Wild Places Spend Money

I was out driving in the desert yesterday, north on I-395. I noticed that Adelanto is getting more traffic signals, but I was lucky and made all the way through town on green lights. I then passed through the communities of Kramer Junction (4 corners for you desert rats), Red Mountain and finally Trona. On the way I saw temporary cities of motor homes and camp trailers where families bring their kids to ride dirt bikes, quads and bicycles from what I could see. In one spot I counted fifty trailers, and since it was Sunday afternoon, many of them leaving. So there had to be many more on Saturday.

So I did some calculating. These folks take the time to drive from all over Southern California in their temporary homes and get some R&R even in these economic hard times. Which means that they are stopping along the way for food, gas, snacks, etc. Accounting for fuel, groceries, cooking fuel, and refreshments, each family group spends an estimated $500-$700. So a collection of 75 of these families would spend between $37,500-52,500. If you consider there at least fifty of these groups around southern California deserts on any one weekend, you get at total expenditure of $1,875,000-$2,625,000 during a three day period.

Ok, the numbers are huge. But this is for only one weekend. Let's say that half the weekends per year are suitable for these outings, around 26. So now the numbers are $48,750,000-$68,250,000. So between $48 million and $68 million in round numbers per year is spent on this ONE form of recreation per year, probably more.

My question is this: are the local communities on the to and from routes getting any benefit from this? My guess is that they are not, judging by the ramshackle condition of the small motels, gas stations and convenience marts that dot the major travel routes. This is really a shame, since a small fraction of this money would at least put a new coat of paint on their places and make them more inviting. The fact is that folks who shop at Costco and Walmart are not likely to patronize a place that looks like a dive because they would rightly assume that there is no selection and the prices will be high. But they should be the major beneficiaries of all this fabulous wealth that is being spent on California's excellent recreational opportunities.

We are in the process of talking to these folks (the small proprietors on the well traveled routes) to let them know what we are doing at FindItByMe.com. Since we are multi-regional, we can speak to the various recreational groups that travel great distances to enjoy their favorite pastime. And I haven't even mentioned the hunters, fishermen, amateur gold prospectors, bird watchers, nature photographers, sightseers, treasure hunters, hikers, rock climbers, bicyclists and motorcycle clubs that also head into the back country and travel the scenic routes. If you use those numbers, you can see that the potential yearly expenditure could climb to $1 billion per year just for Southern California!

Ok...how does it work? What can FindItByMe.com do to support the small proprietors and outdoor enthusiasts? Stay tuned for the publication of the FindItByMe.com roadmap. This document will detail how we intend to proceed on development of features for users, advertisers and subscribers.