Family Trips, is Amtrak an Alternative?
We take a number of trips up to Oregon (from San Jose, CA) every year to visit friends and family, which is one of the reasons we switched from a travel trailer to a motorhome. Motorhome's are great for traveling in, particularly with kids, because there are a number of activities they can do while still being buckled in their seats. The kids can draw at the dinnette, watch a movie, eat a snack, or even sleep on the bench seats. Still, 625 miles makes for a long trip - usually about 13 hours. We recently took a look at Amtrak to see how it might stack-up against driving.
With our AAA discount, the Amtrak price for the entire family is $504.90; about what we might pay in gasoline for 1,250 miles at eight miles-per-gallon, with some money left over for food. I do not think that food is included in the Amtrak fare for coach seating. The 17-hour trip on Amtrak is four hours longer than driving, and from what I have read about Amtrak, delays of an hour or more are common. Being able to sleep, though, is certainly a big advantage over driving.
In the end, I think we will continue to take the RV. We are a bit worried about how the kids would take to a 17-hour trip, sitting in a seat (I'm a bit concerned about how I would take it!). Also, owning an RV, particularly a motorhome, is expensive - so it makes sense to get as much use out of it as you can.
