On the way down to Phoenix I was in a hurry. I didn’t speed much, because after losing my job and my mom going to hospital I didn’t need another problem. Still, I only averaged about 18 mpg in the Cherokee. I’d tried to remove the roof rack the morning I left; but it was cold, dark and wet and I couldn’t open two of the locks. It’s a Yakima rack with two pairs of pads for the kayak.
On Sunday I managed to get the locks open and the roof rack removed and stowed in the boot. (Or whatever you call the rear area of a hatchback.) The Jeep was filthy with PNW grime. (The dirty spray from the wet roads really makes a mess.) I took it down to a car wash for a wash and wax. They ran it through the washer twice. I’d have preferred to have had it Simonized (or their equivalent), but that was $90 and I can’t spend that much right now. They used a hand-applied liquid wax. I generally obeyed the speed limit, though I did boost it to 75 in a couple of 55 mph and many 65 mph zones. In those places where I was ‘doing the speed limit’, I boosted my speed to two or three mph over figuring I could claim ‘speedometer inaccuracy’ if I happened to be pulled over. (I do think it reads a little slow.) I used cruise control.
I managed over 21 mpg per tank on the way up, and the last two tanks (Albany, OR to Burlington, WA; and Burlington to home) averaged 23 mpg. Not bad for an un-aerodynamic vehicle like a Jeep.
