Summer (August) trip to Eastern Canada from Central Illinois

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Most of the day to see the Huronia Museum and the Sainte-Marie among the Hurons village. At around 2:30 p.m. depart Midland and stop in Orillia at about 3:30 p.m. to see the Leacock Museum. Depart Orillia at about 5:00 p.m. and arrive at Bell Haven Park near Bobcaygeon, Ontario at about 7:15 p.m. Set up tent. It’s also possible to stay in Fenelon Falls at Log Chateau Park. or in cottages at Kenstone Beach.

Depart the Bobcaygeon area around 9:30 a.m., or by 11:00 a.m. at the latest. With a 20 minute break for gas and a snack it’s about a six hour drive to the MacKenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park. The museum is closed on Tuesday, but the grounds are open, so walk around and enjoy. Stay the night in Gatineau (across the river from Ottawa). Probably stay at the Motel Du Chevalier or the Ramada Plaza Le Manoir.

Costs. I use dollars for the year I research costs and then convert those dollars into Myrfti units. A Myrfti is a sort of inflation-adjusted price. If you have 100 Myrfti, you have 1% of the median year-round full-time American worker's wage/salary. So, if the median year-round full-time American worker earns $50,000, a Myrfti is equal to $5, and 100 Myrfti are $500.

The dollar prices will soon be out-of-date, but the Myrfti prices should be close to what you would pay in any year. Just find the most recent median full-time year-round income for American workers, and divide that by 10,000 to find what 1 Myrfti is worth. Then, once you have that figure, multiply it times the Myrfti costs to get an estimate for the current dollar price of the trip.
For this trip, the two-person prices assume an adult couple sharing a bed, and the four-person costs assume a family of four with two children aged between 12 and 17.

2 persons $555
4 persons $555

2 persons $585
4 persons $585

2 persons $1,415
4 persons $2,830

2 persons $1,440
4 persons $1,480

Need to research this.

2 persons $695
4 persons $1,068

2 persons $904
4 persons $1,808

2 persons $365
4 persons $381

2 persons $320
4 persons $360

2 persons $38
4 persons $74

2 persons $102
4 persons $195

2 persons $138
4 persons $138

2 persons $22
4 persons $44

2 persons $62
4 persons $82

2 persons $72
4 persons $140

2 persons $40
4 persons $60

2 persons $85
4 persons $108

2 persons $42
4 persons $80

2 persons $30
4 persons $40

2 persons $201
4 persons $246

2 persons $275
4 persons $380

2 persons $98
4 persons $123

2 persons $139
4 persons $139

2 persons $113
4 persons $185

2 persons $252
4 persons $460

2 persons $80
4 persons $120

2 persons $74
4 persons $148

2 persons $60
4 persons $80

2 persons $4,565
4 persons $6,890

Comments

If you don't like camping, here are the replacement lodging suggestions to make this a trip with 20 days in cabins, motels, and bed & breakfast inns, and no camping.

In Ludington State Park, if you have sleeping bags but not a tent, there are three mini cabins you can rent in the state park. An inexpensive but nice motel in Ludington would be the Avenue Motel.
In Providence Bay, if you don’t want to camp, stay at the On the Bay bed & breakfast establishment.
In Tobermory, stay at either the Blue Bay Motel or Coach House Inn or at the Grandview.
In Midland stay at the The Shamrock Motel or the Super 8.
On the way to Ottawa near Bobcaygeon stay at the cottages at Kenstone Beach or at the Princess Motel.
In the Goderich area stay at either the Port Albert Inn or the Dunlop Motel.
At Maumee Bay State Resort stay in a cabin or in the lodge.

Total added costs by not camping would be about $710 (144 Myrfti) for two persons, and $1,070 (216 Myrfti) for four persons.

Keep in mind also that the food budget of $2,800+ for four persons could probably be reduced to about $1,800 if care were taken to eat frugally and rarely eat in good restaurants, usually preparing food purchased in grocery stores rather than eating out. For two persons the food budget could be reduced from $1,400+ to about $900+.

Budget to save up for this trip.

In 2010, the median earnings for a year-round full-time male employee was about $56,000, and for a female employee the median was about $43,000, so $49,500 would be an adequate estimate of a median year-round full-time income. Incidently, the median household income was about $50,500 in 2010. To afford a vacation like this for four persons every year, a typical family budget for a family earning 120% of the median year-round full-time income (about $59,500 in 2011) might allocate money in this way each month:

Housing and utilities: 29% ($1,460 per month in 2011)
All taxes: 15% ($740 per month)
Groceries, food, and household supplies: 11% ($525 per month)
Car and gas expenses: 9% ($450 per month)
Savings for a trip like this every year: 11% ($540 per month)
Savings for retirement: 5% ($270 per month)
Savings for children's college expenses: 5% ($260 per month)
Health insurance and health care expenses: 5% ($270 per month)
Other entertainment, Internet, travel, cable television, movies, etc.: 3% ($140 per month)
Miscellaneous other expenses: 2% ($100 per month)
Clothing: 2% ($100 per month)
Charitable giving: 2.0% ($100 per month)