Quarter tank? No problem.

There's this little familiar orange light on the dashboard of my car.  It starts out as a little glimmer, and brightens into an almost glaring "You're about to run out of gas!"

It seems that nearly every time I drive from College Place to home, in Yakima, I have about a quarter of a tank.  Which is about exactly how much fuel it takes to get home.  I don't know how it always works out that way, but it does.  And my thought process goes something like this: Well, gas is way cheaper in Yakima, and I'd really rather not take the time to put in like 2 gallons of gas, so.... I think I can make it.

Today as I drove down Whitman and turned onto College Ave, I looked at the gas gauge. Oh. Quarter tank?  Whatever, I can make it.  It's not windy and I don't have a bike rack on top of the car.  I'll be fine.

I've only actually run out of gas once.  It was Thanksgiving of my freshman year, and after sputtering around the last two corners of my driveway, the car used up the last drop of gas as I coasted into my driveway.  Couldn't have been more perfect!  As I put the car in park and my brother came out of the house, I was cheering and yelling in my car.  My brother thinks I'm crazy to this day.

The next year at Thanksgiving, while headed home from college, I tried to make it home but only made it to the first gas station in Yakima as my car started sputtering on the freeway.

I've come up with a system.  When my fuel light comes on, I actually still have ~2.2 gal of gas left in the tank.  Figure in my gas mileage and how many miles left until my destination - I know whether or not I'm going to make it.  Roughly.  But I've done that so many times, I've gotten pretty confident...and today, I didn't even calculate it.

I was passing though the smelly cow plantations of Sunnyside when the fuel light came on.  Oh psssh! No problem!  It's not even going to be a close call!  

5 miles away from home.  OK, this is getting close.  I'm not sure if I'm going to make it.....Ah! No! Not a red light, I'm going to have to accelerate all the way back up to 60 from a stop? No!  I turned down my music so I could listen to my car.  I slowly, and successfully, accelerated from the stop light. Three minutes later, I turned off the highway, and the car didn't sputter.  (I have to admit, at this point, I was close enough to home...and I WANTED to see if I could run out of gas just as I pulled into my driveway again!  I don't know if this is bad for the car...but it's not a diesel, so...?  I accelerated really fast, took all the corners really fast...)  As I turned into my driveway, it sputtered, but came back to life.  Again on the second corner, it sputtered but came back to life and I parked my still-running car.

Success or no?  I made it home, which was my goal.  But I didn't time it quite perfectly this time.  haha Oh well.  I don't know if anyone else really enjoys running so close to empty, never really knowing if you're quite going to make it.  I love it!  It's kind of an adrenaline rush in its own little way.

Quarter tank?  Whatever, I can make it - I'm invincible!