On Our Way

We are now just over the Louisiana border and are therefore just a few hours away from today's goal of Flower Mound, Texas. Rather than go all-out and race for Arizona non-stop, we decided it would be better if we stopped for the night, caught up with Brittany's cousins, and recuperated before taking on west Texas. That stretch of road makes for a long fight, and both of us had best be well-rested before undertaking that portion of the adventure.

Brittany summed up our (busy) week pretty well, so all I really have to offer at this point is my take on a few things:

1:
Having now crossed the Mississippi River, there are no longer any live trees to be found. As a precursor to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, that is extremely depressing.




2:
The following picture was taken at the Alabama welcome center:




The Welcome Center has a back porch and rocking chairs. The only way it could possibly be more Southern would be if it had a bug zapper and a resident hound dog or two.

3:
Rain is terrifying. Perhaps it's exacerbated by the fact that I live in a desert now, but as we entered Alabama, we were hit with a wall of water that would have drowned most species of fish. This was a "seven-foot visibility," "shake-the-semi-next-to-you," "don't even think about using your brakes" kind of storm, and it played havoc with our travel time. After nearly playing hydroplane pinball with a Mack truck and a Chevy Suburban, we decided to get off the highway and wait it out for a bit.

4:
The laws of physics are not my friends today. Motion and force, along with the energy needed to provide them, walk a delicate line in a dance of balance and grace that while predictable, rarely work in a motorhead's favor. I, for example, would like to get home as quickly as possible. In order to accomplish this, my strategy would typically be to put my foot to the floor in selective recognition of local speed limits in order to expedite our arrival. However, I would also like to spend as little money as possible to do this, which means that I need to manage my fuel economy. The catch-22 lies in the fact that as speed increases, the need for power to make and maintain it increases as well. As that happens, the rate of fuel consumption can jump dramatically.

This paradox came about during the aforementioned deluge - between my questionably-excessive speeds in Georgia and the inclement weather in Alabama, our fuel economy dropped significantly from 350 miles per tank on the way out to just under 300 on our first tank going home. I had averaged about 80mph coming out of Georgia, and the Alabama downpour had me on and off the throttle sharply for the better part of two hours, which greatly increased consumption. After filling up for the second time, I decided to try to increase the Fit's fuel economy back to its previous numbers by parking the cruise control right at 70mph and holding it there. This has been painful to do because 70mph is the speed limit for most of the way, and I am certainly not known for my profound respect for white signs with black numbers. I had grandpas in Buicks passing me with quizzical looks and the occasional trucker blow by me with horns, lights, and middle fingers flying in full force, but it seems to be working. With 3/4 of a tank remaining, we have gotten almost 250 miles, and I would venture to guess that we will get another 100 miles before the "low fuel" light comes on.

This leaves me with a quandary: do I get the extra tank or two of gas to get there sooner, or do I take it easy on the wallet and back my speed off?

The answer is actually easier than you might think. I stopped at a rest area and let Brittany drive. Now it's her decision.