I've made it back home after picking up my new toy in Rochester, NY! The car was as advertised and a great deal with only 3500 miles on it. Had a great (but tiring) trip. Felt great about the FE given I only had 3-1/2 days to get back and it was my first mountain driving experience. Here's a brief trip report:

Flew out of Seattle at 10:30pm on the red-eye to Newark and then on to Rochester, NY where I rented a car and drove 100 miles south to Elmira. Charlie from Chilson-Wilcox met me at the rental car return in my Insight and drove me back to the dealership (me cringing all the way at his non FE driving!) Finally got on the road at 2pm on Thursday. LMPG – 3,468miles @ 47.0mpg.



It was pretty warm in NY and I had to use the AC sparingly, so combined with the hills I was in the low 70’s for FE into Ohio. As the evening cooled and the topography flattened, I was able to recover so that by 9pm I was back at just above 80mpg. I had planned to stop between Toledo and Chicago for the night, but decided to drive on to get through Chicago with the least amount of traffic. This worked out well – no slow downs in spite of considerable construction activity. I was able to meet up with Wayne Gerdes (xcel) for a quick breakfast near his home in the very early morning (sorry Wayne – forgot to set my clock back). Had a good but quick visit and back on the road. First refuel in Franksville, Wisconsin – 804 miles @ 81.4mpg.



After stopping overnight just south of Fargo, ND, I pushed on through North Dakota and into Montana. Installed warm-air mod in early morning as it was below 60 degrees. My second refuel was in Bismark, ND – 807 miles @ 82.1mpg. Had a good tailwind in the eastern portion of Montana, but it was offset by the climb over the continental divide. Stopped for Saturday night at relatives in Livingston, MT.



I got another early (4am) start on Sunday and refueled in Missoula – 793 miles @ 77.8mpg – not bad for the mountain climb. On this final leg home, hit relatively heavy traffic returning from weekend activities. Finally arrived home in Winlock, WA at 7:30pm Sunday evening. Trip totals: 2,969 miles @ 81.3mpg(FCD) – I haven’t yet refilled the tank. LMPG – 6,437 miles @ 58.2mpg. Driving time was 60 hours with an average speed of 50 miles per hour including breaks for refueling and meals.

Thanks again to Wayne for getting up so early to meet with me (see pic in photo section!)