Let’s see… We finally got around to leaving the house at about 5:00 PM on Thursday April 28. Since I wanted to start with a full tank, we filled up at the Chevron in Melbourne, FL. I’d been up since 5:00 AM, so I only drove until we stopped for dinner at an Arby’s. around 9:00 PM. After that, my wife started driving, and I made my first attempt to get some sleep.
I removed the headrest, and slid the seat all the way forward—which for someone of my size was a difficult task to do while sitting in it. I discovered that Toyota’s definition of ‘flat’ and mine have significant differences. I ended up restoring the seat to normal upright position, re-installing headrest and then reclining about 60 degrees. Slept uncomfortably until we reached the outskirts of Atlanta, GA (497.1 miles, 51.5 mpg, $2.13/gal). Because of the crappy pump, and our haste to leave what looked like a bad neighborhood, I ended up overfilling the tank clean to the neck. Fortunaly there was no spillage.
I took over driving at the Tennessee border, on through Chattanooga where I saw 8 green bars while descending from Lookout Mountain. I drove on through TN, to Kentucky where we swapped again. This time, I again lowered the seat flat, but climbed into the back seat, and was able to sleep relatively comfortably lying across the back, with my legs/feet on the passenger seat. Sort of a stretched out L shape
My wife drove through KY, on into Illinois where we fueled up at a Motomart. (550.1 miles, 52.4 mpg, $2.19/gal). Here we switched again and I drove on into St. Charles MO. There we spent a couple of days driving around doing things…
Early on May 1, we left St. Charles, and headed south. I drove until we fueled up in at a Shell station Arkansas (401.0 miles, 48.6 mpg, $2.07/gal). Jocelyn took over and drove us on into New Orleans. There, we spend a couple more days enjoying Hurricanes and Hand Grenades.
On May 4, we filled up at an Exxon on the way out of NOLA (452.3 miles, 52.8 mpg, $2.08/gal) and drove East on I-10 heading for home. I drove all the way to Lake City, FL where we again fueled up (487.0 miles, 49.2 mpg, $2.39/gal).
From Lake City back to Melbourne, I slept off/on in the L position described above. When we got back to Fla, the MFD read 46.3 mpg and about 200 miles… Not sure why the horrible mileage as we were doing CC at the speed limit the entire trip.
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Overall, I’d have the say the Prius was a comforatable ride even on such a long trip, even for one as tall as me…Though if the back seat was unusable, my story may have been different.
I removed the headrest, and slid the seat all the way forward—which for someone of my size was a difficult task to do while sitting in it. I discovered that Toyota’s definition of ‘flat’ and mine have significant differences. I ended up restoring the seat to normal upright position, re-installing headrest and then reclining about 60 degrees. Slept uncomfortably until we reached the outskirts of Atlanta, GA (497.1 miles, 51.5 mpg, $2.13/gal). Because of the crappy pump, and our haste to leave what looked like a bad neighborhood, I ended up overfilling the tank clean to the neck. Fortunaly there was no spillage.
I took over driving at the Tennessee border, on through Chattanooga where I saw 8 green bars while descending from Lookout Mountain. I drove on through TN, to Kentucky where we swapped again. This time, I again lowered the seat flat, but climbed into the back seat, and was able to sleep relatively comfortably lying across the back, with my legs/feet on the passenger seat. Sort of a stretched out L shape
My wife drove through KY, on into Illinois where we fueled up at a Motomart. (550.1 miles, 52.4 mpg, $2.19/gal). Here we switched again and I drove on into St. Charles MO. There we spent a couple of days driving around doing things…
Early on May 1, we left St. Charles, and headed south. I drove until we fueled up in at a Shell station Arkansas (401.0 miles, 48.6 mpg, $2.07/gal). Jocelyn took over and drove us on into New Orleans. There, we spend a couple more days enjoying Hurricanes and Hand Grenades.
On May 4, we filled up at an Exxon on the way out of NOLA (452.3 miles, 52.8 mpg, $2.08/gal) and drove East on I-10 heading for home. I drove all the way to Lake City, FL where we again fueled up (487.0 miles, 49.2 mpg, $2.39/gal).
From Lake City back to Melbourne, I slept off/on in the L position described above. When we got back to Fla, the MFD read 46.3 mpg and about 200 miles… Not sure why the horrible mileage as we were doing CC at the speed limit the entire trip.
-------------------
Overall, I’d have the say the Prius was a comforatable ride even on such a long trip, even for one as tall as me…Though if the back seat was unusable, my story may have been different.
