SFRA 2008 – Driving to Lawrence July 15, 2008
Posted by Jason W Ellis in Conference, Personal, Science Fiction, SFRA.Tags: 2008, b-2, campbell, Conference, fueleconomy, SFRA
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I hit the road early on Wednesday, July 9, leaving Yufang holding a wet Miao Miao (she darted out the door as I was loading up) as the torrents of rain continued unabated across Ohio. I had decided before leaving that I would maximize my fuel economy in order to stretch the overall savings and convenience of driving there. My speed fluctuated between 55 and 60 mph, and I regulated my driving style so that I accelerated slow and easy. I monitored my fuel maximization progress with a ScanGauge II plugged into my car’s computer. After taking 15 hours and two fuel tanks of gas, I averaged 41.5 mpg. Saving those gallons of gas took a toll on me, and I had no trouble falling asleep that night!
On the way to the conference, I saw a number of interesting sights. A few of them included a billboard advertisement warning against drunk driving sponsored by a St. Louis funeral home, a gigantic 12-or-so story tall Christian cross next to the interstate, a McDonalds in Missouri with an enclosed reading room and fireplace rather than a playground, and a B-2 Stealth Bomber turning on final and landing to the south.
[...] Y has been doing her best to make me into an pro-environment crusader. Before we met, I did things like reduce my consuming footprint and I opted for a small Toyota Corolla rather than a larger, less fuel efficient vehicle (my experiments with fuel efficiency is something that I have written about before here). [...]