About the Prius Hybrid (17hrs on the road)

9/26/11

Today we drove 1000 miles from Grand Teton to Redwood National Park.  We left at 5:30am and arrived at 11:00 pm. It took us 17:30 hrs to get here.  We passed Idaho and  Oregon  before arriving to Cali. Idaho was uneventfully, although when passing by, we recalled Napoleon Dynamite which was mostly
filmed there in 2003. Oregon was unexpectedly dry but had a beautiful mountain range.

What you do when you can't shower

For this post we decided to talk about the Prius Hybrid.

We are really pleased with the Prius hybrid. To the people who suggested the car was not going to be adequate in space and power we are sorry to disappoint.

A hybrid car has 2 power sources,
1. the gas engine+gas tank
And
2.  the electric motor+battery

The gas powers the gas engine and the battery powers the electric motor. Both electric motor and gas engine are able to turn the transmission on, at the same time or individually in a -parallel hybrid- which is the Prius design. This allows flexibility for the Prius to either perform as an only electric, only gas or Eco mode. Eco mode uses both at the same time. 

The way the Prius saves money is partly by having a smaller engine compare to gas cars. These engines have smaller parts, are lighter and only hold 10 gallons. Since the -turning on - of the transmission is shared the car uses less gas. 

The battery of the Prius is also different to a normal gas car. These batteries have been design to have a dual job. One is to serve as a generator to power itself and the other to turn on the electric motor.

The way the Prius leaves a smaller carbon footprint is by using less gas, therefore is green and good for the environment. 

We rented the car for a month, a longer rental would fall into a lease contract and be much more expensive.  Renting cost 1,000 for the month and 0.10 cents after 4k miles. Our trip will be around 8,000 miles so you do the math. 

So far we have gone  2724 miles at an average of 45.2 mpg. Therefore we have used  60 gallons of  gas which at a $3.60 rate would be around 216 dollars payed in gas. We expect our average milage will change as we drive, for example, on the parks we go at a optimal fuel efficiency rate of 55mph which pumps the average mpg up. In the highways where you can go more than 85 miles or so the mpg goes down at about ~33 which is still better than 20, the mpg our Grand Vitara gives. If we had driven the GV we would have spent $490 so far.

I'm going to describe some features of the car that are cool and practical.

Keyless ignition
You just have to push the button and have the sensor "key" on you. It took some getting used too and sometimes we still leave the car on because it does not make the traditional on/off sound of a only gas car.

Effortless gear shift (automatic)
The gear shift does not require any force to move and does not require to be kept at a certain position. Instead you shift it and it immediately bounces back to main position. When in reverse it makes a noise like if you were backing a huge truck a feature Paul dislike.

Well thought layout
Although the car is small the layout inside is really comfortable. Look at pictures.

In addition, it comes with satellite radio which pleases my husband.

2nd day at Yellowstone

9/23/11

We started today with a hike at Yellowstone River Picnic area. The hike was a 4 mile loop that took us along a  ledge that overlooked the river about 5 to 8 hundred feet below. There were some really spectacular views. We saw a buffalo from a large distance but otherwise did not see much wildlife.

After the hike we spent a while trying to find a campground with space and finally decided on a place outside of the north entrance of the park located in Montana.

After setting up camp, we returned to the park to explore the swimmable hot springs at Boiling River. Here there is a remarkable site where people can bath in the hot tub like conditions where the scalding geothermal water mixes with the frigid river water.

While we were in the park, we also went through Mammoth Springs which is sort of like a small town on the northern edge of Yellowstone. At this time of year, the elk are in their rut and they descend upon Mammoth Springs to gather. Apparently within the town they are out of the reach of predators such as wolves. As we were passing through, we saw a magnificent bull following a cow through the middle of the town. It was a very bizarre scene.

At camp site we met a Harvard trained particle physicist turn journalist for NPR. He could not get his stove to work so we offered our fire.

Badlands (SD) to Mount Rushmore to Bighorn Forest (WY)

9/21/11

Today we woke up at the foot hills of the Badlands. We arrived at 2am of the 21st. It was pitch black therefore we could not see the landscape. We could only see what the long lights allowed us, which looked like formations you see on the moon. We quickly set up camp and went to bed, the temperature was in the 40's F. In the morning we were looking forward to see were we where and we woke up to the pictures you see above.

Next we decided to go and see Mount Rushmore in our way to Yellowstone. We learned Borglum was the artist behind the project. Learning about the sculptor allowed us to see this not only as a monument but also a piece of art.

We arrived to Wyoming and decided to camp in Bighorn Forest

Road US 14 took us to Bighorn Forest which is half way between Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone. This route is by far the more scenic road on the trip. We were in such awe that we forgot to take a picture. Luckily we found a great campground there. Unfortunately the weather was below 30 degrees F so we had to seriously bundled up for sleeping. We were at 8,000 feet of altitute which explained the beautiful scenery and the low temperatures. This allowed Paul to try his new scoth flask he got as gift at Cooney's wedding.