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2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
When I was a kid in Moses Lake, tumbleweeds were a normal thing. We lived on the edge of a subdivision with a big field in front of our house, and the weeds would sometimes blow in from there, get stuck in fences, etc, I also remember them blowing into traffic.
The other memorable thing that day was getting to visit Klipsun Vineyards in the Red Mountain region and getting a tour around by the lady who ran it. I see that their current release (which is always sold out and by invitation/allocation) went for $900 per 6-bottle case. Yikes.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
From Alaska to Ohio (no trailer, but heavily loaded including the top-mounted carriers): 23.12 mpg, 240 gallons of diesel, 5,500 miles, and at a cost of $900.
From Ohio to Oregon (pulling trailer at about 2,800# with top-mounted carriers): 12.83 mpg, 178 gallons of diesel, 2,275 miles, and at a cost of $626.
From Oregon to Alaska (pulling trailer at about 6,000#, maybe a little more, with top-mounted carriers): 14.37 mpg, 176 gallons of diesel, 2,500 miles, and at a cost of $715.
Sadly, I cannot really compare the two legs pulling the trailer, as the first leg (while the trailer was lighter) involved much higher average speeds and strong headwinds across all of Nebraska as well as much of Wyoming and Iowa. My worst tank on that leg was 10.14 mpg when I filled up at Waco, Nebraska (best was 15.95 when I filled up in central Indiana).
The second part of the trip, with the trailer fully loaded, I did not encounter nearly as much wind, plus our average speeds were around 10-15 mph slower. My best tank was 16.22 mpg between Cache Creek and Prince George, BC. The worst tank was 11.29 mpg on a 150-mile stretch of the Cassiar (filled up at Bell 2 Lodge). I'm not sure what the reason for it was - I remember it being wet, with a couple stops, and relatively high speeds (~70 mph), but nothing too much out of the ordinary; probably just consistent elevation gain. It was immediately out of here (Bell 2) that I hit those huge potholes that tweaked something in the suspension, but whatever happened, it didn't seem to have an effect on fuel economy. My very next tank (covering the remaining Cassiar highway) was just shy of 16 mpg (second best for the trip).
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Previous trip under similar conditions, the almost new Explorer got about 22 mpg.
This time with just under 6k starting out, we averaged over 25 mpg, so it's breaking in quite well.
most of Kentucky as the drivers, travelers, were considerate and seemed
to show ability to allow other drivers to merge over to avoid being
caught behind slower vehicles. Best trip for driving courtesy of the
last 4 I can recall coming here. Hope the drive home will be as pleasant.
The Monday morning 8 o'clock traffic in Cincinnati was never at a dead
stop on I75 in the bad spots. Amazing luck for us.
My Malibu 2014 with 2.5L gave 37 mpg to the stop in Knoxville at CFA. That's despite the "hills" in lower KY and TN at 70-75 mph. Who needs electric vehicles!
No really interesting cars. Traffic from TN I40 to Sevierville (Dolly Parton's
home) was heavy in all 3 lanes. There are all these old folks here around
Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. We fit right in, by the way.
They come for the scenic Smokey Mountains with
the deciduous trees changing colors--but from what I see in the distance
the trees didn't get the message to change. A bus load of widowed ladies
is staying at our motel. They were stereotypes of TV shows.
Fun to watch them as I grabbed the breakfast stuff to bring up to the room.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I was honestly impressed.
Seeing them already in October, it's going to be a long winter. This is one instance where tech (auto lights as opposed to DRLs that only illuminate the front) is helpful.
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
On the road this morning. An Idaho plated vehicle cuts in front of me - no signal, then turns the direction I am going - no signal, then gets confused at a metered on ramp and stops twice. I had to honk. Then when merging, he signals! Speeds up as I am alongside him, then drops back as I pass. I swear, if one border needs a wall... (no video, there was profanity and then some)
On the way home tonight, looks like at least a 5 car pileup - 90 through downtown Spokane is a zoo, many ramps and drivers who don't always get it.
We've become a mean society in these past few years, and it'll take a few more years for most folks to become nicer again to their fellow citizens which is a shame. Being nasty or downright mean is not acceptable to me in any way, shape or form. It's time that we become nicer to our fellow man especially with what's been going on this last year and a half. We really are better than that... or at least we were, time to go back to being a polite society once again.
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Interesting to see the ends of guardrail at the exit equipped with flashing LED chevrons. I hadn't seen them before. I imagine those will be the latest "best practice" thing that our taxes will need to pay for.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I think the chevron thing is my LED headlights reflecting, with the refresh rate quirk making them flicker.
I had the snow wheels installed last week, so I was confident either way.
The Forester did fine, except for one major thing which is important to me in mountain driving. I want to shift into a gear going downhill that enables me to descend without ever touching the brakes, except maybe for a 20 mph curve or something. I can do this exactly as I wish with a manual transmission, and have been able to do pretty well with a conventional automatic also, but the rubber band transmission on the Forester is absolutely useless. I can shift into a sort of low range, but it becomes apparent quickly that the system makes liberal use of the brakes to maintain downhill speed, not engine braking.
The journey was 2580 miles in nine days, with about 900 miles on the last two days, so the first seven were pretty mellow. Anyway, the "new" Forester now has over 71K miles on it. So far, so good, except for the crap transmission programming.
I don't have a good image in my mind of your route. I recall we took some road through redwood territory just south of the Oregon border quite a few years ago now, but I don't think that is the one you took. I'll need to break out the map when I get a chance of it.
Also, the Armstrong Redwood Preserve in Guerneville.
Beautiful area.
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Sounds like a great time.
I may need to figure out an excuse to sneak down that far south one of these years just to experience it. I think my family may have gone through there many years ago when we were visiting family in San Bernadino. I recall crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on my birthday, but I don't recall which one at this point.... it was either 8 or 9. Darn memory is failing me.
Funny enough, I remember clearly that we were driving our 1980 Subaru GL wagon. Dad wanted to drive some of the famed steep streets of San Francisco, which we did before crossing the bridge, and there was one that had a stop sign on the uphill end. He stopped, and the car simply wouldn't move forward from that stop. He had to carefully back a u-turn and head down the other way!
Good times.
Was that boat something that required either oversized flags or pilot vehicles? I know a lot of them sit up very high on trailers due to the lower stabilizer. If so, how often did you need to bypass overpasses due to clearance issues?
As I recall, I got into every one of the lower 48 except for ND in the 2.5 years I drove. I owned my Kenworth tractor (350 Cummins, 9 speed Roadranger), but the company I was leased to (Boat Transit Inc., long since out of business) owned the trailers and set up the loads and permits. Most of the loads ran from coast to coast or to the Great Lakes, so I ended up in a lot of nice places, with a lot of nothing in between.
I had a single drive axle tractor, so the really big stuff was hauled by guys with tandem drives, and they often required running back roads to avoid low overpasses, along with two pilot cars. They got those loads and I got stuff that had to go through states that had an overall 55' length limit (back in those days - it's 65' or more everywhere now) with my short truck -- 120" wheelbase, even though it weighed 13,200 lbs.
In any event, I enjoyed it a lot and regretted many times getting out of the business when I did.
I sometimes think that driving might be a good way to pass a few years after I retire, but I'm not sure if I would enjoy it as much if I was doing it for a living. I'm sure my wife would appreciate having me out of her hair for a while, though!
That said, you get paid to drive, and that certainly works for me.
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
Filled up 4 times and paid between 3.399 and 3.599 for RUG.
MPG averages in order were 21.1, 22.0. 23.5, 24.6.
How were the roads/traffic during the holiday craziness?
Trip was making great time mixed with some long traffic jams.
As usual, once we got east of Poughkeepsie NY on the way back, things really slowed down for long stretches through Waterbury CT on I-84.
Our timing for that wasn't good, 5-6 PM Sunday evening.
Could have been worse. In PA at Dubois, highway was shut down eastbound from MM exit 97 to MM 90 on I-80. Only local roads off that exit. Ton's of 18 wheelers caught up in that.
Good thing we were headed west.
In Ohio we went from 3 lanes to 1, instead of 2 for over 10 miles, for no apparent reason, other than cones blocking off the other lane.
Untreated road was fine:
But this treated backroad arterial was slick - deicer was applied in the past few days, but in today's snow it didn't do much. Some cars were having a hard time making it up the hill:
(noise from defrost, old Christmas music Sirius channel)
https://www.krem.com/article/weather/spokane-winter-weather-advisory/293-8edb413b-ee7c-4633-bf93-dcd7928be6d3
On the road today, came across this incident. I noticed a LEO on the left with lights on, zoom in and check out the truck and what's in front of it. Someone and their insurance company are not having a good day:
That road had tons of ice, too - it seems road clearing around here is inconsistent, as this road is a major arterial. I also notice that at least in my opinion, Spokane was doing a better job than Spokane Valley at keeping main roads passable. Sprague, another major arterial, was treacherous in spots in the valley, much better past the city limits.
I am pretty sure the wagon has never been this dirty before, not sure if the car sees it as a badge of honor or a sign of sloth - I will vote for the former:
Well done.
Seems like if DOT was less quick to step in to rescue folks from themselves, drivers would be more willing to prepare for the conditions. I vote for the latter, but what do I know.
I have a friend here that talks about her inability to get around with her new-to-her car because it doesn't have winter tires on it. She can't afford to buy winter tires, yet she cannot get around without them. I keep fluctuating between buying her a set and letting her suffer her own fate of mixed up priorities.... /sigh
The wagon has been a trooper in the snow and ice so far, that tire and wheel package was a fine investment. Now just to see how long I can look at it with a layer of greasy sludge - maybe that layer will protect it from future grime
Drove to work, started snowing, car sat outside, snow fell and melted, icicles. Drove home and they remained intact even after going ~45 for awhile, strong ice (pic was taken immediately after I got home):
Mostly at super legal speeds around 80-85 MPH since the electronic CHP signs all read "It's a Highway not a Speedway; Watch your speed!" on them. Did slow down when the rain fell heavier, but there were some dryer patches.
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Been dicey on the roads here the past week too - first the slick mess after we had 10" of snow with a layer of freezing rain, then a freeze-thaw cycle, then ice fog - yesterday morning was especially bad with all exposed surfaces having a glaze of ice. I'd much rather have plain old snow, nicer to look at and easier to drive in (and seems to scare the timid off the road more than ice, somehow, I guess as it is easier to see).