The 11th trip south didn’t go according to the plan. The stops in Acworth GA and near Pensacola FL were scrapped in favor of seeing Marlene’s son in Savannah where he was being trained. But even that didn’t go according to plan as we didn’t get to see him.
By the numbers:
- 7 days, 6 nights in 5 hops, 1886 route miles (377 miles per hop).
- 107 extra auto miles, mostly in Front Royal VA where we traveled a long distance to lose money at a casino.
- 54.4 gallons of fuel consumed (36.6 miles per gallon). The actual total was 57.4 gallons, but I subtracted the 3 gallons that I believe I was overcharged by a faulty fuel pump.
- Total fuel cost: $157.83 ($2.90 per gallon).
- 3 nights in hotels, $267.34 ($89.11 per night). That includes about $55 in pet charges.
- No tolls.
Highlights:
- The Luray Caverns. They were spectacular.
- The VRBO farm in Luray VA. Also spectacular.
- Seeing Jett’s sons and grandson.
- Driving a portion of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park again. Always pleasant.
- Mileage in Marlene’s car. Getting over 35 mpg was an unexpected pleasure.
- No car problems.
- Relatively inexpensive gasoline.
Lowlights:
- Being pulled over for speeding in GA. Only a warning, fortunately.
- Failing to connect with Marlene’s son in Savannah GA.
- Some very long days behind the wheel.
Planned and actual routes:
The actual followed the plan down to VA but then diverged rather dramatically. Stops in Acworth GA and near Pensacola were replaced by a stop in Savannah GA. My desire to avoid Atlanta resulted in a lot of zig-zagging through GA.