Month of March 2022 (Nat'l Avg $3.619)

Messing about——MESSING ABOUT! You should lose something….messing about, indeed!

 

Today , 23 deg F in Naperville ,22 in Elk Grove.
Wind NNW8
33.3 miles , fcd = 58.3 x .943 = 55.0 MPG.
Will probably need to buy gas Tuesday AM.

 

Another advantage of retirement. Yesterday, I went to the Wildlife area….not at 5 or 6AM. At one point, the afternoon temperature was 67degF, & it was still cloudy. Whoopee! Springtime has arrived……’cept today at 9AM, its only 54degF.

 

Lucky you! I woke to snow on the ground and 25 degF. The roads were clear though and the driveway cleared quickly once the sun came out. As expected, I had just changed out the snow tires.

We're taking a short trip with a year old dog so I gassed up. I had a 1/2 tank. First time filling up close to $4/gal. Did a short trip yesterday with wife in front passenger seat and dog in back seat to see how the dog would do. The dog was fine and settled right into her bed back there. She should be fine for the trip tomorrow.

30.9 miles for the trial run
fcd 49.4 MPG (temp in the mid 50s degF)
measured 2.27 kWh to top off the battery, though the trip was primarily to let the engine run a bit
that brings the fuel economy down to an estimated 43 MPGe if I take the fcd at face value (ICE rated at 35 MPG)

 

Yeah, we talked a month or so ago, about the goodly(badly?) amount of snow in Massachusetts! This last North Salish Sea(Puget Sound) winter season, I didn’t put on snow tires. Early on, I thought I made a mistake, but the winter turned mild after the early cold.

 

better to be lucky than good...

 

I’m bad….I’m bad…..I’m very very bad!

 

Today , 30 deg F in Naperville and Elk Grove.
Wind E9 ( ouch )
32.4 miles ( Ogden Ave route ) fcd = 58.3 x .943 = 55.0 MPG

Filled up at my Amoco in Naperville for $4.339/gallon of 87 E10.
544.8 miles , fcd = 61.4 x .943 = 57.9 MPG.
544.8/9.303 gal = 58.56 MPG.
Take yer pick.

 

Thanks , Gord. The car does the heavy lifting. I'm just the passenger.

 

Today , a big change in the weather.
46 deg F in Lombard and Elk Grove.
Wind SSE13.
No highway , Il Rte 53 most of the way.
16.2 miles , fcd = 75.8 x .943 = 71.5 MPG
Probably can't duplicate that tonight , it's
hard to predict where the wind will be coming from.

Does this mean winter's over ?

 

Winter’s over, for sure! Yesterday’s weather forecast indicated off & on showers for the Salish Sea(Puget Sound), today. Rained a bit last night, but in-coming blue sky on the westerlies is brightening the day now. Will go to the Wildlife Area with the Tasco zoom binoculars. Later, will get eggs from our egg lady. I love the different egg colors, from white to pale brown, to darker brown…….& about a third of them are green eggs. Yeah, our egg lady knows her chickens.
In past decades, chickens would stop laying eggs in the winter. But, global warming now helps the chickens to produce ALL year long, now.

 

Gord said Free……Yabba dabba dooooo…….
AND at the efficient driving of Gord, he can make that FREE juice stretch a long ways.

 

So much for Pollyanna. All that blue sky was quickly filled in, with rain clouds…..dark rain clouds! Quickly got eggs from our egg lady, but had to cancel the Wildlife area for binocular views of the flora & fauna.
Oh, I got some Spring water at the Spring water site, too.
I’m having some of the wife’s home-made chili to chase away the rainy blues. She made lots of chili that lasted 4 days. The end of the chili is as good as the beginning of the chili. Now that is good cooking. Oh, yeah. The Spring water to go with the chili is good, too.

PS, later in the afternoon…..I risked it, between the raindrops & went to the Wildlife area. As I got to the area, it started to rain. There is a 1400 foot ridge east of the Wildlife area. East-moving rain clouds bank up on the west side of the Cascade Mtns & drop lots of rain in western Washington. Yes, even that small 1400 foot ridge catches clouds.
So I went to a county park with a lake, away from the mountains & got some viewing before the rain moved in. At 400 yards, the zoom Tasco binoculars showed distant Ringnecks, Mallards, Coots, Bufflehead & Wood Ducks on the lake. Along the lake I walked & saw a mature Bald Eagle let down on a 300 yard distant peninsula, projecting into the lake. Grasses covered up most of the view, but on occasion I could see the Eagle lift its head. Thought the Eagle might have been feeding on something. Then an immature Bald Eagle, circled over the Mature Bald & let down on the peninsula & also started feeding. I assumed, they were mother & off-spring Eagles. Getting the zooms dialed in, the Eagles were very sharp at 14power, specially the very dark(almost black) immature. Excellent detail showed on the blotchy feathering of the immature, both the underwing patterning & upper details. Very nice indeed. I must say, if I had had a 7power binocular, even a sharp one, I would have been disappointed. The zoom at 14power, really saved the day. Was going to travel a little more, but even here away from the mountains, I could tell the rain was coming. Retreating toward the car, it began raining before I reached it. But, I got in before too many raindrops fell. Nice outing without being drenched. I’ve been drenched enough in Washington state rains.

 

Had a surprisingly good trip home. Temp in the mid-50s
Wind SSW8 ( headwind ) and rain all the way.
Scenic Route # 1.5.
31.4 miles, fcd = 65.0 x .943 = 61.3 MPG.

 

Ouch. Considerably more rain than yesterday.
39 deg F in Naperville , 40 in Elk Grove.
Wind WSW13 , which should have helped.
33.3 miles, fcd = 57.2 x .943 = 53.9 MPG.

 

Looks like our rain is over. Will take Lucky binoculars to the Wildlife area & see what we’ll see!

PS…..Elantra took me to a logging road to hike. As soon as I got there, it began to rain hard. I came home……in nice sunshine, but still rain in the mtns. Cloudy now. Western Washington state weather acting like Western Washington state weather……….!