Buying a $2,500 Car and Driving It Home 2,000 Miles (Part 2)

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Published April 25, 2024

This is the conclusion to my previous post where I introduced the roadtrip I went on to drive a new-to-me $2,500 2000 Honda Insight with over 190k miles all the way back home 2,000+ miles to MN.

Day 4: Southeast MI to Southwest MI

It was Monday, April 1, 2024.

Kicked off the morning with a walk into downtown Ann Arbor and had an açaí bowl and a crêpe for breakfast. Afterwards, stopped by a local music store to pick up a couple cassette tapes to try in the original factory stereo.

Afterwards, I bid Sadie farewell and began the 2nd leg of the trip solo.

Originally, I was planning on stopping in Kalamazoo as part of a longer route to Grand Rapids. But, unfortunately, Bell’s Brewery wasn’t open so I was far less motivated and opted to go directly to Grand Rapids instead.

The highlight of the evening was picking up a pizza from a local pizza joint which was (wait for it) twenty four inches. That’s over 600mm for the rest of y’all. Thanks to Jacob & Maddi for graciously hosting me. :)

2πr² => over 900 square inches of pie in that box.2πr² => over 900 square inches of pie in that box.

Day 5: Southwest MI to the Upper Peninsula

The next day brought (more) rain. I also rolled over 195,000 on the odometer.

I snaked my way northbound stopping to briefly visit with family and swing by one of my favorite breweries: Beards Brewery in Petoskey, MI. Crossing the Mackinac Bridge was slow going because they had one side closed off and were running escorts (effectively rate-limiting traffic speed) for southbound traffic. The bridge ended up being closed to high-profile vehicles a couple hours after I crossed.

I stopped in Manistique, MI to stay with long-time friends Parker & Liz.

Cruising across the Mac-in-awe.Cruising across the Mac-in-awe.

Day 6: Snow Day

The night before they had preemptively called a snow day so I ended up treating it the same and taking a chill day hanging with friends.

This is Greg, the cat.This is Greg, the cat.

Looking out onto Indian Lake in Manistique, MI.Looking out onto Indian Lake in Manistique, MI.

Day 7: MI to MN

My game plan for today was to take a more scenic route and cut up through the Upper Peninsula to Marquette and then cut across westbound to Superior, WI and take I-35 south into Minneapolis. I started early (for me) and left a bit before 8am. I stopped for a coffee at Manistique’s local coffee shop, The Grind, and had an incredibly delicious (I still think about it as I write this) Salted Caramel Shaken Espresso.

About 90 minutes of easy driving took me west on US-2 and then north on US-41 into Marquette, MI where I stopped at a favorite coffee shop of mine: Contrast Coffee.

Contrast Coffee still rocking Valentine’s Day decor.Contrast Coffee still rocking Valentine’s Day decor.

It was another several hours of driving taking me from US-41 to MI-28 and back to US-2 where I stopped at my next destination: Culver’s in Ashland, WI. The journey through MI and WI really showed off the storm from the previous day. I was glad I opted to take a personal snow day—I probably would not have been able to taken the scenic route otherwise.

Snow-covered trees somewhere in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.Snow-covered trees somewhere in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Parked at the Culver’s in Ashland, WI.Parked at the Culver’s in Ashland, WI.

The final leg of the journey took me into Superior, WI where I detoured around Duluth, MN to take the scenic route full of twists & curves through Jay Cooke State Park. It’s the closest thing to a mountain pass road you’ll find in the area. From there, it was a straight shot down I-35 and eventually I-35W into Minneapolis.

I got unpacked and crunched the final fuel economy numbers:

Final Numbers

Starting mileage: 193,457

Ending mileage: 195,731

Total mileage (end - start): 2,274

I bought fuel 6 times:

  1. VA: 8.567 gallons at $3.599/gallon
  2. NC: 8.038 gallons at $3.399/gallon
  3. KY: 8.031 gallons at $3.279/gallon
  4. MI: 9.046 gallons at $3.559/gallon
  5. MI: 8.332 gallons at $3.679/gallon
  6. MN: 6.943 gallons at $3.149/gallon

The first and last fill ups were to bring the tank back up to full for a baseline. So, when calculating the roadtrip fuel economy I don’t count the initial eight-and-a-half gallons.

Roadtrip mean miles per gallon: 2274 / (8.038 + 8.031 + 9.046 + 8.332 + 6.943) => 56.301 miles per gallon

Slightly under my previously guess of 56.7, but slightly above the lifetime 56.1 vehicle average.

Here’s the total route traveled:

My approximate route, as shown in Google Maps.My approximate route, as shown in Google Maps.

Thumbnail photo credit 129 Photos.

Last modified April 24, 2024  #autos 

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