You are seriously commuting from Hagerstown to Germantown every day? Lotsa gasoline involved in that effort. At four bucks a gallon, are you really saving?
And wait ‘til winter. If someone sights two snowflakes somewhere north of Pittsburgh, Maryland drivers panic, skid, and cause a traffic jam in anticipation of a possible snowfall.
The van gets about 25 mpg on good days. 20 on not so good ones. Usually in between. Comparing a $30 private motel in Greencastle PA with a $60 one in Hagerstown or a $90 one in Frederick... it will make sense even in the face of the gas usage, until I have enough dough to get something longer term. I already laugh at the soft jams between Hagerstown and Germantown. If someone pulled over with car or truck trouble, everyone has to slow to a crawl to look at it. But they aren’t the stock still, half hour long parking sessions that are typical of Chicago at rush hour.