Hi All,
Just returned from an extended winter trip (in my 84 faux-Westie with an
inline 4 cabriolet motor conversion) to the desert southwest.  I kept track
of the mileage and gas costs on my return leg and though it might be of
interest.  The brown 'topless' camper was pretty loaded, weighing in at
about 5200lbs on a truck scale.  I had aboard all my cycle gear and a full
carpenter's day job tool collection, plus camping gear for an extended
outing and two cycles mounted on a Yakima rack attached to the rear hatch
out of the wind, mostly.

  The miles traveled on the return leg:  1155, from near the Salton Sea
below Palm Springs, Ca.  via Hwy 395 along the east slope of the Sierra's
and the Cascades to near Hood River, Oregon, east of Portland.  Many
mountain passes, pretty windy and some heavy snow flurries out in eastern
Oregon in the middle of the night.  The trip took about 20 hours of driving
time.  I stopped and slept southeast of Bend, Or. for a few hours, but with
all the gear and tools inside,  I was not able to really get too
comfortable.
  I spent $178 on gas, used 49.2 gallons at an average $3.63 per gallon.  My
mile per gallon fuel consumption figures at 23.4.  I tried to keep my speed
to about 65mph average, thinking to keep my fuel consumption down.
Considering the load and the windy mountainous route, I was happy with 23+
mpg.
  No problems on the trip other than needing a clutch slave during my stay
in California..Now I'll be needing a brake master because during the
bleeding for the new slave, my helper was putting "everything" into pumping
the BRAKE pedal while I was trying to bleed the CLUTCH slave....Doh!  And
she is a very strong-legged bicycle racer type, mashing down +hard+ on the
brake, without it going down...until it did!  But I still was getting no
fluid from the slave bleed screw...Until I crawled out and pushed the clutch
to feel it for myself, and she said..."Oh, I was pushing the OTHER
pedal"...Doh!  I think the MC might have some deformed seals now as it felt
a bit "fadey" on hard stops..
  I had some 14" Hekapolita(sp?) snow tires on the rear, thank goodness, and
they worked great during my midnight encounter with very crappy snow
driving..
  All in all, a very pleasant trip.  The Vanagon again proves it's
versatility.  I hate to think what I might have spent driving my Ford diesel
and pulling my utility trailer..Diesel was usually over $4 per gallon and
that truck with a load gets about 11mpg..
  Don Hanson