LAS VEGAS -- High gas prices may have some people rethinking their summer plans. But there's a group of hardcore travelers who are defying the pumps and hitting the road this summer in recreational vehicles.
Las Vegas is a popular stop on what has become a western states road trip loop. The KOA Campground at Circus Circus is the main stop for Las Vegas RV owners. July is their busiest month. Bad weather made spring a bad time for nationwide RV travel. Now, the campers are filling the lots.
RV drivers come in from points all over the country, seeking spaces at the campground.
"We get a lot of people who go over to the Grand Canyon and spend a couple of days here. And then it's off to Yosemite and off to San Francisco. Kinda a loop that they do," said Wendy Jensen, KOA general manager.
Ramos Lucero and his family are making that same loop on their three week vacation.
"Fireworks tonight. We'll do the Strip today. Tomorrow we'll head to California," said Lucero who is visiting from Colorado. "We're on our way to San Francisco. We started off on Saturday, stopped in Mesquite for the night."
Large RV's typically get six to 13 miles per gallon.
"If you have a motorhome and you're going to start worrying about gas and expenses, get rid of it," Lucero advises.
His daughter Christine Torres did think of the expenses, and still likes how the RV vacation plans add up.
"For a family of five, economically, when I price it, it was still cheaper to pay gas then it was to rent a place to sleep the five of us and then, I travel with my mom and her husband, so we have to rent two hotel rooms. By the time you add two hotel rooms, per night, and by the time you pay for three meals out, it gets really expensive."
The Las Vegas KOA campground is just glad to see half of the 400 spots fill up after a difficult season.
"The spring got us off to a slow start because so much of the United States had bad weather that people just weren't traveling," said Jensen.
And for campers not used to Nevada's heat. "Everybody complains," laughs Jensen. At least the campers can cool off in the swimming pool.
KOA estimates 5 million RV owners hit the road this Fourth of July weekend.
