Such a badass trip report !
You need to write a book.
Thank you sir ... and reckon this here is my book. I follow the advice of Hemmingway when it comes to writin' ... write drunk and edit sober. So I write all this shit when I'm drunk in the evenin's and then proofread, edit, and post it up in the mornin'.
Thank you sir.
Hows the Jeep been treating ya? Still got the spare plugs and coils?
Most excellent sir. Y'all know I don't carry spare parts with me and I was seriously concerned that changin' that might jinx me. But all is good and I can return them now.
Meanwhile ... Y’all knew this was comin’ …
Then stopped at the gas station ‘cross the street to refill the gas and beer. Spent a painful amount of time tryin’ to scrape at least half the fuckin’ varmits off my windshield.
Reckon it was ‘bout mid-mornin’ when I pulled over here to pop open the days’ first beer.
And that’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks ...
I do love passin’ folks on the 2-lanes. I find the level of acceleration and handlin’ this rig’s got to be intensely satisfyin’. But that’s just gonna make the trip end sooner. I don’t want that. Not at all. So back on the road and didn’t pass nary another soul. Barely even ran the speed limit most of the time. Just easin’ along drinkin’ some beer. Enjoyin' yet another glorious weather day of blue skies and sunshine.
But despite my final efforts, the trip did end. Am I happy ‘bout it? No. No. And fuck no.
The problem is … “I Was Born ‘Neath a Wanderin’ Star”
[Editor’s Note: A song sung superbly by Lee Marvin in the musical-comedy-western movie titled “Paint Your Wagon”. Hands down, best movie ever made. Google it.]
I swear … if’n by some fuckin’ miracle I actu’ly live long enough to retire … all I wanna do is drive ‘round and drink beer. But I’m gonna have my own bed. Ain’t much on hotels.
Some summary items …
Covered 2,695.3 miles of back-country roads in 6 days. Tires never touched an interstate highway. 5 days on the road, 1 day on the rocks. In my opinion, the jeep did really good on all of ‘em.
Done bought 247 gallons of premium fuel. One station had 91 octane premium, all the rest had 93. So that means I averaged 10.9 mpg for the trip. High tank clocked at 12.6 mpg and the low tank was 8.6 mpg. This tank involved playin’ on the rocks.
Spent a total of $1,162.72 for the gas. So that means the average for the premium fuel was $4.71 a gallon. Highest was $5.20 in Grove Hill, AL and the lowest was $4.50 in Leesville, LA.
And drank LOTS of beer.
Issues that need to be addressed:
Windshield is now cracked most the way across. Gonna have to replace.
Developed a small oil drip somewheres on the engine. I hate oil drips. Gotta get located and fixed.
New throttle cable is phenomenal on the rocks. Instant throttle ‘on’. But the subsequent throttle ‘off’ isn’t quite instant. That’s in the tune and we thought mite have to tweak. We do.
Some kind of tune issue right at 1500 rpm. Can drive at no throttle at 1000 rpm. Can drive at some throttle at 1800 rpm. Just can’t quite get it to run steady with just a bit of throttle at 1500 rpm. No spittin’ and sputterin’ like before but just can’t get it to hold there. Strange.
Windshield light bar quit workin’. Again.
And of course … still need to fix the stereo.
Considerin’ all I been thru with this damned thang in the last 7 years, I consider these to be minor issues. A hugely successful trip that I tremendously enjoyed.
THE END. (Of the trip report)
