Road trippin' summer...

So I put a lot of miles on my car this summer. If you'll recall, I bought it about four months ago and it had just under 40k miles on it. Well, it now has nearly 53k miles on it. Here is why: After picking it up in Ohio, had to drive back down to Winston via Asheville (long story); mileage = 518. I went to the beach with my friends after exams; mileage = 564. I drove down to see my brother; mileage = 129. From there I drove up with him and his wife to meet my family in Williamsburg, Virginia, went out to Norfolk, then back to Winston; mileage = 633. I drove out to California (from North Carolina) to visit my best friend in Redlands via Asheville, North Carolina; mileage = 2,413. From there I drove up the coast to see some friends at Pismo Beach and then continued on up to Portland, where I was spending the summer; mileage = 1,121. Commuting to work every day from Portland to Hillsboro for the whole summer; mileage (daily round trip) = 44. Trip to Salem from Portland for work; mileage = 102. One trip to Mount Rainier, plus driving around Mount Rainier National Park; mileage = 476. One trip to Walla Walla from Portland; mileage = 499. And the grandaddy of them all, Portland to Winston-Salem, via Ruffin, South Carolina (I had to pick up a puppy dog); mileage = 3,191. That's how the majority of the miles got piled on there. But the majority of them (~90% or more) are highway miles, so hopefully it wasn't too hard on her.

Here are some numbers for the latest (and greatest) trip I made. Portland, Oregon to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, via Ruffin, South Carolina: 3,191 miles; it took me 55 hours (including 8 1/2 hours of sleep and one hour spent picking up the puppy); 120.698 gallons of premium unleaded consumed; average fuel economy was 26.4 miles per gallon; average speed (including gas, sleep, and puppy stops) was 58.0 miles per hour. For the first 900 miles I averaged (including gas stops) 74.8 miles per hour, which if you do the math including the stops for fuel, is hauling ass. During one hour's period of time I averaged 85 miles per hour (including slowing down for traffic, etc., etc.). Those are some of the numbers from my trip. I hope next May is the last time I ever have to do it again. It will be a lot slower in May--moving truck and all, you know...