Month of July 2023 (Nat’l Avg $3.543)

Well……my wife & I are parted. No details, but I’m devastated, emotionally & economically. My biggest & most effective way to help myself is to not drive with the sky high gas prices. It was a whopper of a problem finding a place I could afford. But, after months I found a place that I had made contact within seconds that it became available & thus no other people wanting the place were before me! Wow! Now, I hope the prices don’t leap upward.

Several good things about this place, is 1) it’s right next to bottomland that I’ve traveled for 68 years & all I have to do is walk into it (no driving miles to reach it), 2) IF I can find gas money, it has access to 3 of my favorite roads to escape town, WITHOUT having to go thru all the town stop lights (delightful), & 3) it has an EV charger on the premises which is FREE. I just need an EV, which will now be harder to buy than it was previously! Oh well.

PS….I can take a walking short cut to lunch at the Senior Center(excellent & low-priced), while walking thru the bottomland & NOT have to drive thru town.

PS I…..Oh, on the bottomland next to the river, I saw a Bald Eagle chasing an Osprey. The binoculars showed the Osprey had a small fish, which the Eagle was trying to steal! Chasing the Osprey the Eagle finally gave up & went south. The Osprey gained altitude & flew north. I wonder if the Osprey was one of the pair, raising chicks on a cell-tower near where I can see them from my apartment.

 

Sorry to hear about your wife.

 

My trip to Michigan went like this :

To Michigan Sat aM - 312 miles , fcd = 56.3

To Illinois Tuesday afternoon - 320 miles , fcd = 57.6

No rain , temps between 70 and 94 F ,
same wind both ways ( SW 5 ).
This car works.

 

July 4, 2023 Myrtle Beach, $ 2.93 for regular.

 

Today , 62 deg F in Naperville , 64 in Elk Grove.

Wind NNW 5

33.3 miles, fcd = 55.9 MPG.

Going home yesterday on the usual non-highway route ,
I ended up at 61.6 MPG (fcd). I did key off the engine six or
eight times at red lights.

 

Remember the good old days when 50mpg was a "WOW!" number and the current Prius was rated in the 40s? Now 50s and 60s are attainable - at least in warm weather - on a consistent basis. Amazing what today's cars can do.

 

They call this engine " Earth Dreams".

This engine , with this CVT , is pretty darned efficient.

 

No doubt the PCM is tweaking the intake cam timing so it's running as an Atkinson engine at steady rpm and low load. As a small and comparatively inexpensive car, delivering 50+ to 60+ mpg without hybrid additions or a turbo, it's one of the more cost efficient cars you can buy.

 

Yesterday, from the apartment, I walked into the bottomland over to the river. Saw a Bald Eagle flying on the opposite riverbank, upriver 300 yards. He landed. The binoculars showed it started eating a small fish. What made it a commentary of “signs of the times” is that in the background, I could see vehicles on the highway. But they weren’t going fast but were “stop & go” traffic trying to escape to Eastern Washington. Ha ha……I was having more fun than the drivers were, just on a walk from the apartment.

PS……Today, I returned to the river where I saw an Eagle. I believe, it may have been the same Eagle in the same spot where he ate the small fish yesterday. Then the binoculars showed him flying upriver…..followed by 2 more Bald Eagles.

 

Today , I didn't check the temps when I got to work.
I recall that the Fit said it was 64 deg F.

33.3 miles , fcd = 57.4

Sunday - two short trips , 21 miles total
fcd = 51.1

Saturday , went to Russell's.
50 miles round-trip , fcd = 57.0 , 61.2

Still working on the tank I bought in Michigan
on the 4th.

 

Today , 67 deg F in Naperville , 71 in Elk Grove.

Wind SW 7

33.3 miles, fcd =58.0 MPG.

When I got to work , Trip A said 20 miles range.
Going to vivist my daughter after work and she lives about 25 miles from here.
I may buy fuel on the way there.

 

Today , 63 deg F in Naperville and Elk Grove.

Wind NW 4

33.3 miles, fcd = 57.2 MPG

 

Yeah, since I had to move into the apartment, & gas prices so high, I’ve not been driving, but taking walks in the bottomland near the apartment.

PS……While taking the bottomland walk this evening, saw my 2nd deer in less than a week.

 

Around here , deer are very shy. i see one maybe every three years.

Coyotes, more often.

 

You don't say...

 

Many non-resident people NOT from the Pacific Northwest are surprised that Seattle doesn’t have as much rain as other places in the US. However, in terrains toward mountains, rain increases plentifully. Our Everett, WA watershed up in Spada Lake, gets a tremendous 90 inches & even up to 160 inches of rain per year & the Olympic National Park rainforest gets as much as 200 inches per year. Yeah, lots of thick brush & hiding places for deer, just 20 feet away from trails. That’s why you can surprise deer quite often……..& miss a lot of deer in the brush, too.

 

Couldn't check temp and wind this morning, network was down.

But the car said 70 deg F.

33.3 miles , fcd = 60.2 MPG
Some tailwind, i'm sure.