Day 5 - Looks Like We Made It

5 days, 5 cities, 844 miles and 1 tank of gas for Dan. Boom...mission accomplished!

After a 4:15am wake-up call in Dallas we were really in no mood to drive the final 250 miles back home to Houston. After a live interview on FOX 4 we went back to the hotel to make sure we rested for Interstate 45.

Ground zero in Big D was City Hall. Mayor Tom Leppert was no where to be found so we took a few pics, talked to a few more reporters and hit the road at 12 noon. Dan was a bit worried about his fuel level as he was showing 2/10 of a tank remaining with a long haul ahead. He must have spent half the night figuring the exact route, mileage, wind speed and elevation to determine that he could reach Houston with a few ounces of gas remaining.

I had promised myself to try using some hypermiling tips on this last leg but the thought of getting home after 5 days, seeing my kids and sleeping in my own bed made my right foot seem a bit heavier than normal. Though my intention was to cruise around 55mph my speedometer kept reading 65mph. Even at this speed I was looking at about 41 MPG.

Though this was the longest stretch of the tour it seemed to go by fast probably because I drive this route most often to visit my family in Dallas. I know exactly where the best stops are to get burgers, Blizzards, jerky, BBQ and gas. If only a stand-alone Stuckey's was still around, I would only have one place to stop (and I still have a hankering for those pecan log rolls).

Throughout the trip my car had more mileage than Dan's because we would use mine to drive reporters around the cities to show them how hybrids operate and how to hypermile. Add to the fact that I was a novice at hypermiling and my gas tank was running dry as we neared Fairfield, about 90 minutes south of Dallas. I almost forgot how to pump gas in a car.

As I was filling up a guy on the other side of the pump was filling up his SUV. He noticed the Prius and asked a few questions about the MPG, cost and comfort. When I told him I just filled up the tank with $43 and that would last me almost another trip around Texas, he almost put a FOR SALE sign in his front windshield. I drove away as he was nearing $90 on his pump.

As I approached the halfway point between the cities in Centerville I checked in with Dan to see if he was still rolling or pushing his car. He sounded a bit nervous but said he was not yet in danger of running out of fuel but he still had 3/4 of the way to go.

Houston is known for many things and traffic is up there with humidity, energy and the Livestock Show and Rodeo. Even though we were heading against traffic, Thursday afternoon rush hour could be brutal. I the timing must have been just right as I sailed straight to downtown to the final stopping point just before 4pm. Not counting the lunch and gas stop I completed the journey in 3:45.

Dan was another story. I called him to tell him I had arrived but he didn't answer his cell phone. I waited. Called again. Waited some more. No answer. I began wondering if he ran out of gas, started walking and got eaten by a bear or something.

About an hour later he finally called me back to say that he was not answering his cell phone so he could fully concentrate on his driving. When Dan has to fully concentrate on his driving I knew he must have been focused on reaching his goal on that one tank. Sure enough he was snaking his way down I-45, hoping to hit traffic of course, while making use of his battery power instead of the gas.

5 hours and 15 minutes after he left Dallas, he pulled up next to me at Discovery Green and jumped out like he landed on the moon. The Prius had landed.


Hybrid Tour of Texas from Michael Garfield on Vimeo.