Delayed trip wrap-up
The last day of our cross-country trip went something like this:
Here's some vital statistics:
Overall, our journey lasted 47 days and took us through 10,270 miles, including just over 100 in a rental car going into Mexico. There were 3 separate occasions where we had to cover over 600 miles in a single day, but in general our point-to-point trips averaged about 370 miles. The initial odometer reading on my Subaru was 36,121; the final one was 46,286. We traveled through 24 states of the Union -- which is exactly half of those in the continental U.S. -- as well as Ontario, Canada and Baja California, Mexico. Yet, in spite of the rigorous schedule, we were never more than a day behind.
My WRX's fuel economy was about 26.5 miles per gallon for a total of just under $1,000 that we had to spend on fuel. The highest we paid for Premium gas in the U.S. was $3.079 per gallon in Austin, NV; the lowest was $2.239 in Kingston, TN; the average price around the country was $2.593. Overall, we had to fill the tank 30 times. We also did 3 oil changes: the first one in Alabama, the next one in Nevada, and the last one in Michigan. Thankfully, there were no major mechanical problems with the car.
Along the way, we visited my parents as well as 6 sets of friends who were kind enough to accommodate us for a total of 17 nights. For the other 30 nights we stayed at 18 different hotels, averaging $75 (including all taxes) per night -- or $63 if we don't count our exuberant honeymoon suite in Las Vegas. We made 8 bookings through Priceline, 3 more through Hotwire, and one directly with the hotel. The rest of the time we simply found a place to stay as we were driving through the area.
We snapped hundreds upon hundreds of photographs, with close to a thousand that we decided to keep. However, it will take a while before we can select and format the best ones for posting online, so please be patient.
So, this is it. We survived our most ambitious adventure yet. We even managed to enjoy it most of the time. And, notably, we got married along the way.
But now, back to my MBA studies...
Update: I just uploaded tables with our complete Daily Route Information, Hotel Locations and Gas Mileage Data. Enjoy!
- August 16: Had breakfast at a Rock-n-Roll Diner. Explored the American side of the Falls, which turned out to be almost as impressive as the Canadian side. Walked down to within about 30 feet of the waterfalls for a real feel of the Nature's awesome power. On the way back, took a short detour to Buffalo, walked around the historic part of downtown, and had some of their famous wings. Then headed to New York, hitting sporadic heavy fog as we approached the City. Arrived home around 1:30 a.m.
Here's some vital statistics:
Overall, our journey lasted 47 days and took us through 10,270 miles, including just over 100 in a rental car going into Mexico. There were 3 separate occasions where we had to cover over 600 miles in a single day, but in general our point-to-point trips averaged about 370 miles. The initial odometer reading on my Subaru was 36,121; the final one was 46,286. We traveled through 24 states of the Union -- which is exactly half of those in the continental U.S. -- as well as Ontario, Canada and Baja California, Mexico. Yet, in spite of the rigorous schedule, we were never more than a day behind.
My WRX's fuel economy was about 26.5 miles per gallon for a total of just under $1,000 that we had to spend on fuel. The highest we paid for Premium gas in the U.S. was $3.079 per gallon in Austin, NV; the lowest was $2.239 in Kingston, TN; the average price around the country was $2.593. Overall, we had to fill the tank 30 times. We also did 3 oil changes: the first one in Alabama, the next one in Nevada, and the last one in Michigan. Thankfully, there were no major mechanical problems with the car.
Along the way, we visited my parents as well as 6 sets of friends who were kind enough to accommodate us for a total of 17 nights. For the other 30 nights we stayed at 18 different hotels, averaging $75 (including all taxes) per night -- or $63 if we don't count our exuberant honeymoon suite in Las Vegas. We made 8 bookings through Priceline, 3 more through Hotwire, and one directly with the hotel. The rest of the time we simply found a place to stay as we were driving through the area.
We snapped hundreds upon hundreds of photographs, with close to a thousand that we decided to keep. However, it will take a while before we can select and format the best ones for posting online, so please be patient.
So, this is it. We survived our most ambitious adventure yet. We even managed to enjoy it most of the time. And, notably, we got married along the way.
But now, back to my MBA studies...
Update: I just uploaded tables with our complete Daily Route Information, Hotel Locations and Gas Mileage Data. Enjoy!