How to Gas Up an RV

First you must understand the criteria: you want to get gas at just the ¼ full mark so that you can put exactly 50 gallons in to calculate the gas mileage. Next of course, comes the cost factor. Last night we learned that gas is cheaper in Florida than Georgia, so we are hoping the ¼ mark doesn’t come before the state line! Lastly there is the configuration of the selected gas station. It must accommodate what basically counts as an 18 wheeler in length at the gas (not diesel) pump and have room for us to enter and exit.
Next you have to understand all of the equipment involved. There is:
• Dave’s Gas Buddy APP on his phone that tells us how much the gas cost and SOMETIMES will give you directions.
• The GPS… or Nuvi or Myrtle as she is irreverently called.
• Deb’s cell phone which will give you directions and info too, but is 3G not 4
• The Walkie Talkies
• And don’t forget the 2 sets of eyes trying to watch both the road, relevant signs, and all these devices.
So here’s how it shakes out: As we hit the Florida state line we see Jacksonville in the distance, and Dave decides it would be easier to stop on the other side of the city, traffic and road wise. We start noticing gas bill boards and they aren’t much cheaper than the ones in Georgia. So much for research! Deb goes on Gas Buddy and confirms that the cost of gas near Jacksonville is very similar to Georgia. Dave declares that it would be worth a few pennies/gallon to have easy drive in and outs. We get past the center city. Dave notices an exit with multiple gas station signs so we take the exit. All of the gas stations are very small and would not accommodate our rig. Meanwhile Deb has put “truck stops near Jacksonville” into Google on her phone and identifies 2 south of us on I-95. Dave has to confirm this with the Nuvi (he “almost” successfully completes this maneuver at a stop light). Myrtle does get us back to the interstate and billboards confirm the truck stop is not very far down the way. As we get off at the designated exit, there are 2 truck stops both with gas at the same price. We drive into the TA TravelAssist and discover that the truck lane which is easy to drive into only has diesel gas. I suggest we try the Pilot next door but Dave thinks he can fit at the gas pumps. He makes the tight turns as Deb holds her breath and we pull up to the pump. Deb grabs the walkie talkie and jumps out to see if the 4th pump down lines up with the tank. So now we have tied up 4 pumps. Luckily there isn’t a line to use them! It lines up perfectly on the first pass (Dave is an excellent driver). Once he’s settled, Deb heads across the street to the Florida Fruit Stand and Souvenir Shop where she buys boiled peanuts (hooray for the South!), 4 post cards and 1 grapefruit. She would have bought tomatoes but you had to buy a peck. As she is returning, she notices Dave on the phone talking to his credit card company. The pump will only let him get $75 at a time and then it rejects his card. Hearing the expletives deleted, Deb retreats to check on Jack. He is under the fitted sheet on our bed! After critical negotiations between the clerk, credit card company, and Dave, the tank is full and we are on our way. Dave figures we got 8+ miles per gallon (which sadly is an improvement from Hilton Head!). As we pull out he says, “Another data base app to put on my phone!!!”