Last week - specifically June 9 thru June 17 - the missus and I drove 4282 miles in 11 states. She drove a couple days; I did most of the driving. (I enjoy driving, but don't do it much.)
It's probably safe to say that in that one 9-day stretch, I drove more miles than in the past 3 years combined, and bought more gas (169 gallons) than I've bought in a single year in many many more years. We passed through the outskirts of Omaha, but that's the only place where we dealt with any traffic to speak of. Just mile after scenic mile, mostly rolling down the same 2-lane highways that I prefer when I'm bicycling or motorcycling.
Our vehicle - a 2000 Honda Odyssey minivan - got surprisingly good gas mileage, ranging from about 21mpg to over 30mpg on one eastbound tankful (65-75mph, but with a strong tailwind all day).
As much as I enjoyed the trip, it was a genuine relief to wake up Monday morning and not slide behind the wheel and spend the day lookin' at the world thru a windshield. Bike transportation is so much less complicated and so much more free.
(We leave Friday morning again for a drive to the family reunion at Bear Lake. Sigh...)
Tireless advocate for the most efficient form of
human transportation ever devised - bicycles!
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