The Trip: Counting What Counts
“Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.”
Albert Einstein
So, here are the counts, none-the-less, for the “counters” among us.
Number of states traveled through: 26
Total Miles: 9,888
Longest mileage day: 593 miles on Friday, 4 August
Shortest mileage day: 106 miles on Sunday, 13 August
Total days: 33
Cost of gas (premium – 91 – 93 octane):
Lowest at $3.19 in Gillette, South Dakota with the highest in $3.79 in San Jose, CA
Number of gallons of gas: 519
Quarts of oil: 5 plus one oil change with 5 quarts of 5W – 50 Castrol
Pints of Tranny fluid: 1
Repairs & parts: Brake cylinders (2) and drum set (1)
Number of times putting the fan belt back on: 11 (only one “hot” throw on the highway)
Fan belts used (in addition to the one on at start); 2 – I got fed up with the fan belt that was stored “coiled-up” and swapped it out for the “flat-stored” fan belt. Think that Bill, Bob Helt, and others are right about this.
Whale-washings: 2 – Carthage, MO and Renton, WA – Vince
Pictures taken: over 1,000
Loads of laundry: 2 – at Joplin, MO; 5 at Pleasanton, CA; 1 at Vinnys; 4 at Wauconda, IL
Jars of peanut butter: only 1 medium-sized
Granola bars for M: at least 2 dozen
Bags of peanut M&Ms: 1 extra large and 2 medium
Bottles of water: lost count
Overnights at hotels: 8
(On two nights M stayed at hotel while K stayed with brother, John)
Some hotel nights were planned, others unplanned.
Overnights at campgrounds: 16
(Spent 5 nights at Air Force Bases and 1 at Navy base at Port Hueneme)
Overnights with family/friends: 7
Bed & Breakfast: 2
Highest altitude: 9,033 at Granite Pass, WY
Lowest altitude: 0 sea level at California beach
States with the most dead bugs on the windscreen: Missouri and Minnesota
Most useless item: Plug-in “cooler”
Most valuable items: large screwdriver for fan belt fix and the plain-old cooler with ice
Tolls: Total of $13.90
[$3.00 – CA Bay Area for a bridge; 30cents – OK (ask Katherine); $4.00 roundtrip to Larry Claypool’s in Frankfort, IL; $3.20 getting out of IL; $3.70 – NY]
Unused items:
Two fold-up chairs; half of the food locker; VW melamine dishware (not microwavable); portable potty and six rolls of TP (Katherine was happy about this); VW tow bar (thank goodness); reserve gas (5 gallons on top of the Whale); fix-a-flat (3 cans); octane boost (never got below 91 octane); emergency roadside kit; numerous ‘vair and VW car parts and pieces including 3 extra fan belts!
And the “Master Card-like” perspective:
The trip:
33 days
9,888 miles
519 gallons of gas
$13.90 in tolls
The journey:
Priceless