We left Mississauga, Ontario at 7 am on Saturday October 19th under heavily overcast skies and a temperature of 47 F. The trip to the border was uneventful but the wait to cross into the US was not. We were held up on the bridge and it took a good 35 minutes to cross - about 20 minutes longer than normal. Our first stop was in Springville NY to fill up on gas @$3.609 US per gallon, grab a coffee and breakfast sandwich for the road at Tim Horton's and switch drivers for the next leg.
There are a few things to note regarding current gas prices. The first is that in relative terms the price in Ontario is significantly higher that in the US states we traveled. Using a 12-month chart and picking representative reference cities it is pretty clear that in Canadian dollars per liter the gas cost around home is the highest - Toronto is roughly $0.29 CAN per liter more than Buffalo and $0.43 CAN per liter more than Richmond.
The second major point is that relative to our last trip in 2012 (October 20th - October 27th), gasoline prices in Ontario are currently higher but in the US they were lower as the chart below illustrates! Our first fill-up in NY state was $(0.24) US per gallon lower than last year whereas our second tank in Virginia was $(0.20) US per gallon lower.
The third point is that there are pockets of higher and lower prices in the different states we traveled through but in general NY is the highest cost and Virginia the lowest as illustrated by the map generated from the Gas Buddy website.
We paid $3.609 and $3.199 on the way down, $3.149 in Williamsburg and $3.099, $3.359 and $3.609 on the way back. I made sure I had just enough gas to make it to the first stop as gas at home is the most expensive. On the way back we topped up in Pennsylvanian to back out some of the more expensive NY gasoline and made sure we were pretty full crossing over into Canada.
Year over year our gasoline cost was $20 US lower and we bought more gas this year which was a nice bonus. Driving a 2006 Ford Freestar van about 2,500 kilometers and making some adjustments we spent about $240 US on gasoline; (we actually spent $260 US but ended up at home with more in the tank than when we left).
We continued to make short stops for restrooms, drinks, gasoline, food, and to change drivers. Traffic was smooth and there was no rain.
The scenery along the way is beautiful and we were fortunate to get the occasional burst of sunlight through the overcast skies to add some highlighting.
Fall means changing colors for the trees. There are large stretches where we travel through the mountains and are treated to the fall colors; a pity that the day was for the most part overcast. However from a driving perspective it makes it a lot easier on the eyes without the glaring sun.
We followed our new route down to Williamsburg staying away from the Washington traffic and road construction and traveling towards Winchester Va before taking highway 17 back to I95 around Fredericksburg Va. This was the second time down and back using this route and what a joy to drive it on a Saturday.
We arrived at our timeshare complex at 6:45 pm. Check-in was quick and uneventful; less than 10 minutes later we were unpacking the van at our unit. The Colonies of Williamsburg remains our preferred base and once again we had the upper floor consisting of two, 2-bedroom units.
After check-in we took a quick trip down to the local Food Lion for some groceries, bottled water, and snacks and then dropped in to the adjacent Rite Aid Pharmacy for a couple of bottles of wine. A 1.5 liter bottle of Yellow Tail Chardonnay was $12.67 and $6.69 for a 750 ml bottle of Yellow Tail Merlot.We then hit the Pappa John's outlet in the plaza for some take out pizza.
I had been looking very closely at golfing deals before we left on the trip. After scoring big last year getting Ford Colony for $22 and $25 and the Williamsburg National for $34, I was disappointed to find that neither facility was using the GolfNow service this year. So it was on to Plan B.
GolfNow did have two deals of interest and with a favorable forecast I booked Monday at Kiln Creek for $12.60 (11:00 am tee time) and Tuesday at Kiskiack for $31.24 (11:40 am tee time); taxes and cart included. I was going to book the National for Sunday for $45 for a 1:05 pm tee time but decided to wait and see if our timeshare had any discounted deals at Ford Colony. Ultimately we did play the Black Heath at Ford Colony on Sunday, paying $49 for a 1:35 pm tee time. While it was by far the most expensive round of the week it was still a discount from the rack rate on a high quality golf course. What a difference a year makes though.
After playing Kiln Creek we decided that this was a fabulous deal. Where can you play a well maintained and challenging course for that kind of money? Needless to say we returned Monday night to our unit and I proceeded to book our rounds for Wednesday (noon tee time) and Thursday (1:30 pm tee time) for just $11.55 through GolfNow. For Friday we decided to wait to see on the weather before booking. Playing last minute on a Friday usually means trip to a local municipal course. We we able to get a noon tee time at The Hamptons and the cost of $20.48 for their senior rate (cart and taxes included) was very reasonable.
The drive time from our timeshare to each of the courses varied greatly; Ford Colony was 7 minutes, Kiskiack 12 minutes, Kiln Creek 30 minutes and The Hamptons about 40 minutes. One of the dangers in booking outside of Williamsburg is traffic and we learned that first hand coming back on Friday from The Hamptons. Due to three separate accidents it took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to drive back.
In 2012 our total cost to play 6 rounds of golf was $165 US and I never thought we would ever beat that and play such nice courses. Well our 6 rounds this year cost just $136.42 US - less than $23 per round!
Our dining included a trip to the Olive Garden, the Manchurian Peking Restaurant and a couple of highly anticipated dinners at Sal's by Victor; it is after all not just about the golf. I also confess to a couple of fast food nights as well but what the heck - its a vacation.
The only disappointment was the weather being a little cooler than normal but nevertheless a lot warmer in Williamsburg than in Mississauga.
Some of the shots from the different course we played...
Ford Colony
Kiln Creek
Kiskiack
The Hamptons
On this trip we learned that the Kingsmill course is going private next year - I am glad I had a chance to play there at least once. Also we were told at the activities desk in our timeshare that the Traditions had bought out Ford Colony. This could make for some interesting changes for 2014.I have not played the three Traditions courses since 2011 (Brickshire, Royal Kent and Stonehouse) as they would be a little too difficult for my playing partner - maybe next year if he continues to improve. Our timeshare had a nice deal for the Traditions courses; $49 for the 1st round, $38 for the second and $25 for the third and subsequent rounds. That is a great bargain. My brother and his group played four rounds on these courses and they were extremely satisfied with the conditions and the value.
Will the Traditions incorporate Ford Colony into that deal next year or will the takeover result in higher prices and fewer deals? I guess time will tell.
My buddy was very happy with the vacation; this was his third fall trip. My brother and three of his friends stayed at the Williamsburg Plantation and they also enjoyed their fall vacation. My brother has been down six times since 2011, two of his buddies four times and one three times.
Sadly we left for home on Saturday October 26th - checking out and on the road by 7 am. It was a much nicer travel day with mostly sunny skies for more than half the trip before the clouds started to roll in. We had no traffic whatsoever until we hit the border and had to wait an hour and 20 minute to cross over. Nevertheless I dropped off my buddy and was safely home and unpacked by 7:30 pm.
