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to all going to hybrid fest, have a great time and drive well. you can let them know that the grandma from minnesota is there in spirit.

in reality i will be making my own road trip, 200 miles, and will do the best driving i can. might be a little harder with a passenger in the car, but still good. since i am not hauling a horse this year, i am able to drive the HCH, rather than the truck, and i am pleased about that.

so......drive safe and hypermile your brains out. somebody take lots of photos!!

Hi Laurie:

___Besides hearing from Hobbit last night who arrived safely at his first layover in Buffalo, New York while nailing down a beautiful 62.3 mpg segment, I also heard from Terry and his wife Cathy this morning. They blew through Nashville and were just passing through Louisville before traffic had a chance to hold them back. Results after an initial 200 miles were 54.6 mpg at ~ 65 mph. Excellent FE for that high a speed. Cathy said Terry was letting the car do its thing for the most part.

___Along with Hobbit, Mike Debrowski is driving his heavily modded Insight to HF2006 in a caravan although I do not how he did over that first stretch from Massachusetts to New York. I tried to contact Billy given he has to be somewhere between Utah and North Dakota by now but his Cel is offline at the moment. Chuck is probably somewhere in Oklahoma about now as he left in the middle of the night? I gave him my home phone and Cel but I do not have his so hopefully all his well on his end.

___As long as everyone arrives safely; it should be a great event. I wish you could have come as I know more then a few here that would have loved to meet you in person.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi Laurie:

___As I finished up the above post, I received the first on the road - aFCD pic from an HF2006 attendee. Terry’s of course …

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/504/TerryH_1_aFCD_to_HF2006.jpg

___I bet his HCH-II is not quite as clean as it was about 4 hours ago ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Have a good time, guys! Sounds like it's going to be a particularly quiet weekend on CleanMPG. Safe trips, big numbers!

Hi All:

___Terry and Cathy are still ~ 100 miles out from my home and holding there own. They are running into heavy rain and almost no visibility and had to slow to just 50 mph over the last 10 miles as they hit I-80 on the bottom of Chicago. I think I remember what that was all about ;)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/504/TerryH_2_aFCD_to_HF2006.jpg

___I spoke with Hobbit and he is half way between Cleveland and Toledo. Both him and Mike D. have a long way to go yet.

___Tried Billy again with no luck and I do not have Chuck’s Cel :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi All:

___Another few pics from Terry … He took the I-90 Skyway vs. I-80/94 and has moved ~ 1.5 miles beyond the toll booth over the last hour. I warned him about that :(

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/519/Resize_of_0720061414b.jpghttp://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/519/Resize_of_0720061421.jpg
On the I-90 Skyway about 1.5 miles from the main toll. ~ 1 mile from the Dan Ryan still on the I-90 Skyway.

___I think he learned the hard way what DWB in a Chicago traffic nightmare is all about! Notice the buffer in the second pic? At least he’s trying. Most would have given up an hour ago … Cathy is keeping a cool head but I heard him in the background becoming a bit unruly ;)

___Checking traffic ahead, he should have gotten through the Dan Ryan and is hopefully on the Kennedy about now moving at maybe 30 mph. Unfortunately, it is probably a bit to late to expect clear sailing all the way to the IL/WI border via the Kennedy --> Kennedy Junction --> Edens Expressway --> Tri-State Tollway to my home :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi All:

___I posted to soon … They are still on the Dan Ryan and battling it out with 250,000 others trying to get into down town :(

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/519/Resize_of_0720061440.jpg
Looking ahead.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/519/Resize_of_0720061440a.jpg
Looking behind.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/519/Resize_of_0720061441.jpg
DWB again. Down to 1 lane for what used to be 3 or 4 :(

___At this rate, they will make it here by dinner time!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

but I heard him in the background becoming a bit unruly

Heh -- let's hope his fuel warning light comes on soon...

Hi Tarabell:

___I think he has about 1/3 of a tank left so he should be OK on fuel. The stress part however … I heard Terry saying in the background “There is no $#($%*! way in #$%^ he would live anywhere near Chicago after what they drove through today ;)

___Billy just gave me a call. He is half way between Mitchell and Sioux Fall’s SD. He has been fighting a strong head wind from Utah all the way through SD while sitting at 92.x something mpg’s. No-assist up the mountains and FAS’ing down the backside saved his little beauties hide today. His plans include spending the night in a small town in MN. which he should see in about 3 hours from now. To bad he doesn’t know Laurie as he could have met up with her and her family on the Farm off of I-90 somewhere up in MN.

___Still wondering about Chuck though???

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi All:

___Terry and Cathy arrived about 15 minutes ago. Seem ok but I can tell they are glad to be out of the car for a spell. Don’t worry; I have lots planned tonight so Terry will not get much of a respite.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/504/52_6_541_8_Miles.JPG
541.8 miles and they still beat the EPA with a 52.6 mpg showing even after the standard Chicago traffic nightmare posted above.

___If anyone here’s from Chuck, let us know.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I feel like I am missing out on some good conversation tonight. Try not to have too much fun without those of us who have not arrived yet.

Think of it this way Dan, The more we talk amongst ourselves today the more attention you get tomorrow :)

Hi Tarabell:

___I think he has about 1/3 of a tank left so he should be OK on fuel. The stress part however … I heard Terry saying in the background “There is no $#($%*! way in #$%^ he would live anywhere near Chicago after what they drove through today ;)

___Billy just gave me a call. He is half way between Mitchell and Sioux Fall’s SD. He has been fighting a strong head wind from Utah all the way through SD while sitting at 92.x something mpg’s. No-assist up the mountains and FAS’ing down the backside saved his little beauties hide today. His plans include spending the night in a small town in MN. which he should see in about 3 hours from now. To bad he doesn’t know Laurie as he could have met up with her and her family on the Farm off of I-90 somewhere up in MN.

___Still wondering about Chuck though???

___Good Luck

___Wayne

couldn't help, wayne. i am over 4 hours north of I-90. as a matter of fact, that's where i am going for the week for the horse show.

and i have to agree with terry, i was born in chicago, but there is NO WAY i would live there now and deal with all that traffic. even minneapolis, in the ten years since i moved away from there, has gotten just awful!

tisk, Tisk,,, I should have been on a run for Chi-town and Madison today. DAMIT!!!!!!!!!!

Folks at work have been cool to me this week,, even my factorys I rep in Chigaco have been nice. All knew my plan.

I just hope brother Wayne and afew others drive a point home.

Sorry Im not there with my r18 ex that can push.

enjoy,,, psy

We pulled into Chisight's place a little earlier for a wonderful
batch of pizza, and now I'm at Wayne's place.
.
I totally understand how someone would say there's no F*ing
way they'd live around Chicago. But all that fustercluck through
all that construction ... gee, the Big Dig looked awfully similar
while it was being done, so I'm used to this. And used to
leaving big buffers amidst the crushing masses who Simply Do
Not Understand. Today I was pushing a little more than I wanted
to keep up with Mike who had sort of rocketed ahead, but
since this was like well after 7pm we got through it fairly
quickly.
.
I don't have exact numbers offhand but I think the second tank
was only 61.something, and the early avg for the current one
is 67.mumble -- why? Because of all that *P&G* opportunity
through the Chicago mess!
.
_H*

Hi All:

___Sorry I did not bring everyone up to date later on in the evening. We were having too much fun! After Terry and Cathy arrived, Terry and I went out for some quick testing. I think some HCH-II owners may like the following …

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/504/103_0_mpg_19_5_miles.jpg
Sustainable > 100 mpg in an HCH-II.

___Terry, Cathy, Tom, Eileen and myself went out to dinner at one of my favorite Chicago area eateries. Spent a lot more time talking then eating and have enough leftovers to feed an army! Picked up Dennis at O’Hare afterwards, met up with Hobbit (he went directly to my home) and then stayed up until almost 02:00 AM just talking about stuff … (it couldn’t have anything to do with hybrids or anything, could it ;))

___Woke up at 07:30 this morning and Terry was hard at it cleaning his HCH-II … You know, to get the “Bug” (singular) off of it ;) but she sure is pretty in person.

___Everyone is now just waking up and getting ready for our day …

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Tiger had to get the BUG off... LMAO.

I think some HCH-II owners may like the following …
Sustainable > 100 MPG in an HCH-II.

Well I'll be. I think he finally, finally got a chance to P&G an HCH-II. And look at that poor stunned-looking SoC.
And here I thought I did pretty good with a 72mpg segment (19 miles) this morning.
S'alright, s'alright. ;) Just wait my little pretty....

Well, we made it safe. Got stuck in a 1 hour traffic jam where we traveled 8 miles.

Well, as far as I know everyone's made it in, no disasters,
and a bunch of us went off for a big dinner thing. Big
chaotic day tomorrow, so I think it's bedtime.
.
_H*

Yeah, I was the quiet guy all the way on the other end of the table with the wife and kids. I hope we weren't to noisy down there. I hope I will get to say hi sometime tomorrow, but we know how hectic a day tomorrow will probably be.

wow take pics pleaseee!!! i want to see what i'm missing!!!!

have fun you guys! be sure to get chatty when you all come back!

Remember when I was such a drafting skeptic? The first 475 miles I cruised 70-75mph right behind 18-wheelers, and got 73.5.mpg when normally my Insight would get 60-65mpg at those speeds.:eek:

Hi All:

___To keep up with everybody’s departures, Terry and Cathy left about 10:30 AM this morning and will probably be arriving at home within the hour. Billy is on the road and after some 500 + miles, his FCD is camped at a wonderfully high 101.x mpg. He was just about to International Fall’s about 30 minutes ago when I spoke with him last. He is heading up to the upper reaches of Canada to make the trip across and then down back into Washington State. Chuck is still here at my home taking his second long nap of the day after we got done with an Insight clinic of sorts. He wants me to wake him up for departure for Dallas at ~ 10:30 PM. Tom was over about 2 hours ago and we replaced the EGR in his HCH-I and went for drive just to make sure all was well. He was averaging about 70 - 75 mpg’s after the EGR replacement so I think all is good with his HCH-I now ;) I have no idea where Hobbit is? I do not think he was caravanning back with Mike D. and had talked about heading up to the Oshkosh Air Show earlier in the week? I hope to hear from him later. Dennis made it back to NY after his flight from early this morning but I have not heard from him since. He is going to be writing a hell of an article. Oh, he took my Accord to 51.3 mpg on the way to O’Hare this morning and loved the experience. I didn’t let him use any of the more advanced techniques P&G, Drafting, and just 3 FAS’s but DWL, DWB, and anticipatory behavior was all the rage for him this morning beating the EPA highway of all the hybrids but the Insight. He was happy to have a shot at doing it for himself!

___Although we still have a ton of pics to post, Tom said he was passed by at least 3 or 4 Prius’ with out of state plates while on his way home and he bet they were HF 2006 attendees. I guess they didn’t take my presentations to heart :D

___All in all, it was a great event and I am already looking forward to the next one. Expect to see more pics up over the next few days.

___As an edit, I just received a PM from Terry. He and Cathy made it home and are exhausted. He might come on a bit later after some rest?

___Good Luck

___Wayne