Re: ihc-digest V6 #782

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

The aliens commander decided "John Hofstetter" <hofs@domain.elided> would
make a perfect specimen for dissection, and he yelled...

>What the "idle rich" didn't say was that he was damn glad to get it at
>any price.

Last night I got through punching in the fuel purchase numbers into my
Excel spreadsheet from my recent travel trailer pulling trip to the
Panamint Valley, Tulare and the Mother Lode(tm) country of CA.  Without
having the figures right in front of me, my average fuel economy was about
7.5 mpg.  The lowest fuel economy was just below 7 mpg and the highest was
a little over 10 mpg.  This is with a 76 Traveler, V392E, Edelbrock carb,
3.54:1 axles, TF727 tranny, and 31" tires.  The trailer weighs maybe 3800
pounds.  Typical commuting fuel economy at home is 12.5 mpg average.  I was
sure hoping to get about 10 mpg average on the trip, but that trailer made
it impossible.

The worst fuel economy was experienced when dragging the trailer up steep
7% to 8% grades in second gear over the countless mountain passes along the
way.  The best was when drafting at times behind John Hofstetter's travel
trailer going downhill (for what seemed like hours) headed west into
Bakersfield, CA.  Probably had a tail wind too!

Gas prices ranged from a low of $1.299 when topping up before leaving
Washington state, to a high of well over $2.00 per gallon at Stovepipe
Wells in Death Valley.  I don't know the exact price because Bill Thebert
and Allen Ericson were kind enough to top up my Jerry cans for me while I
lounged around camp with the wine and French ladies... but that's another
tale (story teller's embellishment). <grin>

I'd have to say the average fuel prices in CA on my trip seemed to be
around $1.70 per gallon (all for regular unleaded).  Of course the price
got higher the more remote the town (or the fewer competing gas stations
within spitting distance).

After 2200+ miles of highway robbery, I'm broke!  I haven't even tried to
figure out how much I spent in total for gas on the trip... I really don't
want to know!  But it was well worth it.  John Hofstetter and his sweet
wife Wanda made me feel at home every inch of the way (thanks again John &
Wanda).  I'm already counting the days until next year's trip.

Back to work...

John L.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
jlandry AT halcyon DOT com      | 
Conservative Libertarian        |  "The road to  tyranny, we must never
Life Member of the NRA          |   forget, begins with the destruction
WA Arms Collectors              |   of the truth."
Commercial Helicopter - Inst.   |                     William J. Clinton
http://www.halcyon.com/jlandry/ |    10-15-95, speech at the Univ. of CT