Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:56:13 -0700
Reply-To: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: I are mades it
In-Reply-To: <48A43E43.9040801@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Congratulations! Makes a massive undertaking look like a breeze.
Stephen
--- On Thu, 8/14/08, Mike Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> From: Mike Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: I are mades it
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Date: Thursday, August 14, 2008, 10:16 AM
> All,
>
> I arrived in Bend safe and sound. Just got the network up
> in the house.
> On Sunday I drove from Carlsbad, CA, to Bend, Oregon via
> I-5 then
> highway 97, arriving Monday night. Met up with the
> estimable Al Knoll
> outside Lodi for teas and chats -- nice meeting you, Al!
> Thanks for the
> water bottle sprayer, it saved my a$$ during the hottest
> part of the
> drive, around Redding, CA (over 100 degrees F) -- anyone
> wants desert
> travel tips, Al's your man.
>
> Mellow Yellow performed perfectly the whole drive and
> achieved the best
> gas mileage ever: 939 miles using 49.5 gallons, or 19 mpg.
> The best fuel
> economy was the stretch between Santa Nella and Corning, a
> pretty darn
> flat portion of the drive, where I recorded 19.7 mpg; the
> worst was the
> chunk between Klamath Falls and Bend on 97 where only 17.9
> mpg was
> achieved.
>
> During the flat I-5 portions I maintained about 60 mph, and
> often
> utilized 18-wheelers as "cruise control," by
> driving behind them -- not
> so close as to be tailgating, but close enough to maybe
> steal a little
> slipstream. The poorer fuel economy on the last leg was due
> to wanting
> to get to Bend before dark, so I pushed harder. Second
> worst mileage was
> from Carlsbad, through Los Angeles, and up the Grapevine to
> Frazier Park
> where I got 18.4 mpg.
>
> These mileages are impressive for a vehicle that formerly
> held down the
> bottom end in terms of fuel economy (see the fuel economy
> survey results
> on the vanagonwiki). In those Bad Old Days 15 mpg was the
> best I got.
> Then I got the wheels aligned which bumped me to 17 mpg.
> Why was the
> mileage so much better on this drive: Possibly the trailer,
> which may
> have reduced turbulence, thus drag, behind the van; or
> possibly it was
> the properly-working ECU which I plugged in the week before
> I departed.
> That old one didn't idle properly. Or maybe both
> factors contributed. (I
> personally think it was due to my obsessing over tire
> pressure prior to
> departure -- my theory is that I achieved the magic
> "sweet spot" between
> too much and too little pressure - the Goldilocks theory of
> tire
> pressure. It's a lousy theory but I like it.)
>
> Photo of van w/ trailer behind it here:
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/j.michael.elliott/LadybugTrailer/photo#5234374945798598434
>
> I've been spending the days after arrival coordinating
> with handymen and
> house cleaners (seller left the house a mess), rug
> shampooers, IT guys,
> electricians, vendors, and a slew of details. No furniture
> yet, that
> will be arriving with Mrs Squirrel on Saturday, accompanied
> by a 26 foot
> rental truck, a 22 foot rental truck (we have more cr#p
> than we
> thought), my son, a friend, and possibly her older son. So
> I'm sitting
> in a folding camping chair typing this on what will be Mrs
> Squirrel's
> desk in what will be Mrs Squirrel's office. Of course,
> being a low
> camping chair the desk is about at the same level as my
> nose, giving me
> a Kilroy look while I type this.
>
> The driveway will be ready for visitors to camp in in a
> week or so, once
> the trucks are gone.
>
> --
>
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical
> Banana")
> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan
> Capistrano
> KG6RCR
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