login
Search
Day twelve was exciting in no small part thanks to our sheer proximity to the end of our trip. We were back home for the full day's drive, passing through Idaho and Oregon, very familiar places on roads we'd both traveled in years gone by. Nearly 4,000 miles and $500 in gas later, we had made it. The trip got off to a rough start, but for the last week we'd made the best of it, still friends, with all our animals still alive and healthy. Haelo was getting tired, but still happy about it all, loving the cramped quarters and the excitement of regular walks and drives. Tripper and Mango seemed to have finally gotten the routine down, holding their bladders and bowels for the nights in the hotels, unlike the first half of the trip when they had it backwards and would wait until they got into the car to relieve themselves. Amie and I were actually laughing and talking, rather than oscillating between snapping and ignoring each other like at the beginning. So perhaps there's something to the saying, all's well that ends well.
There was a certain temptation to exit here, for how often do roadsigns offer Bliss? But somehow we couldn't see how the little tufts of brush could live up to its name, so we focused instead on the inevitable bliss of reaching our destination.
I'm always making up stupid little games for myself to play. My stupid game for the drive across the country was to wait until I really needed to stop at a rest area to use the bathroom, then to pass it and make it to the next rest area. This often meant driving 40 or 50 miles in slight misery, but all in the name of fun. Fortunately I wasn't in the mood for my little game and didn't drive past this Oregon rest area, as it was quite beautiful.
Our route across the country, chosen because neither of us had driven that way, and it took us right through some beautiful places. A wise choice, it turned out, as the trip only became enjoyable when we got to the those beautiful places.
| Date | Location | Mileage | PPG | Gallons | Price | Mileage | Miles | Daily Miles | |
| Aug/27/2006 | Margate, FL | 20199 | 317 | ||||||
| Aug/27/2006 | Jacksonville, FL | 20516 | $2.849 | 8.705 | $24.80 | ||||
| Aug/27/2006 | Valdotna, GA | 20671 | $2.499 | 6.402 | $16.00 | 24.21 | 155 | 155 | |
| Aug/28/2006 | Opalika, AL | 20862 | $2.639 | 7.957 | $21.00 | 24.00 | 191 | ||
| Aug/28/2006 | Jasper, AL | 21011 | $2.549 | 7.060 | $18.00 | 21.10 | 149 | ||
| Aug/28/2006 | Holly Springs, MI | 21186 | $2.549 | 9.414 | $24.00 | 18.59 | 175 | 515 | |
| Aug/29/2006 | Carlisle, AR | 21317 | $2.699 | 6.390 | $17.25 | 20.50 | 131 | ||
| Aug/29/2006 | Van Buren, AR | 21505 | $2.699 | 9.077 | $24.50 | 20.71 | 188 | ||
| Aug/29/2006 | Oklahoma City, OK | 21694 | $2.679 | 9.705 | $26.00 | 19.47 | 189 | 508 | |
| Aug/30/2006 | Shamrock, TX | 21848 | $2.899 | 4.315 | $12.51 | 19.50 | 154 | ||
| Aug/30/2006 | Amarillo, TX | 21941 | $2.699 | 8.335 | $22.50 | 19.50 | 93 | ||
| Aug/30/2006 | Santa Rosa, NM | 22103 | $3.059 | 9.072 | $27.75 | 17.86 | 162 | ||
| Aug/30/2006 | Alberquerque, NM | 22252 | $2.670 | 7.057 | $18.84 | 21.11 | 149 | 558 | |
| Aug/31/2006 | Durengo, CO | 22455 | $3.109 | 8.045 | $25.01 | 25.23 | 203 | 203 | |
| Sep/02/2006 | Cotez, CO | 22653 | $2.919 | 7.540 | $22.01 | 26.26 | 198 | 198 | |
| Sep/03/2006 | Moab, UT | 22872 | $2.919 | 7.962 | $23.24 | 27.51 | 219 | 219 | |
| Sep/05/2006 | Green River, UT | 23133 | $3.099 | 10.083 | $31.25 | 25.89 | 261 | ||
| Sep/05/2006 | Ogden, UT | 23351 | $2.919 | 8.995 | $26.26 | 24.24 | 218 | 479 | |
| Sep/06/2006 | Jerome, ID | 23527 | $2.999 | 8.930 | $26.78 | 19.71 | 176 | ||
| Sep/06/2006 | Ontario, OR | 23703 | $3.019 | 8.226 | $24.83 | 21.40 | 176 | ||
| Sep/06/2006 | Pendelton, OR | 23862 | $3.079 | 8.023 | $24.70 | 19.82 | 159 | ||
| Sep/06/2006 | Portland, OR | 24049 | $2.689 | 10.068 | $27.07 | 18.57 | 187 | 698 | |
| Total Days | Total Miles | Total Gallons | Total Price | Average Mileage | |||||
| 12 | 3850 | 171.361 | $484.29 | 21.76 | |||||
The daily miles are an approximation, as we would often fill up long before we actually stopped for the night, maybe driving a full tank then filling up in the morning. But it offers a rough look at how many miles we drove a day. Also interesting that for normal city miles I used to get about 27mpg in the Scion, but for this trip with so much stuff inside and on top and driving freeway speeds we only managed a little less than 22mpg. Our best day for mileage was when we drove slowly in and out of Canyonlands.
