We left the casino parking lot at about 8am and filled up with gas at $4.39 per gallon, our highest yet. We took on 28 gallons of gas which brought our average mileage for yesterday to a whopping 5.7 mpg. This was awful. We have now done everything we can to improve mileage – the latest being replacing our cheap clogged up mufflers and pipes – and our mileage went down!

Today was a lot cooler. It was 82 degrees when we left the parking lot and it got to maybe 85 or so going down I-10 but it pretty quickly started dropping. The closer we got to the coast the cooler it got. The lowest we saw was 60 driving up along the ocean around Pismo Beach.

Of course “she” ran much better today and I couldn’t see the gas gauge moving like I could yesterday. Our only fill-up today was for 32 gallons at about $4.29 but the mileage was up to 7.6. I am not counting my chickens yet because the mileage for each tank can vary a lot because of tank venting issues (at least one pinched vent line) but the gas gauge was almost visibly moving yesterday – really.

I have a theory that now that we have fixed the exhaust system the next item to address is the air intake. The cooler air today made a huge difference in performance – no surprise to some – and I am thinking that hot fuel (actually boiling) combined with hot intake air was a bad combination yesterday. I will have to think about this.

We pulled into King City, Calif. at about 4:30 without a single hiccup today. We checked into San Lorenzo County Park – a favorite since being introduced to it by our GMCWS rally last Spring. The nicest spot we could find was close to a 1967 Dodge Travco motorhome that reminds people of a GMC. They are a very small group compared to the GMC. See it in the photos below.

The Travco is owned by a young couple Gary and Liz with a one-year old daughter Julie from Ventura, Calif. He is a mechanical engineer with a job but his hobby is being a mechanic.

The engine in the Travco is one that has not been made since the late 70s and was designed for farm equipment and trucks. Gary rebuilt the engine and has driven it many times over short distances. This trip was two days into a planned two week trip but, just as they got to King City his engine started making lots of noise so he limped into this county park. That was yesterday. He got a lot done since then but the local tow operator wants $1800 to tow him to Ventura. We have called our friend, former employee, and new owner of Artistic HangUps, Carla to see if she can find anyone with a tow truck in Salinas which is only 40 miles away. We are hoping we can help them. We’ll let you know tomorrow.