The entire trip to Gig Harbor and back (door to door) was over 3,700 miles. Since many of those miles were in the single lane roads in the forests of Gig Harbor, the average MPH of 43 is pretty deceptive. There simply was no option to drive faster than 30-35mph anywhere except state highway 16.
Considering we actually averaged 10.6 mpg with the 6.4 Hemi pulling a loaded 21' trailer through Grants Pass and Mount Shasta ... twice ... is amazing. Once we left Arizona and crossed over into California the gas prices shot up like crazy, sometimes dangerously close to $5.00 a gallon. Despite searching out the cheapest gas prices (along I-5 anyway) and using Costco fuel while on the island, altogether we spent over $1,400 on gas on this trip.
Some things we saw along the way:
- As we drove through Portland, every single off/on ramp, cloverleaf, elevated sound barrier wall, walking bridge ... was covered with homeless humans in camps with tarps, tents, campers, broken down RVs, trailers, and boxes. It was pretty devastating to see so many humans living like this everywhere we looked as we were passing through.
- We saw a bit of homelessness in California, but since we mainly stayed on I-5 heading north we didn't go through any major cities like Portland. We did stop in Lodi, CA at a Pilot gas station we had boondocked at before. We had called ahead to verify they had an open space for our trailer. When we got there we immediately noticed the homeless camp just outside the entrance to the gas station. There were also several decrepit and trash filled cars/vans by the camp with some shady people hanging out. We opted to keep driving and found a rest area where we spent the night.
- The smoke was so bad that we did not even get to see many of the beautiful sights we normally marvel at on this trip. We didn't see any mountain ranges in the distance in California, no Mount Shasta to be seen at all, no Lake Shasta, everything was hazy. It was just weird.
- Oregon still has the rule/law where you can't pump your own gas. I don't understand it. It can't be about employment. We stopped at one gas station in Oregon with about 8 pumps, I stepped out of the truck and told the attendant to please fill up the truck with regular, "sure thing" he says as he swiped my card and punched in the code for a printed receipt ... then he says ... "Feel free to take the hose out and hang it back up when it's done, I'm out here alone today and might not get back to you for a while". Which is exactly what happened when the pump clicked off.
- I rediscovered my fondness for the 99 cent Arizona Ice Teas ... specifically, Green Tea with Honey and the Lemon flavored one (not the Arnold Palmer). One of those giant cans will refill my 30oz travel mug twice with sufficient ice in it !
- Jebus ... the RV Resort was quiet .. and it was AWESOME ! There were a LOT of other RVs on site ... it looked like pretty much every space was occupied. Even if someone left in the morning, the space would be occupied by a new RV/Trailer that afternoon. People were super friendly. We will go there again next time ... although they had just started remodeling the RV park while we were there, and it might be a bit more expensive ... it was well worth it !
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