saturday. It's a balance finding a good place without driving too far out of the way. Things out West are so far apart.

I'm not worried. Only have a few details to finalize. And there is still some time.

Today I have to go shopping for work and buy samples of infringing items in a lawsuit. It's part of the new job I now have. Shopping is fun, and I'll get paid for it. I had never bothered to join Costco before, but the firm will pay my membership fee to pick up a couple things there. So that's a bonus too.

Costco enrages me. Nearly everything about it is Discounters Theater.


Oh, the meat is cheaper? Yeah--because it comes in packages of 1 and 1/3 pounds. No recipe calls for 1 and 1/3 pounds. The implied promise of bulk prices is you can buy ten 1-pound packages at a discount, or at least one 10-pound package you can redivide yourself, but the reality is you end up expanding each evening's one-package recipe by 30%, which means the vast majority of people will eat larger portions and/or throw it away, thus saving no money.

You have to check my receipt as I walk out, even though I just ran a gauntlet of two employees per checkout lane, and there is no other way to access the exit (making for an awkward-as-hell line-cutting process if you try to leave without buying anything, by the way)? A.) Inspecting my purchased items is actually illegal, and Fry's Electronics got slapped down in court for it many years ago, and B.) you're just trying to make people feel like Costco is some super-guarded facility that only special members get to be a part of. You are not actually comparing the receipt to the basket, you're just slowing everyone down.

Dry goods are cheaper, as they've always been, but these loss leaders are meant to trick you into buying other items like produce, which I have compared extensively with my local grocery store, and the local store is always cheaper.


And yet, I have a membership, because we go through a ton of Fiji water and it's slightly cheaper there, and because they carry this one frozen gluten-free dessert that I can't get anywhere else locally. But it still infuriates me that I have to participate in their mostly-scam.

I didn't enjoy Costco.

Good Lord, what a zoo.

And I was only buying one item. They looked at me funny, as the two customers in front of me each had two carts. And I placed a single towel on the belt. And they only take Visa, so I couldn't use my company Amex and have a bunch of paperwork to fill out and won't get reimbursed for a month.

Have you heard of this thing called "cash"?

Many employers require you use the company credit card.

There is a branch of my store in Billings. Lucky's Market is into non-profit and community support. They might help with a food donation if you explain how come you got stuck there, how awesome you are, even though you aren't technically local.... (either pre-prepared --like pizza and fruit trays-- or for you to cook) LMK if you need further info/would like me to try and help.

https://www.luckysmarket.com/billings-montana/

Thanks Monster!

I was a little concerned initially that the price of this trip was going to shoot through the roof as we had to come up with a Plan B, but I did a huge spreadsheet with everything on it, and it looks like we are going to break even. A year ago when we started the planning, everyone understood that we would be adding 2 rental cars and 2 hotel nights to the total for about $200 additional per person.

My spreadsheet says we know of $238 more in expenses per person, so that's actually really close. I'm a little impressed with us, pulling this together.

We're not hurting financially as a crew.

There still might be extras that we add on at the last minute, but that would have happened anyway.

Will we go to Terry's Bison Ranch when we are in Cheyenne and spend $14 per person to take a train to see Terry's bison? Who knows? Those sorts of extras will happen every once in a while.

One big expense is now going to be gasoline. I fed our itinerary into google maps, and our total road trip will be 2,494 miles! That's like driving across the country. It's mostly broken up into. A day of driving, four days off, two days of driving, 7 days off, two days of driving, hop on a plane.

Still, I figured a minivan from Enterprise will get 22 MPG. Two of them will be a total of 5,000 miles at 22 MPG is 227 gallons of gas to buy. I figured gas in Montana will be $3 a gallon when we are there. So $681 for gas, or around $60 per person.

You're going to pass right by my friend's town, Garryowen MT. I highly recommend you stop to check out his museum and visit with him for some great insights on the Battle of the Little Big Horn and the place where the first shots were fired (right there at Garryowen/Sitting Bull's camp).

While on the road in Montana, if you need a place to camp out for one night (for free), it's entirely possible my friend would accommodate you and your crew in Garryowen. If you're interested, PM me.

:thumbsup:

[quote=glatt]One big expense is now going to be gasoline. I fed our itinerary into google maps, and our total road trip will be 2,494 miles! That's like driving across the country. It's mostly broken up into. A day of driving, four days off, two days of driving, 7 days off, two days of driving, hop on a plane.

Still, I figured a minivan from Enterprise will get 22 MPG. Two of them will be a total of 5,000 miles at 22 MPG is 227 gallons of gas to buy. I figured gas in Montana will be $3 a gallon when we are there. So $681 for gas, or around $60 per person.

This might help too.

SonofV move to New York.

This happened ten days ago, including the three day train ride.

My stress factor has floated down from 9.5 to... 7.5.

My nest is empty. I used to have a fledgling (my last fledgling), dangling by one foot from a branch, well below the nest. He dropped onto a rushing train that disappeared over the horizon, taking my purpose in life with him.

I kind of hate this thread.

But I definitely love all you guys.

#STRESS

What prompted the move? Friends? Job? Education?