My wife and I are leaving home (Virginia) early tomorrow morning for a road trip to New England - Newport, RI, Brockton, MA, Camden & Bar Harbor, ME, Portsmouth, NH, Cromwell, CT, and back home, over the next 9 days. If the weather cooperates (right now, it looks like New England is going into monsoon season ), I'm going to try and take a picture or two of our Prius out and about in N.E. And I'm interested in how we do on the mileage - the Prius has just over 1K miles now, so this trip should really break it in. If you see an '06 Barcelona Red with VA tags, give us a wave.
Barcelona red, VA plates. I'll keep watching on your Maine leg of the trip. FWIW, just be prepared with bug goop... it's Black Fly season. No problem unless you intend spending time out of doors and out of town.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Brian K @ May 11 2006, 07:53 PM) [snapback]253795[/snapback]</div> Thanks, Brian - I'll keep that in mind. I had heard (old wive's tale?) that Black Fly season runs generally from Mother's Day to Father's Day, so I knew we were taking our chances traveling up there at this time of year. Is it any better along the coast (he asked hopefully)?
Day 1 went well - about 460 miles from Woodbridge, VA to Middletown, RI. First tank of gas - 52.2mpg on the computer. Not bad at all. We could have made it here on one tank with ease, but long ago I got into the habit of not letting the tank get down past one-quarter full. We hit very heavy traffic in Delaware, so heavy that we did the electric boogie-woogie long enough to get two 100mpg bars next to each other. Very cool. My wife took a picture - I hope it comes out. We were in the Prius, off and on, for 10 hours (made several stops along the way), and although our Sienna is more comfortable on trips like this, I am very glad we decided to take the Prius. It really is a lot of fun to drive, or to ride in (the co-pilot gets to load/unload CDs, adjust the climate control, record gas mileage, and navigate (we have package #6, so we depend on one another for navigation). Along the way we had some heavy traffic at times, lots of 18-wheelers, wind, and - I swear, within minutes of entering CT - lots of rain, and the Prius did great. Next real driving day will be Monday, heading up to Camden, ME.
I live in Jamestown (across the bridge from Newport)- I also have a Barcelona Red Prius. I'll keep an eye out for you!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GreenGene @ May 11 2006, 05:40 PM) [snapback]253732[/snapback]</div> Hey just wanted to say hi. Enjoy the trip and let us know how the Prius performs. You're headed in my favorite direction. This year we are traveling to Bar Harbor in September for 9 days. I keep thinking I could make it on a tank of gas but it would probably mean pulling in on the battery and fumes. So we'll no doubt make a gas stop somewhere in Southern Maine. Camden is nice but Bar Harbor is my favorite spot. Love hiking Acadia. Have fun.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ May 12 2006, 08:36 PM) [snapback]254450[/snapback]</div> We were over in Jamestown earlier this afternoon - drove around for a bit, and then headed down to Beavertail State Park and the lighthouse there ... but that was just about the time that it really started to rain. We were looking around for but didn't spot your Prius - I've very aware of any hybrid these days but especially the Prius, and most especially a Barcelona Red. Jamestown, even in the rain, is really nice - great houses and lots of ocean. We walked the Cliff Walk this morning - took advantage of it not raining. We agreed that we have to come back here when the weather is better.
Blackflies hatch out of streams and lakes, and Maine has loads of each. Coast, inland, pretty much makes no difference, but the water type and how close you are to it seems to. Puddles aren't an issue with BFs as they are with mosquitos. THBS, our closest stream is 1/4 mile away and on a bad blackfly day we just stay inside. As with any biting insect they have a really tough time in stout winds.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Brian K @ May 13 2006, 08:05 PM) [snapback]254936[/snapback]</div> Well, the black flies will have to wait for another time. We're bugging out / bailing out (puns intended) and heading home. The weather has been awful, but we were still having a good time. But now there's MAJOR flooding between where we are (southeastern Mass) and where we're supposed to be this evening (mid-coast Maine). We can take a hint, especially from Mother Nature! The Prius has performed well. We hit some stronger wind yesterday, and it took a little more effort to keep it in the lane. Reminded me of our '91 Previa. First tank of the trip - 51mpg. Second tank was less - lots of short trips with a cold engine/battery. On the third tank now.
Ayuh, I was going to tell you about the weather and the floods. So much for the blackflies. Things are an absolute mess in coastal Northern Mass, NH, and souther Maine. Bridges washed away, roads washed away, closed and detoured. More rain coming in and it's spreading north to us. Oddly enough when the south was getting hammered we had really nice weather, but that's about to change. Turning around was a wise choice. Even I95 was affected, but not to the extent of the secondary roads.
Yup - the Red Sox game ended early Friday night because of rain, then the Saturday and Sunday games were cancelled due to rain - they probably had to SWIM to Baltimore to play Monday's game! (Bottom of the 6th, leading 8 to 1 - GO REDSOX!) So, sorry your trip got rained out, but I'm sure there's plenty of things to do 'back home'. Have fun!
Sorry to miss you I'm in Northern Ma. Would have watched for you between raindrops There are lots of Prius' here in Mass. I have to put luminescent paint on mine so it'll stand out VBG
