Happy Earth Day, filthy hippies!
I will celebrate by complaining about the price of gas these days!
I promise this will not be one of those smug tirades where I crow shamelessly about how little it costs to fill Oscar’s tank, and I will endeavor not to feign shock that my last fill up cost almost $4 instead of the usual $3.20 (although seriously, that is crazy high). I know I am endlessly amusing to myself when I do that, but it must be really irritating to people who drive things that burn through upwards of $70 in fuel a week. While it completely must suck to be you, I’m sure you have valid reasons for driving your Turbo Hummer Cayenne Lexus Rover – perhaps it is that you have too much money. Anyway, this rant won’t be about any of that. I swear.
I’m worried about the expense associated with our road trip next month.
Ed’s cousin is getting married, so we’re using up most of our vacation time (again) to go out to Edmonton for the better part of a week. Flying is ridiculously expensive and puts us at the mercy of the wheels of others for our late night donair runs, so we’ve opted to drive. Road trips are fun, and I’ve actually made a pledge to not fly anywhere in 2008 so’s there are no extra CO2 emissions made on my behalf (I’ve also pledged not to own any cows because methane emissions are no fun either). Driving to Edmonton just makes a lot of sense, really.
But it’s going to be REALLY FUCKING EXPENSIVE to do so because the price is gas is so damn high.
I don’t remember the last time we fueled our car to fill the tank. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I bought gas at all – we use the Mazdabator on average twice a week, maybe. When I DO buy gas, it’s a) only because the “need gas” light is on and b) never, ever a full tank because the other $40 I’m not spending is clearly better spent on ale and whores. It’s going to take at least two full tanks to get us to Edmonton, and that’s going to be about $125-$150 in gas EACH WAY. That is EXPENSIVE.
No, seriously. I love going on road trips, and it’s sad to know that it’s no longer quite as simple as jumping in the car and taking off for adventure. If I had more leisure time to plan out my fun, I might look at taking a train – but that adds so much time to a trip, and when you’re working on mere scraps of vacation time each year you’re really looking for things that’ll bang your buck with conviction.
I wonder if I could scoot to Edmonton?
delicious juice dot com 
Driving is fun!
It will cost about 1/3rd in gas what it would cost to fly there and back, and then you don’t have to rent a car or rely on others once you get there. It’s an easy drive and you can get there in about 12 hours, err, or less if Reilly is driving, but we’ll ignore that. Then again, I got a speeding ticket the last time I drove that… just slow down around Valemount if you’re taking the short way, and you should be fine. The cops there are out to get you. It’s true.
And! They have donairs there! Real, honest to goodness donairs! This alone is plenty to be excited about
And – indeed – happy earth day to you!
Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to make up for your lack of flying by flying as much as possible to vancouver. My relationship is not very earth friendly…. maybe I should follow your advice and “just move to Vancouver and buy a scooter”
Ahh yes I have recently had to re-think my policy of just fueling up wherever and not even looking at the price. Apparently due to a cold winter out east, diesel is currently more expensive than premium gas, usually $1.35-40 or even $1.60. I filled up on saltspring island on the weekend and it was the most I’ve ever paid for fuel (aside from u-hauling), $60 :( hopefully the price will be back down in the summer and I’ll be back to $10 per 100km road tripping in the van.
Apparently we need to do more 2 wheeled road trips though,
The ruckus is about $3.50 / 100km
The bike is about $4 / 100km
Keep in mind once you get out of town gas is automatically 8c cheaper or whatever.
For what it’s worth, Kimli, the gas prices will fluctuate a lot in the prairies and you’ll find that it’s generally cheaper than over here. Also, if you use a Petro Points card at Petro Can in Alberta, you usually get X.XX cents off per litre.
Good luck! Have fun! Don’t scoot to Edmonton!!! Silly.
http://www.gasbuddy.com/
click and zoom and you can find the Canadian sites & maps for comparative fuel prices.
Just get enough gas to make it to Hope, and you’ll save a bunch. Besides, it’s the town that made Rambo famous. Eat a genuine trucker breakfast here, and you’ll be good until the return trip.
The Coquihalla Hwy toll seems like a lot, but you’ll save on fuel and time.
Expect four-legged critters on the road from Chilliwack to Stoney Plain, and a ton of gravel and rock on the roads.
Ken
Going to geek out here…
These are rough calculations, and I might have it wrong as I am not good at the maths, but:
Car –
Driving distance to Edmonton from Vancouver via Google maps: 720 miles 12:40 hours
Car averaging: 35mpg
Total fuel used: 20.5 gallons
Pounds of CO2 per gallon: 19.56
Total pounds of CO2 generated by driving: 402.34
Plane –
Flying distance from Vancouver to Edmonton: 502 miles 1:15 hours
Fully loaded 737-700E burns: 5300 pounds per hour (this number might be high)
Total fuel burned: 6 625 pounds
Total gallons (6.7 pounds in a gallon of fuel): 988.80
At 140 passengers : 7.06 galls per seat
Pounds of CO2 per gallon of jet fuel: 21.095
Total pounds of CO2 per passenger :148.93
Times two for both of you: 297.86
I did not take into consideration wind which can have a positive or a negative impact but should pretty much equal out over a return trip.
So flying produces less C02 in this case. One of the reasons is because it is more direct to fly then to drive because you don’t have to drive through the mountains. If you have a connecting flight it screws it all up and driving is probably better. I have also not calculated the driving to the airport etc. Also, you wouldn’t have your car to drive in Edmonton so that counts somehow…
Wow, Jon, that’s pretty geeky =)
I used several different online emission calculators (I don’t have time to do it by hand right now) and came up with slightly different numbers:
Driving 1,436 miles (Google Maps route from our house to parent’s house = 716 miles/1,153 km x2) produces 0.702 tonnes of CO2
Flying via Westjet from YVR to YEG direct is 502mi/808km one way, 1004mi/1616km return, producing 0.803 tonnes of CO2.
None of this takes into account extra travel or passenger weight, which I’m sure contributes. It’s less harmful to drive, not to mention cheaper – two round trip tickets to Edmonton via Westjet will cost $742.00 WITH a seat sale, and that doesn’t include the cost of getting to/from the airport in each city. Driving will be a fraction of that, and be more fun – I don’t have have to wear pants in the car, you see.
Wow. I am so outclassed in the nerd department. Also, pants are the devil.
Spent most of the week in Vancouver, largely in shock at the retards you allow behind a steering wheel. Seriously? It was like 1st gear to 4th every block, full red line, totally ridiculous. Even more single occupant vehicles than Victoria. It’s pretty rough getting passed by a *bus*.
Is there a gas co-op in Van? The one here is freakin’ great. $25 gets you a lifetime share, and with that you get 4% cash back on all gas purchases at the end of the year. I bet with prices going through the roof, they up the percentage this year.