Trying to save bucks during Formula One visit?

Looking for a way to make some bucks over Formula One's inaugural race weekend in November?

You might try what Tip and Joy Giles are considering. They're talking about turning the side yard of their Southwest Austin home into a campground for a few days. Hey, with motel room rates reaching $500 for that weekend, why not provide a low-budget alternative?

"We were thinking about it, and my wife said maybe what we ought to do is rent out parcels of our land for tent camping, and that's how it got started," Tip said. "It started out as a joke."

And it may continue as a joke. Tip and Joy, who are retired schoolteachers, live in Tanglewood Forest, and Tanglewood Forest has a neighborhood association. And you know how those people are. Tip said they occasionally take pictures of uglified yards. And you can imagine the stir if a bunch of European motor monkeys are out there yodeling and carrying on.

"One of my neighbors is on the neighborhood board," Tip said. "I haven't run it by him yet, but I'm sure he'll look at me and say, ‘You're kidding, right?' And I'll say, ‘Well yeah, sort of.'"

"We'll call hell, and if hell freezes over, we'll do it," Joy said.

Meanwhile, Tip and Joy have come up with a rate structure for those who want to pitch a tent in their side yard, a standard 125-by-55-foot yard with a cedar fence running through the middle. Tip figures the yard would probably accommodate six couples. Staying in the front section would be cheaper than the back section, since it's closer to the street and traffic noise.

With no amenities except for use of the land, you're looking at $50 a night per person. Access to the garden hose jacks it up to $75 a night per guest. Add use of the extension cord, and you're looking at $100 a night. Isn't that a little steep? "If they can get $450 a night at Motel 6, we can at least get $200 for camping with a water hose," Tip said.

And that's not all. "For an extra $25 a day, we will include a continental breakfast — Twinkies and juice — and nightly entertainment — me playing my guitar on the our backyard deck," Tip said.

We're talking about fresh Twinkies, too. "The Twinkies will be within the shelf life," Tip said. What is the shelf life on a Twinkie? About two millennia?

There would be an additional fee for camping under the yard's arbor, a small open-air structure with a tile floor, a ceramic fish for decoration, a bench for sitting and a roof.

"That would be an added charge because you're covered," Tip said. "That hot November sun can be tough."

I hope the neighborhood association goes for it. These two folks did their time educating our kids. Tip taught at Menchaca and Odom elementary schools for a total of 25 years, with an additional five years in Del Valle and Fredericksburg, and Joy taught history for 30 years at Lockhart High. So they deserve a little economic bump, right?

This is not the first time the Gileses have been involved in a lark. They were in a loose-knit group called the Austin Non-Jog.

In April 1980, the group gathered in the morning along the route of the Capitol 10,000 race, handing out beer to the runners as they went by. Some joggers appreciated the handout. Others got their jockstraps in a twist.

I was covering the race that day. Tip said he offered me a beer. He said I told him, "No thanks, I have my bourbon," and that I had a flask in my back pocket. I don't remember that part of it. Maybe because I had a flask in my back pocket.

Anyway, it's a nice yard with plenty of healthy eats for campers. Joy grows lots of organic vegetables and fruits: Swiss chard, onions, plums, all sorts of greenery.

And if you want to use the bathroom, I guess you could go next door and bother the neighbors.