Beginning on August 29th through September 23 the Vernon Birdman will be traveling from Vernon throughout the western U S states. Look for me in Spokane, WA, Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, Vegas, Palm Springs, Morongo Valley, Morro Bay, Monterey, Elk, Gold Beach, Portland and points in between. If you see a C4 silver grey with BC plates, give us a thumbs up or take a picture or say hi. Total miles will exceed 3,900 miles and I will be posting mileage stats and pics as we progress. Post pics or spotting s on this thread. See 'y'all soon.
Leaving Vernon,BC on August 29 and returning on September 23. Sounds like a lot but no driving phase exceeds 5:30 hours. Most stops include 2 night stays and one stay involves 7 straight nights
Part 1: Vernon to Spokane : 470 kilometers : 56 mpg Part 2: Spokane WA to Gardiner MT : 755 kilometers at 44 mpg with much of the trip in mountains at 70 - 75 mph No contacts. 1 Prius C sighting: summer rain in West Kelowna BC
Part 3: Gardiner, Mt to Salt Lake City, Utah : 420 kilometers @ 4.7 l per 100 k or about 50 mpg. Drive was relatively slow but mountainous through Yellowstone then mostly flat and 75 mph. No other C sightings and no contacts. Next stop is Vegas.
Did you measure mpg specifically in Yellowstone park? Before hypermiling, by far the best mpg my last non-hybrid ever produced was the week spent in and around Yellowstone, with speeds mostly under 35 mpg and altitudes 6ooo (West Yellowstone) to 11000 (Beartooth Pass) feet.
No. I did not specifically measure the mpg in Yellowstone however I believe that it was in the 3.9 litres per 100 kilometers ( I am Canadian) range. It climbed therein as I was traveling down I-15 at about 75mph. I will be interested in seing how the mpg ends up tomorrow between slc and Vegas. It would appear that it is all down the 15 so probably @ 75mph
Birdman update: Part 4: Salt Lake City to Vegas : 652 kilometers at 5.2 litres per 100 k ( 45 mpg) much of the trip at 80 mph. Part 5: Vegas to Palm Springs : 455 kilometers at 4.8 kilometers per hour (48 mpg). Most of this trip taken at 70mph. I don't know if it makes a difference but the temps ranged from 33 to 42 degrees Celsius. I did not spot any C's nor was I contacted. In. Palm Springs for a few days then off again. I should mention that figures quoted are as per read outs on my C. However I will be posting official stats when I return home. I should also mention that at last verification my C read outs have been incredibly accurate. By the way, yes I won 37$ on the slots at the Paris Vegas after we took in the Jersey Boys last night.
Where else are you stopping for sightseeing or hiking or whatever else? There are tons of things to see along the way. Bryce, Zion, Mt. Nebo, Capitol Reef, Great Basin, Cathedral Gorge, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Red Rock canyon, Lake Mead / Hoover Dam, Mojave, Joshua Tree, ...
We have visited Zion as well as the Hoover Dam. We are currently in Palm Springs however we will be leaving tomorrow for a leasurely drive to Morongo Valley where we will be spending a full 7 nights. Morongo Valley is essentially in the Mojave Dessert and we will be hiking in Joshua Tree and Indian Canyons and several hiking trails in the vicinity. We move off to the California coast And up through Oregon and Washington thereafter. I have still to spot a Prius C since my last sighting on my first part of the trip. I should mention that an Asian man was really interested in my C while I was waiting for my baggage at the Paris hotel in Vegas. He was waiting for his car from the vallet parking. I could tell that he wanted to say something but was perhaps too shy or perhaps his English was too weak. One of the vallet parking guys said the he thought that the car was really cool and that he had never driven one before.
This sounds like a relaxing type of road trip that I would like to do in the future! Enjoy the California central coast, it really is beautiful there. I have been to Morro Bay and Monterrey and both have such a great atmosphere. If I were not busy I would head up to Morro Bay to say hi! Can't wait to see any pictures, assuming you've taken some.
There will be a break in my reporting as we are currently installed in the peaceful surroundings of a guest house on a 5 acre ranch on a hillside overlooking Morongo Valley for the next 7 days. Don't be impressed. It cost us next to nothing. Our next report will be from Morro Bay Ca. Thanks to everyone who sent "likes" to us.
When I did a trip around the south west I visited the Grand, Bryce and Zion Canyons... is it wrong that Zion was BY FAR my favourite? I'm not sure if part of that was how hyped the Grand Canyon is. Ditto... I keep trying to talk a couple of friends here into flying over with me and doing a road trip. I loved Monterrey. Morro Bay sadly the group I was with just drove straight through... it looked really cool.