For the day after Thanksgiving, we wanted to get out of town for a bit. There is a small town called Ponchatoula, yes, of the world-renowned Strawberry Festival, about 75 minutes' drive by Interstate. We hadn't been there for a couple of years, and I really haven't given the Buick LaCrosse a good run in a while (hot weather plus the Severe Cold hysteria). So I made sure the tires were properly aired, and off we went.
The Buick performed superbly. Not all the interstate surfaces are good -- there are smooth stretches, oddly enough, in town; but when we turned north onto I-55, the elevated portion, it's not smooth, and there was road noise. But I set the cruise control (a very intuitive-to-use unit, the same used on my Regal, and the same control layout as my BMW had) for 72, and off we went, windows shut and A/C working comfortably. (It hit a humid 82 degrees yesterday -- in almost December. Gah.)
I stuck to the right lane, as I was in no hurry, and everybody and his brother zoomed past me as if they were going to get free gas or food at their destinations. Occasionally I had to zip around someone who was going well under 70, the speed limit, and back into the right lane, and the Buick shot up to nearly 80 with the sensation of controlled flight.
Not much was open. We had lunch at a cafe there; Linda bought some duck pellets to distribute to the ducks in the parks here; and we flew back home averaging 70. The average fuel mileage was a hair over 26 . . . which includes commuting and short runs since I gassed up on 11/16, and is respectable for a big car with two people in it and running the A/C as we went.
Perhaps the Gulf Coast would be a good destination after Christmas!
The Buick performed superbly. Not all the interstate surfaces are good -- there are smooth stretches, oddly enough, in town; but when we turned north onto I-55, the elevated portion, it's not smooth, and there was road noise. But I set the cruise control (a very intuitive-to-use unit, the same used on my Regal, and the same control layout as my BMW had) for 72, and off we went, windows shut and A/C working comfortably. (It hit a humid 82 degrees yesterday -- in almost December. Gah.)
I stuck to the right lane, as I was in no hurry, and everybody and his brother zoomed past me as if they were going to get free gas or food at their destinations. Occasionally I had to zip around someone who was going well under 70, the speed limit, and back into the right lane, and the Buick shot up to nearly 80 with the sensation of controlled flight.
Not much was open. We had lunch at a cafe there; Linda bought some duck pellets to distribute to the ducks in the parks here; and we flew back home averaging 70. The average fuel mileage was a hair over 26 . . . which includes commuting and short runs since I gassed up on 11/16, and is respectable for a big car with two people in it and running the A/C as we went.
Perhaps the Gulf Coast would be a good destination after Christmas!