Thank You, Friends!

The best parts of this adventure were the family and friends who welcomed me, put me up, and helped out as I drove around the country. Thank you for making this the trip of a lifetime!
Gwen, Kayla and Buddy.

Elaine.

Stephen.

Peets.

Elizabeth, Greg, Max, Rob, and Paul.

Jennifer, Geoffrey and Joey.

Ann.

Marion.

Zanny and Skip.

Jenny and Rob.

Hillary and Liz.

Zanny, Craig and Hillary.

Jake and Martha.

Meg's mom, Matt, Katie, Meg, and Rich (who had the idea for this blog and helped get it started).

Laura.

Sarah and Maya.

Aunt Anne.

Christopher, Andrew, Tom and Soba.

William, Hamilton and Kevin.

Cam.

Kristin and Ned.

Warren & Micheline.

John and Chris.

Jennifer.

Norman.

Leslie.

My parents.

Walter and Amy.

Caroline, who helped take care of some pressing business in New York while I was on the road.

Aunt Esther, who made the introduction to Aunt Anne in L.A.

And Scottie, this blog's most attentive reader!

Statistics

Answer to the quiz at right: I traveled a grand total of 9,827 miles across 29 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario!

Here are a few more trip statistics. If there are any that I don’t include, feel free to comment or send me an e-mail identifying them and I’ll publish them.

Lodging and Visiting

Nights with family and friends: 25

Nights in motels: 14

Least expensive motel (incl. taxes): $39.38 (Grand Inn, Fargo, ND)

Most expensive motel (incl. taxes): $89.27 (El Oso Flojo Lodge, Balmorhea, TX)

Average motel price: probably $60 - $65

Most nights in one state: 6 (WA and CA)

Museums and Sights

Total visited: 40

Car/truck/motorcycle museums: 14

Aircraft museums: 12

Train museums: 2

Other sights: 12

Car Stats

The 2006 Mini Cooper S’s 1.6 litre, 168 h.p. supercharged engine requires premium gasoline. I used the highest octane available (93 or 91 in each instance, I think) on each of the 27 occasions I stopped for gas, and always filled up the tank.

Total gallons of gasoline purchased: 342

Average miles per gallon (my calculation): 28.7

Most expensive gallon of gas: $4.67 (Cambellville, Ontario)

Most expensive gallon (U.S.): $3.85 (Benicia, CA)

Least expensive gallon: $3.14 (Charlotte, NC)

Average price per gallon: $3.45

Longest distance between fill-ups: 453 mi.Average miles per gallon (the Mini computer’s calculation): 29.4

Shortest distance between fill-ups: 295 mi.

Average distance between fill-ups: 365 mi.

Over the Road

Most states in one day: 4 (AL, GA, SC, NC; MD, DE, NJ, NY)

Greatest distance driven in one day: approx. 748 mi. (Fargo – Bozeman)

Tastiest fast-food standard hamburger patty (McD’s, BK, In-n-Out, Hardees): Hardees

Best fries: McDonald’s

Best fast-food vibe: In-n-Out

Most visited roadside chain: Starbucks

Best road trip tool: TomTom GPS device (shown, to the right, at night)

December 15 -- GRAND FINALE

For the first time, on this trip’s last leg, I had a passenger! Leslie is a high-end real estate broker and someone with whom I have a great time doing fun things here in NYC. We first met about ten years ago through friends.
It was cold, clear and sunny when we set out for Amy’s wedding in the Boston area. This is a drive that I must have done more than 100 times over the years.

Many high-flying Manhattanites are collected at their doors in full-size black SUV’s. Happily, Leslie was content to be picked up in a pint-size Mini (photographed to make it look as BIG as possible).

We headed up the West Side Highway past barges and other ship traffic on the Hudson River. Over the Henry Hudson Bridge at the top of Manhattan, through Riverdale and the Bronx, and then up through Westchester on the Saw Mill River Parkway to Rt. 684. From 684, we got on I-84, which took us into Connecticut.

Via Waterbury.

Through Hartford, with Trinity College chapel in the distance and dirty snow on the road.

The last fuel stop of the trip! Northern Connecticut, the ground getting pretty white.

Captured on camera at the wheel for the first (and only) time in almost 10,000 miles, just before arriving at my parents' house, our home base for the wedding.

My parents.

Amy’s wedding took place at the Congregational Church in Concord, MA. It was lovely! In addition, Amy’s new husband Walter is a wonderful guy. Afterwards, the couple had their reception in a beautiful old house at the Lyman Estate in Waltham. Little mushroom toasts to die for.

It was a great time! This is Amy and a bunch of us old college classmates horsing around before an official photo.

The happy couple.


The . . .

Stats Coming Up!

There have been requests for me to divulge the total number of miles I drove on the trip.
I’ll post with some stats, including the total number of miles I drove, in the next 36 hours or so. Any last minute guesses? (Survey at right).