Utah.
Arizona.
Colorado.
These are the states Karyn Espenlaub and her husband have travelled to summer after summer in their RV. The two live in Bellwood, just south of Tyrone and the local amusement park, DelGrosso’s.
Karyn’s husband retired five years before her, so the two had plenty of time to plan for the day they could hit the road and stay on the road year-round.
Karyn retired in 2021. She was among the higher than usual number of older Americans who retired during COVID.
But, that year, the aftermath of the COVID pandemic on the economy left their retirement plans at a standstill. Their RV didn’t make it out of Bellwood that summer. They told themselves by next summer gas prices would come down, and then they’d get on the road.
But, as the rate of inflation started to rise, gas prices followed suit.
The summer of 2022 came and went, and their RV stayed in Bellwood right with them.
As the third summer since Karyn’s retirement approaches, she and her husband have yet to drive their RV across state lines. Today, the average cost to drive an RV from Bellwood, PA to Utah is almost $600. In 2018, the same trip would have cost a little over $400.
They continue to hold on to their dream of traveling the country with no return date set on the calendar, but it seems like their RV might spend another summer parked in Bellwood and not in the desert out west.
Read the rest of the profiles of Tyrone area residents Navigating Inflation.
