We contemplated flying to Nevada rather than driving across the US in winter weather. For our non-US readers, here’s a map of the US.
We will be driving from Ohio (OH on the map) to Nevada (NV), taking the southern route based on weather conditions to avoid snowy travel as much as possible. Of course, in December, it’s unavoidable. We could easily encounter snow in New Mexico (NM), especially in the mountains. In 1969, I lived in New Mexico, and although it didn’t snow a lot, it did occasionally.
So, the question becomes, why drive when we could fly? It’s not much about the cost since we already rented a car for a week and will pay for hotels and meals along the way. It could take us four or five days to get to Nevada since we prefer not to drive more than 400 miles daily.
One primary reason is that we don’t care about flying domestically in the US if we can avoid it. We are not interested in the cost of heavy bags, delayed flights, or airport confusion. Sure, we may spend a little more time driving, but it’s fun to travel through the US. Also, we’re always paying for a place to stay overnight in our nomadic lifestyle and for meals wherever we may be.
Flights from Cleveland to Las Vegas cost the same as the rental car for a week. Based on the prices for our extra luggage if we fly, any additional driving costs are a “wash.” We only eat breakfast and dinner and will look for hotels with breakfasts included during the trip.
The end result? We can bring all our remaining non-perishable foods in the rented SUV, which we’ll use in Nevada, saving us a considerable sum based on today’s prices. It’s not huge, but it could be around $200. While we are in Nevada for 2½ months, we will trim what we have in our luggage and get down to the checked weight allowed for international flights. We have yet to book our flight to South Africa but will do so after the holidays.
Driving so close to Christmas may not be too bad since we will be on the road starting on December 14. Our only concern will be the weather; we will do everything possible to avoid snow and ice. After encountering a snowstorm in Utah last May when we left California for Minnesota, we realized we can’t predict what we’ll experience. But we can change our route or take another day or two to get to Nevada if necessary. There’s no worry here.
If we make it to Nevada in five days, we’ll still have the rental car for a few days, so we can do some shopping and dining out. We may not need to head to our mailing service since we’ll receive a shipment from them in the next few days with everything we need from our mailbox.
Today, we just finished watching Sunday Morning and will start watching the Minnesota Vikings game in a few hours. It will be a good day!
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, November 10, 2014:
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| An old boat was awaiting restoration or a Maui junkyard. For more photos, please click here. |