North Carolina and back, 900 Miles.

The purchase of the new car came at a very opportune time as Karen and I were going to NC to the Loch Norman Scottish Highland games that next weekend. They gave me a full tank of gas and it got 22.8 mpg in mixed driving back and forth to Bessemer to mothers and to the dealership. My interest now was how would it do on a sustained Interstate trip of about 9 hours and 450 miles.

We left early Thursday morning, earliest we have left that I can remember. We stopped on I20 in Anniston and got two sausage biscuits at 10:00 a. m. to sustain us until a possible late lunch the other side of Atlanta. The second stop was a fill up at a Shell station north of Atlanta on I85 but I do not believe I topped off the tank. The Ford manual said "do not overfill the tank" so I stopped when the pump turned off. The mpg figured right at 30 but, the tank was not as full or the gauge was not past the full mark as it was when I filled the first time in Vestavia. So this is not a good number.

We stopped at Harry's on I85 and got 6 bottle of a Sardinian wine we have not been able to find in over 2 years. We bought 2 bottles two years ago and they have been out on repeated stops there? This was a nice surprise. We bought bread, Brie, honey, oh yes, the wine and some other items and it was $134.00 to get out of there. There goes my discretionary money!

We got to mom and dad Clarks about 6:30 p.m. and took in two bags to stay the night. Mom had fixed us a nice dinner and we enjoyed a meatless dinner of homemade macaroni and cheese, a spinach salad, and a shared bottle of the Sardinian Wine, and it was as wonderful as I remembered.

Oh, the car did fine with no glitches or warning lights or unusual sounds coming from under the hood. The next morning I knew we had an hour or so drive to Huntersville, NC, so I filled it up again and got something in the 25, 26 mpg range. I knew that fill up in Atlanta was off some. I imagine we are averaging somewhere close to 28 or 28.5 but that right now is only a guess. I plan to fill up at the same station at the same pump upon returning home to get a true reading on gallons used over the entire 900 miles.

It is interesting how the onboard computer learns your driving style and makes an estimate of how many miles you are going to get on a full tank. I read the manual and the onboard computer is constantly reanalyzing your driving habits and achieve mpg and making a pretty good estimate of what you can expect to get.

Mom and dad were surprised and please we now had dependable transportation now. Kathy and Steve liked the car especially Steve when he sat in the drivers seat and adjusted the electric controls and pedals to fit him exactly. Ah, that new car smell, nothing like it. I am writing my update from the Quality Inn in Hunterville this Sunday morning before Kirk services. Kirk is Church in the Gaelic language many of us Scots use in greeting and salutations.

Friend and family, we are fine and today closes out the 4th day of our 5 day venture. I hope this finds all well./Jeff Nutter, Jr.