Staying in one place for a month really saves money. Not only is the campground monthly rate typically much less than the daily/weekly rate, you don’t burn diesel fuel moving the bus around. With more time to see the area, sightseeing costs are spread out. And you can find the local bargain spots.

For example, we signed up for a Haggan grocery store card to qualify for their card discounts and promotions. Buying $40 in local goods, got us a $5 coupon. And we twice qualified for their free picnic promotion:  free package of hot dogs, buns, 32 ounce bottle of lemonade and bag of chips. And all we did was buy the groceries we usually do.  As described earlier, we joined the local casino players club to take advantage of their Golden Groovy days special discounts, like the $5 lunch buffet. Their gas was cheaper too.  Jeff found $2 gallons of milk at the nearby convenience store. The hilarious improv theater show in Bellingham was a deal at $8 each and staying for the following stand-up comedy show cost only $2 more.  You just can’t take advantage of local deals when you’re constantly on the move.

Vacation mode is fun, but slowing the cadence down is more relaxing and definitely has its advantages.

We are currently in transit from the Cedars RV Resort in Ferndale Washington to our next campground spot near Kalispell, Montana. On the way, we stopped at a Cummins Service Center in Spokane for the 6 month oil change on our house.

Cummins has “Coach Care” facilities which are designed to handle recreational vehicles like ours. Most even have special RV parking spots with hookups! We arrived last night and was able to use their 50 amp electrical service instead of running our generator. Our oil change was completed this morning, and we elected to stay put for tonight rather than boondock at a Walmart or someplace down the road. It is going to be 104 degrees in Spokane today, and we would otherwise have to run our generator continuously to keep the air conditioners on. Having access to (free!) electrical service is absolutely fantastic.

Next up:  Glacier National Park and family fun!