The continuing adventures...

So far so very good on this spring break adventure. I am absolutely loving my smart car -- have traveled over 400 miles so far and have been achieving excellent mileage. I'm saving the gas receipts and keeping track of the miles so I can give out a final total at trip's end. I will say that driving route 6 through the parks, mountains and charming old towns and villages got me the best mileage yet. At a top speed of 55, going through high winds and some snow flurries, then on into brighter and warmer weather, the smart was shifting for the best mileage and certainly got it. For that stretch of the highway, we managed 334.9 miles on 6.557 gallons of premium (93). That's 51.07 mpg! Wow!

Of course, the true smart enthusiasts will caution that mpgs must be measured over time for a true average. I think the new gps system helped with the mileage. It made me constantly aware of the posted speed limits as I drove into and out of towns and along the way, all the while informing me of my actual speed. I found that I was always working to achieve the posted limit and not go past it. Oddly enough, the only other smart car I have seen along this journey suddenly appeared in my rearview mirror on old route 6.

The car did great through the Endless Mountains (sounds like a place in Middle Earth) and on up to Albany and Troy, where I stopped to stay with my good friend Ron, an actor with New York State Theatre Institute. Then yesterday afternoon, I drove down a beautiful highway on the eastern side of the Hudson to NYC and on to Brooklyn. From totally rural to the most intense urban streets in this country!

Tonight I'm off to see the Dred Scott Trio at the Blue Note. Two shows, one at 8 and one at 10:30 PM. I've been a fan of Dred's music since the good old days of Third Plane at the Bauhaus in Akron. Have been looking forward to this night for weeks now! More later -- gotta go have some great jazz!