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July 26, 2008

Ever-rising everyday expenses forcing Wabash Valley residents to get creative with trips

By Crystal Garcia

TERRE HAUTE — High costs have affected how Sonny Byers, 66, of Linton travels. He used to go to Florida and Missouri or wherever else he wanted to go, he said. Over the years, he’s been to every state except Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, D.C. Now, he said he can’t afford to go on vacation.

Rising costs of food, gas and everyday expenses have forced Wabash Valley residents to get creative when deciding between luxuries and necessities.

Byers goes to Fowler Park two or three times a year, he said, noting “it’s not a bad value.” Compared with other campgrounds, he says it’s less expensive, and it’s one of the few places where he can walk out of his camper and go fishing.

“It’s a place to get away and it’s half-way reasonable,” Ron Dickus, 47, Byers’ nephew, said last week. “It’s not so far away, it’s peace and quiet.”

Dickus had been camping for about a week and he said that he plans to stay for a couple more weeks. This was the second time the family gathered at the park this year, he said, noting they usually make it out there every year.

“It’s basically a family get-together,” Dickus said. “We spend time with one another and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to go somewhere.”

Having seen high gas prices around the world during his travels, Terre Haute resident James Burns, 70, said he always wondered why fuel was so cheap back home. The difference lately isn’t as great, but Burns said he still sees $4 a gallon as cheap compared to other countries.

Burns was camping Tuesday in Prairie Creek Park with his friend, Lureda Payne. He said he could see why people who are trying to save fuel would take a vacation in the park.

“It’s a nice getaway,” he said.

“From all the hustle and bustle,” Payne added.

Staying closer to home

Americans are expected to take more than 327 million leisure trips from the start of vacation season in June through August, which is between 1 and 1.5 percent less than last year, according to an AAA news release. Traveling closer to home, reducing trip duration and looking for more affordable accommodations, restaurants and activities are some ways Americans are cutting costs without cutting their vacations.

Cathy Harkrider, executive secretary of Parke County Inc., thinks that’s exactly what’s happening in Parke County this summer.

“We’ve been impressed because I think we’re seeing a lot of people living closer coming to our area to visit,” she said, noting people stop by the visitor center in Rockville daily, requesting brochures for driving routes and parks in the area.

Still, Parke County Inc. is seeing high numbers of people from around the country seeking information on Parke County tourist attractions, she said. The organization mails out between 700 and 800 brochures on average to destinations across the United States.

Parke County Inc. also has had more requests for information on bus tours available during the Covered Bridge Festival. The bus tours are $10 a person. Harkrider said reservations already are being taken to fill buses for the festival, which runs Oct. 10-19.

“I’m very optimistic at this time because of the fact that people are still calling,” she said about Parke County’s tourism. “And, as far as the festival, we receive I don’t know how many calls a day wanting the dates … but again, I’m looking at people who maybe live just within the state of Indiana, more calls coming that way.”

One thing being noticed is that people are waiting until closer to their vacation time before gathering information or making confirmations, she said.

“To me, that’s just saying they’re waiting to see what kind of funds they’ve got, if gas has gone down, how far can they go, here comes their vacation, they’ve already applied for their time and maybe they were going to go really far but now, hey, they’re taking a second thought and deciding to stay somewhere a little bit closer,” Harkrider said.

It was a similar story from Dave Patterson, executive director of the Terre Haute Convention & Visitors Bureau, who said people are booking hotels two or three days before their trip instead of two or three weeks.

“People are just going down to crunch time and deciding what they want to spend with their disposable income because everything’s more … so sometimes, you’re going to pick and choose,” he said. “… and I think that’s what you’re seeing. People aren’t just going to quit living and quit having fun.”

He said this year hasn’t been much worse than what was expected, just different because rising costs weren’t the only things that came into play; there was bad weather, too.

“It’s not really a banner year for the U.S. or our community, but we’re not going to hit the panic button,” Patterson said. “We’ll just keep doing what we do and whatever happens, happens.”

More than high prices

Christy Trainor, 42, of Rosedale and her husband and three children have been camping at Fowler Park for more than a month, and plan to stay for a few more weeks.

Her husband doesn’t work far from the park, so it saves gas in his commute to stay at the park, she said. Another way her family is saving money is if her children catch dinner when they go fishing, Trainor said.

Fowler Park is a good value for them, she said, because other parks charge more per night and charge an additional fee to tie up a boat. There’s also plenty for her children to do for fun, she said, noting they sometimes rent movies to watch in the camper when it gets too hot or it rains.

Trainor said she and her family usually take a trip to Florida every year, but doubts they’ll make it there this year because of the cost involved in such a trip.

Christie Wilmoth, central reservation project manager for the Indiana Division of State Parks and Reservoirs, believes visitor numbers for state parks would have broken even or maybe even increased slightly had it not been for wet weather this season.

“In our business, I would be willing to say the weather is going to make a bigger decision for someone on a Thursday night than the money is necessarily, because the majority of our customers make advance reservations,” Wilmoth said.

Shakamak State Park, alone, was closed for a week in June because of flooding, she said.

Overnight reservations at Shades State Park and Shakamak State Park are down 7.6 and 6.6 percent, respectively, while they are up slightly at Turkey Run State Park by 1.6 percent, she said, noting there’s no way to know how much of each percent were weather-related verses other factors. Gate revenues also appeared to be down by similar percentages, she said.

Camping numbers are down at local county parks such as Fowler, Prairie Creek and Hawthorn, as well, according to Keith Ruble, superintendent of Vigo County Parks and Recreation Department. It’s hard to tell if daily visits are down, too, because there is no gate fee at these parks.

“I would say it’s below average as far as attendance with the economy the way it is and gas prices,” he said, noting reservations are about the same. “… If the gas situation stays like it is, I would think in years to come, people are spending more time at home or riding within a 50-mile radius of home.”

Ruble said that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing for people of the area, since within that 50-mile radius of Terre Haute are four state parks in addition to other county recreation areas.

“People are blessed in this area, even though a lot of them don’t know it,” he said. “… For the price of coming out here and enjoying the park, it’s a lot cheaper than going to the movies.”

Travel affordability takes work

It could be people like Todd Nation who are contributing to those numbers. The local business owner and Terre Haute city councilman isn’t letting high prices affect his family’s big trip of the summer to Florida, but he said the high cost affects the smaller trips his family would have taken.

The Nations used to go to Chicago to see a show or to a local state park for a hike, but Nation said those are things his family is limiting. He also pointed out that it’s not just gas prices that are a factor. With the price of almost everything increasing, he said, he’s been finding himself working more with less time for vacations.

“I guess it’ll really hurt when we can’t afford [Florida] anymore,” he said.

Though 38 year-old Jack Fox and his family still will be taking their September trip to Florida, he said they’ll probably make some cutbacks once they get there, such as not chartering a fishing boat with a guide and cooking more rather than eating out.

Fox, the overseer of ArtReach and associate youth pastor at Maryland Community Church, has been more selective about where he drives and consolidates errands to save money for the trip, he said. He’s also been doing his own oil changes as well as participating in Kerasotes’ Honey Creek West and ShowPlace 12’s Five Buck Club.

“People need to get more creative,” Fox said about finding things to do closer to home. “One thing [high prices] will do is draw people back to neighborhoods to do more things in their community.”

With some optimism, Fox speculated that economic conditions could lead to the “rebirth of the block party.”

Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.

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