Sesame Street, and my math-major mom, taught me the importance of numbers.

And money.

Today’s blog post is brought to you by the number eight, and viewers like you.

On this trip, I visited eight national parks.

Eight!

Colorado National Monument
Arches National Park
Great Basin National Park
Yosemite National Park
Olympic National Park
Mt Rainier National Park
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve
Grand Teton National Park

The kayak saw eight bodies of water.

Eight!

Left hand Reservoir (Colorado)
Brainard Lake (Colorado)
Colorado River (Moab, UT)
Tenaya Lake (Yosemite NP, CA)
Del Valle Reservoir (Livermore, CA)
San Franscisco Bay
Pacific Ocean (Oregon and Washington)
Jackson Lake (Wyoming)

I visited 15 states, as displayed on this map I got on my eighth birthday.

Eight!

More numbers:

50 nights
9,038 miles
605 miles – longest drive in one day
524.6 gallons of diesel
$1,576.13 fuel cost
$1,009.93 – total camping fees

The camping fees averaged out to $20.19/day. So, leaving out the cost of food and other touristy activities, the per-day cost for gas and lodging was $51.72/day.

Here are the pieces that make up the camping cost puzzle.

The camping expense breakdown.

$42.08: Richmond KOA (Richmond, IN)
$29: Clinton State Park (De Witt, IL)
$0: Golden, CO (moochdocking at brother Tim’s)
$92 (4 nights): Pawnee Campground (Arapaho/Roosevelt National Forrest)
$0 (3 nights): Idledale, CO (moochdocking at brother Tim’s)
$48.24: Silt/Colorado River KOA
$22: Saddlehorn Campground (Colorado National Monument)
$161.43 (2 nights): KOA (Moab, UT)
$25: Devils Garden Campground (Arches NP)
$15: Lower Lehman Creek (Great Basin National Park)
$0: Moochdocking at Aunt Linda and Uncle Wally’s Resort and Spa (Yerrington, NV)
$26: Tuolumne Meadows Campground, Yosemite National Park (CA)
$98 (2 nights): Lake Del Valle Family Campground (Livermore, CA)
$35: Hidden Springs Campground (Humboldt Redwoods State Park, CA)
$60.88: Waldport/Newport KOA (Waldport, OR)
$104 (4 nights): Top Secret Oregon Coast Campground
$0 (5 nights): Moochdocking at mom & dad’s (Winlock, WA)
$60 (4 nights): South Beach Campground, Olympic National Park
$0: Moochdocking at mom & dad’s (Winlock, WA)
$0: Moochdocking at Uncle Von’s (Toledo, WA)
$0: Moochdocking at mom & dad’s (Winlock, WA)
$0: Arrowback Reservoir Dispersed Camping (Boise, ID)
$15: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (Idaho)
$0: Upper-Teton View, Bridger-Teton National Forest, WY
$96 (3 nights): Colter Bay Campground, Grand Teton National Park, WY
$0 (3 nights): moochdocking at brother Tim’s in Idledale, CO
$33.03: KOA of Salina (Kansas)
$0: (w/Harvest Hosts membership): Tuscan Hills Winery (Effingham, IL)
$47.70: Washington/Pittsburgh SW KOA (Pennsylvania)

Have you glazed over yet?

Maybe you need to hone your math skills with some flash cards.

Or maybe you just need to know that once you’ve purchased the trailer and the tow vehicle, that a seven-week cross-country trip is not as expensive as you might think.

And totally worth it.