Date:         Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:45:40 -0400
Reply-To:     pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Back from 8000 mile trip in Pickle
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We just got back from our whirlwind cross-country trip in our 1.9l westy
"pickle".  We drove 8000 miles crossing the country and back in 3 weeks
(left the 6th, got back today, the 26th).

We averaged 21.5mpg and had no mechanical problems to speak of (I'll give a
more detailed mileage breakdown in a later email.)  The biggest problem we
had is that the fridge didn't run on propane when driving (although it used
to) and so we had to run it on DC while driving, which is a PITA.  I'm going
to email separately about this problem.

Main destinations on the trip were
(started in New Jersey)

Mammoth Cave NP in Kentucky
Cahokia Mounds outside of St Louis in Illinois
Great Dunes NP in Colorado
Mesa Verde NP in Colorado
Arches NP in Utah
Grand Canyon NP in Arizona
Death Valley NP in CA
Yosemite NP in CA
Berkeley
Yellowstone NP in WY
Devil's Tower NM in WY
Badlands NP in SD
Chicago
Pittsburgh

and ended back in NJ.

(we didn't spend the night at all of these, and in between some of these are
stays at various state campgrounds.)

We saw a lot of great stuff and had a great time.   Grand Canyon was
probably the favorite.  We woke up at 4am so that we could hike down it and
back out, which was amazing.  (If you do this, make sure you are really
prepared.  People die because they underestimate the situation.  It would be
safer and more fun to do this over multiple days, spending the night at the
bottom, if you have the time and advanced reservations.)

Even though I had been out west of few times, neither of us had been to any
of the national parks on the list, so this was really an amazing experience.

I could go on and on, but we just rolled in.  Maybe I'll put up a website
with some pictures at some point over the next week or so.

-Wes