I have always had pet peeve when travelling with the family, albeit a lighthearted one... it would save so much time if my wife's bladder were as big as the gas tank. But it's not just her, there are children involved too.
Some years ago we took a trip to Marco Island, Florida. We had a wonderful time. My wife had a thing, so she couldn't enjoy the long road trip with me and the boys, so she flew down the next day, holding the baby girl on her lap.
Travelling with the boys was a joy. We would pee, eat, and fill up the tank, then drive five hours, stop, pee, eat, and fill up the tank. Lather, rinse, repeat. If it weren't for the two hour traffic jam near the Georgia border we would have made it halfway through Florida before stopping for the night.
On the way home we didn't even make it out of Georgia before the girls had had enough, and we stopped for the night.
But now, even my bladder has been bested. You may remember that last year I bought a big Ford E-150 van. It replaced a Mazda MPV that got an "OK" 17mpg on the highway with the AC running. Well, yesterday we drove from Indianapolis to Lansing, Michigan and back for my family reunion.
I filled up at the local Marathon station and headed out. Last night I pulled into the same gas station, pulled up to the same pump, and once again filled the tank.
Here are the stats:
500.9 miles, 30.149 gallons, 70 mph with the AC on low, two gas stops (for the vehicles following us), one stop for Subway, and three rest area stops (including one for me).
I have a 35 gallon tank, so I could have gone another 80 miles. My wife gave me a dirty look for suggesting it though, as the gas needle was pointing straight at the red line.
The fraction gurus out there will see 5/3 and deduce that we got 16.6 miles to the gallon. Impressive for a big brick with a 5.4L V8.