We decided to visit Yosemite before doing our normal trip north, so yesterday we headed south and east from Bellflower. We gassed up both cars at Automall & I-880, and went across Pacheco Pass (Gilroy to Los Banos).
We stopped off for pistachios in Madera, and there is also a very cool natural history museum there; the local landfill was apparently a Pleistocene watering hole, and the remains of mammoth, ground sloth, bear, dire wolf, saber tooth, and other mammal megafauna have been found on the site over the past 20 years. It’s very much a work-in-progress, but it gives an interesting view into a working paleontology lab. Because the landfill is still in use, a lot of the fossils are damaged (“the scraper took off the top 2 feet of that mammoth tusk”), but on the other hand, a lot of the “major” excavation gets done for free by the county. A nice melding between science and local resources.
We spent the night in Oakhurst, a thriving little tourist town south of Yosemite. The hotel was notably deficient in a few areas; the power plugs in the room were so loose that my charger wall warts kept falling out of them, and for some reason, the desk clerk gave us directions to a breakfast place that was in the opposite direction of the park, and that required a U-turn to reach. Very irritating. Nice room otherwise, though; 3 beds!
The drive into the park was fun; I will miss the windy California back roads. I got to really push it, because I was the only person in the car (we are split into a “cargo vehicle” and a “passenger vehicle”, and I get to be the cargo driver, which given my current mood is probably best for all involved). As a bonus, because it’s “Earth Week”, entrance to the park (normally $20/car) was free! w00t! More backroads driving got us to a very nice lookout point (that everyone else has also discovered, as there is a large parking lot there) from which we could see El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridal Veil falls all in one vista. Big and impressive, done by people who know how to do big and impressive.
We then worked our way back out of the park, at which point fueling the Highlander became a primary concern. We made it to Modesto with 50 miles of gas to spare, where I discovered that my (*^&$&# Shell card is still messed up from the last &$#*&# trip. I’d called about it in the middle of the week, and had gotten it turned back on *and* advised them that I was going on another trip this weekend, but they shut it off anyway. On a Sunday. When the 800 number on the back of the card goes to “please call us back during normal business hours” and hangs up. This happens so often that I actually have the Fraud Department in my contacts list (they are open every day until 9pm, love that), so I called them, and they said “I don’t see any holds on your account, but I’ll reset you anyway”, and they did.
So in Modesto, Kristi filled the Prius with gas (she had about 120 miles left in the tank at the time), but I was only able to put in $40 (you have to call out a dollar figure — it’s irritating). When we stopped for dinner (really a late lunch), I realized that I had to go 150 miles to the next stop, but only had 145 miles of gas left. grr. So we had to stop *again* at Williams, because I was worried about making it across the “fuel desert” to the Olive Pit side. This time, as advertised, I was able to fill the tank, but it added an extra stop and time was ticking away. The Prius skipped this fillup.
We stopped at the Olive Pit to feed the kids (and I think Kristi bought some stuff too), and by the time we got back rolling, it was almost dark out. It’s only about 120mi from the Olive Pit to Weed (our standard stopover for northbound trips), so I set the cruise control at 75mph and off we went.
We got into Weed around 9:30pm, some 600? miles into the trip (that Yosemite leg added some miles!), and I’ve got about 175 miles in the tank, more than enough to make it into Oregon. I don’t know how much the Prius has, but it hasn’t filled up since Modesto. I’m hoping they can make it to Oregon, too.
The Prius has a 10gal tank (actually 12 I think), but gets about 40mpg (usually I can get it up around 45 without trying too hard, but Kristi usually pulls about 42 I think). The Highlander has a 15-gal tank (actually 17 I think), but only gets around 19mpg with the Rocketbox on. So the Priud cruising range ends up being about 450mi or so, but the Highlander’s range is only about 300mi. Anyway, I’m doing a little experiment to see how many times I have to fill the Prius during the trip. With the Highlander (starting with a full tank), it’s usually one fill in CA, one in OR, and one in WA, and you show up in Clearwater with over 1/2 tank. I am betting the Prius can do it with only 2 stops, maybe have to fill in Aberdeen btu show up in CW with most of a tank. The experiment continues.
We attempted to take a photo of the Highlander as it’s rolling down the road; we’ll see if it turns out. I am hoping to try it again during the long haul tomorrow. I am also hoping to get the bugs from last trip off the windshield sometime before the end of this trip. All hail Oregon and the helpful gas attendants.
The road beckons, but a shower and the bed beckon more at the moment.