We literally got back last night after 3 weeks in the US of A. Drove from Edmonton south to Salt Lake City. Spent a night there and then we were going to do Vegas and the Grand Canyon but went to Moab instead. Spent a couple days there and glad we changed our route. Very cool place and want to go back. From there we went over to Texas. New Mexico was extremely boring and couldn’t wait to get out of there. Couple nights in Houston. Did the Space Center and that was cool. Houston as a whole was terrible. Way, way too busy. Left Houston and went to Galveston for a night then along the coast to Corpus Christi and stayed on South Padre Island. Liked it there. San Antonio for a night and then Austin for 3 nights. Toured the hill country and ate a ton of BBQ. Went up to Cheyenne after Texas. Was going to tour through Yellowstone but they were calling for snow so we cut over to Jackson. From there we burned home.
Found things were cheaper but definitely more expensive than when we’ve travelled south in years past. If we were staying a night we’d usually grab a cheap motel. As long as it was clean and in a safer neighborhood we were good. But they were usually over $100 CAD for a night. If we did a couple nights we’d try to stay in a decent hotel. Usually pushing $200-$250 CAD for a night depending on when during the week. Did an AirBnB on South Padre Island. Around $225 CAD a night but comfortable and on the water.
We didn’t pay more than $4/gallon for fuel. Texas was the cheapest. Usually just north of $3/gallon. The 80mi/hr speed limits didn’t help with the mileage. The Americans love to drive fast. I think the majority of the drive was 135-140km/hr.
After the exchange, groceries were around the same price. A little cheaper but nothing mind blowing. Brought 5-6 bags of stuff back that we can’t find here. We only ate out twice at sit down restaurants. Again, about the same as home. Ate at 8 BBQ joints and they were pricey but that was my reason for going to Texas. I thought I knew good BBQ until I went there. Really outstanding.
20 days, 8 states and almost 11,000km. Don’t think I’d do that road trip again. Loved Moab and Wyoming. Want to go back for sure. Texas was meh. Glad we did it but can’t see us driving down that way again.
|