More on Gas Mileage

 

To tell the truth, I felt a little foolish after I found out how much gas we saved by driving 60 instead of 70 on our recent trip. I had been thinking that 31 mpg was awesome mileage, and here we went and got 39 mpg on one tank and over 42 mpg on the other; all this is a 1996 Camry that needs some muffler work. I'm kicking myself thinking about how much money I could have saved had I slowed down maybe 5 years earlier.

My dad asked why we did better on the way home compared to the way there. On the way home Richard kept talking about having a tail wind, although I remember the flags pointing south, which would have been a crosswind. I suspect that he had not totally bought in to the "drive slower, increase your mileage" idea, but on the way home he was converted and thus kept to speed even while I slept. It helped that bragging about your miles per gallon has, these days, replaced bragging about what good time you made.

Mickey, my NASCAR loving co-worker, was not at all surprised that we were able to affect our mileage so much. "How you drive makes a HUGE difference," he said. "The best thing we could do to save everyone from higher fuel prices is just to put the speed limit back down to 60." I'd vote for 55, since everyone feels entitled to drive 5 miles over the limit.

 

I can't get behind the "just stay home" sentiment. I'd skip shopping any time, but you need to get out and see the world. Here's Anna contemplating the mighty Mississippi from Munsinger Garden in St Cloud.