A Cross-Country Driving Trip in Our S2000
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The Hendersons GGTG III - The Trip Home |
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A Cross-Country Driving Trip in Our S2000 |
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8/20 - We were up VERY early and I actually found my way into the Dallas/Fort Worth airport to drop Mel off for her flight home. After dropping Mel off at DFW and stopping for breakfast, I pointed my LBP cruisemobile north and continued the journey. Presently I was out of Texas and into Oklahoma. Oklahoma seemed to go on forever, but finally I entered Kansas. It had to be better than Oklahoma. NOT!!! After a trip of some 460 miles I pulled into my digs for the night just after 3:00. I did mention that we got up at oh dark thirty, didn't I?
8/20 - We were up VERY early and I actually found my way into the Dallas/Fort Worth airport to drop Mel off for her flight home. After dropping Mel off at DFW and stopping for breakfast, I pointed my LBP cruisemobile north and continued the journey. Presently I was out of Texas and into Oklahoma. Oklahoma seemed to go on forever, but finally I entered Kansas. It had to be better than Oklahoma. NOT!!! After a trip of some 460 miles I pulled into my digs for the night just after 3:00. I did mention that we got up at oh dark thirty, didn't I?
8/21 - I got on interstate 70 and motored west across the rolling hills of north central Kansas. I was surprised to see a sign indicating a detour for eastbound interstate 70 traffic. Okay, I'm on westbound I-70 and they want eastbound I-70 traffic to detour. What is it that I am missing? I guess I'm just not smart enough to figure it out. At last I pulled into my hotel for the night having added two more states to my map.
8/22 - I got on the road from Cheyenne, WY at a decent hour and knew I would have an easy drive to Salt Lake City. Soon enough the scenery changes and becomes more attractive. I hadn't realized that I had been climbing until I passed a sign that read 8,640 feet. One does descend a bit into Western Wyoming (which is much more attractive) and I cruised along at about 6,800 feet. By and by I came to Utah and added another state. I have noticed that the eastern part of a fair number of states is not very attractive. Washington, Montana, and Wyoming come to mind. Eastern Utah was a pleasant surprise.
8/23 - I was away by 8:30 this morning, so was able to cruise at 65 again today. I could tell from the display on my nav app that I was driving along the Great Salt Lake. I could also tell by the smell. I was just thinking that it would be great if I could find a Starbucks and stop in for elevenses when I saw a billboard advertising a Starbucks in the Nugget Casino. I pulled off the interstate and got this shot of Welcome to Nevada. The Nugget Casino was not far and sure enough, there is a Starbucks inside. I had a piece of coffee cake and a short one-pump mocha and was good to go again. I took this shot with my phone because you would not have believed it otherwise.
Thanks to the early start, I got to my Best Western just about 2:00. So now I have completed my map for this trip and have been in 33 states. I can see the possibility of adding New Mexico, the three in the middle, and the southeast at some point, but I doubt that I'll ever get up into New England. On to Pendleton, OR tomorrow.
8/24 - The plan had been for me to stay the night of the 24th in Pendleton, OR and drive the last leg home on Saturday, the 25th. I got away by about 8:30 and was prepared for a relatively slow drive to Pendleton. Shortly after getting on the road I decided I had had enough of road food (especially hotel breakfasts - I was ready to kill for some fresh fruit), but most of all I wanted to be home with Mel. The two days would have totaled about 650 miles and I knew I could handle that. So I stretched Rico's legs and ate up miles in Idaho. When you are doing 80 down the interstate and a small sage brush blows across the road in front of you, there is not much you can do. I exploded it. It wouldn't be until I made a fuel stop in Washington and walked around the front of the car that I would realize I had taken part of it, lodged in my grill, for a several hundred mile ride. I'm home. The trip covered just over 8,000 miles. I had some short runs between refueling stops and many more long ones, with the longest being 343 miles. Mileage varied from a low of 22.03 to a high of 33.87. The overall average for the trip was 27.21. Fuel costs varied widely, from a low of $3.60 a gallon to a high of $4.26 today at home. The overall average was 3.85 and I did observe that fuel prices started climbing part way through the trip and have continued to do so. The fuel cost per mile averaged at 14.2 cents.Would I do it again? In a heartbeat, although probably on a different route. Am I glad to be home? Oh yeah!
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