Numbers

Portland to Big Bear: 1,049 miles.

Driving time: 19 hours 34 minutes.

(I haven’t totalled the gasoline receipts yet)

Highest MPG observed on the way down on the car’s dashboard: 60.4 miles per gallon.

(downhill off Sisikyou pass into California)

Lowest mpg observed: 20.7 mpg, on Tehachipi pass on CA 58, in the High Desert of Southern California.

Highest mpg observed on the return trip: 80+ mpg, for nearly 40 minutes, going the other way on Tehachipi Pass.

I left yesterday morning and drove to Bakersfield – 100.5 miles. I spent an hour and a half there and then turned north.

Note to other drivers: CA 99 is a much better road than Interstate 5. Both run down the San Joaquin Valley, one on the west side of the valley – a former inland sea – and the other on the east side. CA 99 goes through towns and cities whereas I-5 bypasses most everything – it was supposed to be the High Speed route down into SoCal, but the condition of California’s highways reflects the budget problems in that state; the roads, in a word, suck.

I stopped once, going down, in Fresno at a rest area and slept five or six hours in the car. I drove that day until I knew I had to sleep – 740 miles. I stopped twice on the way home: at highway rest stops in Red Bluff and Weed, the first after driving less than six hundred miles.

I had a good visit, and was perhaps a little more tired than when I drove down.

Interestingly, although I drove south into Bakersfield (and got turned around on one-way, high speed roads there) on the way home, the total mileage was twelve miles less than the trip down there.

Total miles driven: 2,086. The GPS says we moved for 37 hours and 52 minutes; the car says a little over 39 hours in engine run time.

Highest speed: 90mph (also the fastest I’ve ever driven my Caliber, which I bought new in 2009). MOST of the time, I drove under the speed limit (70 in Northern California, which means that most people drive even faster. Californians have an earned reputation for speeding and for driving with umm, less consideration for other drivers)

A side note: The Dodge Caliber is a heavy car; for a Compact car, it is surprisingly hefty (not "porky" as some people have written) It is more or less the same type of car as the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe twins, which get better gas mileage… but it outweighs both by 600 pounds. What this means though, is that the Caliber rides securely and surely ALL the time. The 50 – 60 mile an hour wind gusts yesterday through Tehachipi Pass did not affect my car. It rides the same at 90 as it does at 50, tightly, controlled, and solid on it’s wheels.

It was a good drive.

 

 

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