ten billion butterfly sneezes

The first Search For America Tour for 2008 has reached its conclusion. My little bride and I arrived home, happy but tired, yesterday afternoon. We quickly scooped our gear out of our rental Cadillac STS, and headed to the airport to return our beautiful Capitalistic Rental Car. It was an awesome ride, V8 powered so it had some balls, but got an incredible 27 mpg highway.

The biggest mistake I made was choosing the “bring it back empty” fuel option, for a princely $71.00. It cost us $55 at our most costly fill-up, and we left about 100 miles of petrol still in the tank. The bring it back empty option results in some sphincter-tightening moments when you see the LOW FUEL light, and fervently hope that

1. the estimated range provided by the car’s on-board instrumentation is correct;
2. the miles to destination provided by the GPS is correct; and
3. that you haven’t botched up the math in figuring how much gas you need on the next stop.

So next time, we’ll stop by the overpriced Exxon station right by the Avis return.

And, as if to welcome us back home, a Ford Excursion showed considerable reluctance to let us merge onto the Dulles Toll Road on the trip back from the airport. My little bride was driving, and gave the Ford driver a gesture expressing her undying gratitude for his behind-the-wheel courtesy. I trust no diagrams are needed to convey the essence of the gesture.

But the Ford driver actually did us a favor; his self-centered rudeness proved that we are back where we came from, and not with the friendly Midwesterners with whom we spent the last several days.

-k-