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April 25, 2007

Thanks To The Hybrid: One-Tank Travels

My husband and I used to roadtrip a lot. We hit up much of the Western United States and Canada, always camping, staying with friends, or finding some interesting place to stop. We got a National Park Pass and roamed through just about every National Park and National Monument we went anywhere near. Good times.

We had our favorites, like summer in Yosemite's Tuolomne Meadows and early morning autumn circuits in Yellowstone for the wolves and elk mating displays. Pinnacles National Monument has a great hike through a long cave that requires flashlights, not to mention its a great place to spot California condors. Zion is only a short drive from Las Vegas and much more up our alley than gambling. Olympic National Park has areas that look like the Swiss Alps, and others that remind one of New Zealand in the rainy season. The Canadian parks of the Rockies are especially beautiful, including Montana's Glacier National Park on the border. There really isn't a park we wouldn't go back to again.

Except California gas prices have just about doubled since our roadtripping days in the late 1990's.

Don't get me wrong. I have always thought our gas prices should be more like the rest of the world's. People complain about how fuel is so expensive everywhere else... but it's really about how our gasoline has been so underpriced. Our 5,000 mile trips became cost-prohibitive, not to mention the negative environmental impacts in terms of gas-guzzling for no particularly good reason. Despite the fact that we almost always supported the local businesses in the areas we visited, none of the cars we owned was particularly gas efficient. We moved on to more backpacking and hiking, and less driving. Flying and then traveling locally. Better all around.

When my husband announced he wanted to get a hybrid, I was only tentatively in favor.

Why only tentatively? Well, we had two cars already and so this meant shedding one of our existing cars. At the time, hybrid meant Prius to me, and I really don't like them. I find them uncomfortable and worry that they are more fad like the VW bugs were. I worried about safety, comfort, and options, but I didn't want options I thought frivolous and likely to make for lazy drivers (like the backing up video when you should be doing head checks). We are also planning to have kids soon, so this new car would have to be able to fit more than just the two of us (so no 80+ mpg Honda Insight, unfortunately).

My hubby wanted something comfortable for his commute, but still something that got decent gas mileage. Also, we both are suckers for a powerful car. Shane test-drove them all, and settled on one that met all his needs - the Honda Accord Hybrid. I was moderately horrified that it only came in Automatic transmission, but I admit, I have always been better at multitasking in the car than my husband, so having a free hand is a good thing for him on his 35 mile daily commute. We've had it for a while now, and I still consider it "his" car. I steal it when I plan to drive more than he does on his daily commute, in order to save gas. It's grown on me.

This past weekend, we took our first roadtrip with the car. To call the 1000 mile round-trip long is laughable, given our past treks. The time passed very quickly, even sitting in the back seat to make room for a motion-sickness prone grandmother. We had no complaints from anyone on the 10 hour drive, and I admit it was nice to be driving something comfortable instead of the Jeep Wrangler (our other, functional but not particularly comfortable car). It would have been a perfect trip report had it not been for some unrelated troubles.

The most impressive part, though, was the fact that we made it all the way there, from the Bay Area in central California to central Oregon, on exactly one tank of gas. Costco Regular, to be exact.

I always forget that Oregon gas stations are all Full Service. It's interesting to me that pumping gas is a profession there, offering thousands of jobs. Another benefit is that it results in a lot fewer gas spills at the pump, so it's good for the environment.

Posted by sorsha at April 25, 2007 1:06 PM