I just drove 2300 miles on a band tour through the southwest. Because this was our first, as a group, we did the tour on a shoestring budget, and planned to learn how to extend our range profitably on future tours. We paid pretty high gas prices throughout, and hauling three people and gear got us about 18 miles to the gallon. Our biggest single expense for the trip was gasoline. While we spent more for fuel on this trip then we would have last year, it was still affordable and fit within the budget.

Throughout the trip we marveled at the beauty of the American southwest; the desert of West TX and AZ, the mountains and pine forests of NM, the rolling fields of the TX panhandle. Just about everywhere there were oil rigs; some idle, some quietly pumping. All fit as naturally into the landscape as the farm equipment and roadside Indian Reservation shops.