What did that three-month Arizona run actually cost, site to site? Not the headline campground fee — the full number: fuel across four stops per driving day, DEF at each diesel station, metered electricity at 30-amp pedestals where it was billed separately, water fill costs at the dump stations where water was metered, propane top-offs. Nobody knows that number unless they logged it every day. This is the log that produces it.
The Driving Day Record
Mileage Start and Mileage End producing Total Miles Trip alongside Departure Time, Arrival Time, and Hours Trip create the basic movement record that everything else in the daily log hangs on. Hours against miles produces average speed — useful not for compliance but for recognizing that the mountain pass transit took three times as long as the flat highway segment, and budgeting future driving days accordingly.
Tolls and In-Route Stops handle the costs and experiences that occur between origin and destination. A $22 toll on the Pennsylvania Turnpike doesn't appear in the campground record or the fuel record — without its own field, it disappears from the trip cost calculation entirely.
Fuel Stop #1 through Fuel Stop #4 — with Gallons Fuel, DEF Added, Price, Cost, and Mileage at Fuel Stop for each — accommodate the reality that a heavy diesel pusher on a 400-mile driving day may fuel twice and add DEF twice. Four stop records mean the log doesn't force a summary that hides stop-level fuel price variation. Total Gallons Fuel per Day, Total Daily Fuel Cost, and MPG per Day aggregate the stops into the daily efficiency metric that matters for long-term trip cost analysis.
Time Zone is the field that matters for the full-timer who crosses time zones mid-trip and needs departure and arrival times to be interpretable months later when reviewing the log.
The Site Record
Park or Campground with RV Park phone #, RV Park street address, RV Park City Name, State, Park Zipcode, Site #, and Hookups constitute the campsite identity record. The phone number and address make the record reusable — a park that was excellent two years ago can be booked again without searching for it. The site number matters because site quality varies dramatically within the same park: a site that backed onto the laundry room versus one at the perimeter edge of the property are fundamentally different experiences.
Water Pressure and Power Quality are the operational assessments that don't appear on the park's website. Low water pressure at the pedestal forces pump usage. Power quality — consistent voltage versus the sagging shore power that makes appliances run hot — determines whether you're comfortable or running extension cords from the generator. Logging these fields creates a personal database of park infrastructure quality that travel forums can't provide.
Direct TV Satellite, Elevation, Azimuth, WiFi, Laundry, and Cell Service Park are the connectivity and amenity assessment fields. The azimuth reading for satellite at a specific site is the number that eliminates the thirty-minute dish alignment struggle on return visits — if you logged 218° for a clear sky at site 14, that's what you dial in before unhooking the car.
Boondocked flags whether the night was on the grid or off. Discount Card records which membership — Good Sam, Passport America, Harvest Hosts, Thousand Trails — was used for the rate. Campground Fee Per Night, Daily Rate, Weekly Rate, and Monthly Rate capture the published rate tiers alongside the actual Total Cost Campground for the stay.
Utility Metering
Metered Electricity - Start, Metered Electricity - End, Total Electricity Used, Cost per Kilowatt, and Total Cost of Electricity are the fields that calculate the actual electricity bill at metered-pedestal sites — sites where you start paying the second you plug in. At a rate of $0.12/kWh, a week of heavy air conditioning use adds up faster than most RVers estimate until they've seen it in a log.
Metered Water - Start, Metered Water - End, Total Water Used, Cost per Unit of Water, and Total Cost of Water apply the same logic to water — relevant at sites where water is metered separately from the site fee.
Propane Facility, Gal., Cost per Gal, and Total Cost Propane handle the propane record. A 40-gallon tank fill at current prices is a $60-$90 transaction that should be tracked against the trip, not absorbed into a vague "miscellaneous" category.
Dump Facility and Cost Dump close the utility loop for boondocking stretches where dump station use is a separate cost transaction. Dining and Cost Food extend the log into daily living expenses for full-timers tracking total cost of the lifestyle.