Vacation Metrics that Matter

I updated my Quicken file with all the vacation expenses Kyle and I incurred during our “best vacation ever” (so far), but as Mo Vaughn once said, “It ain’t about the money.” In my effort to document the trip, I’ve come up with some numbers I find interesting. Maybe you will too.

• Days – 14 – August 9 to 22
• Hours spent on work – Less than 1
• Miles Driven – 2,812
• Longest – 415 miles – Tucson to San Diego
• Shortest – 88 miles – SF to Sacramento
• States – 3 – Arizona, California, Nevada
• National Parks – 3 – Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Yosemite
• Border Patrol Stops – 3 along I8 between Tucson and San Diego
• Casinos – 3 – Caesar’s, Luxor, Mandalay Bay
• Miles Flown – 4,731
• Tires Blown – 1
• Wine Tasting Fee – $10 at V. Sattui (a first, but they can get it)
• Art Visiting Free – Cornerstone Gardens in Napa which used to have a fee…
• California Wildfires Caused by Pot Growers Seen – 1
• Hotels – 9
• Restaurant Chains – 1 – Maggiano’s in Vegas (Kyle request)
• Bags of ice – 3
• Workouts – 3 – Tucson, Sacramento and Vegas
• Highest Overnight Parking Fee – $50 – SF Hyatt
• Lowest – $0
• Hours listening to “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” – 21
• Hours listening to Celine Dion – Too many…
• Tolls – None!
• Debit card fee at a gas station – $0.35 – Never heard of this one…
• Laundromats – 1
• Bottles of Maker’s Mark – 1 with my life-long friend, Mike Gonnella
• Cigars – 1
• Huevos Rancheros for Breakfast – 5
• High Temp – 109 along I8 between Tucson/SD and in Death Valley
• Low Temp – 58 in SF, but it felt pretty cold in Sacramento too…
• Rain – Some spitting in Phoenix our last night, but it registered as 0 inches.
• Highest Elevation – 9,943 feet – Tioga Pass, our eastern exit point from Yosemite National Park.
• Lowest Elevation – 196 feet below sea level – Route 190 in Death Valley
• Maximum Highway Grade – 6% in many mountain ascents and descents
• Red rocks taken from Sedona – 3 (1 given to Nina Gonnella)
• Pounds – -1, but I was hoping for better.
• Pictures – 338
• Memories – immeasurable – and the only metric that matters.