OXWest-17 in a rental Sportsmobile

Scoutman

Explorer
This was our last full day of our trip. After leaving Bryce Canon NP we were to meander and explore our way back to Denver for our return flight home. We took our time and made frequent stops where we could.

South of Antimony.
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Koosharem, UT-- Grass Valley General Store.
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Taking dirt roads where we could. This was a 'shortcut' somewhere around Fish Lake, UT.
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Scoutman

Explorer
So all this driving uses a lot of fuel right? Our plan as we left Whipup, UT was to hit the interstate and fuel up there. Back home in the South, it seems that there are fuel stations and truck stops at almost every exit along the interstate so we didn't think much about it here. When we hit I-70 there was nothing but dirt so we kept on driving figuring there would be something soon. We passed a sign that said no services for the next 50 miles (or something like that). We had no cell reception to even find our next stop and our situation really sank in as the low fuel light came on in the Sportsmobile. I flipped the display to miles-to-empty and it was significantly less than the sign we had just passed for mileage to Grass Valley. I looked at my passenger and asked, 'how far was that next town again'?

Our discussions then turned to...
-is there fuel in the Rotopax? (we hadn't had a need to check till now)
-do we check the Rotopax now or just drive till we have to check?
-how off do you figure this gauge is?
-this rig has an aftermarket fuel tank, does the van know that?
-will shutting the AC off help our fuel economy?
-who gets to hike to town?
-how far will we need to hike to get a cell signal?

Heading east also meant that we were headed up and over some pretty significant elevation which just made our miles to empty go down that much quicker. Once at the crest of the range, I coasted as long as I could trying to conserve fuel. It was a tense section of the trip. We had been riding on zero for about 12 miles but eventually rolled into civilization and the go-juice our van was so thirsty for. I was able to fit 40.3 gallons and at the time assumed the tank held 40. I'm still not sure how much it held. Some searches online say that Sportsmobile used a 46 gallon transferflow tank which if that's the case all this worrying was for nothing.

When driving the red needle was below the E line with a gap, sitting in the fuel station it settled back up above the line.
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Nothing pisses me off more at a fuel pump than getting shut off before the tank is full! To see how much we could pack in our starving tank I started another pump and they totaled over 40 gallons. IMG_20170516_153356455 (Large).jpgIMG_20170516_153543037 (Large).jpg
 

Scoutman

Explorer
After that was all over it was pretty uneventful pounding of miles back to Denver. We were going to camp at some friends place, get showers, eat whatever food we had remaining for dinner, and get completely repacked for an early morning flight. It had been a really long day and we were all exhausted.

Morning came all too quickly but our shuttle to the airport was on their way and we had to get moving. We got the van all cleaned and straightened up and our bags packed. It had been an amazing trip but as we all agreed we needed more time next time. We loved getting to know our friends more and getting the opportunity to help them out at the expo. We'd do it again in a heartbeat and can't wait for our next adventure.

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I want to give a big shout out to Adventure Travel Sports Rentals. If you're ever looking for a rental rig in the Denver (Golden, CO) area, look them up and give Gaylord or Matt a call. They're expanding their line up of rigs as they grow so there should be a rig to suit your next overlanding trip.

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Thanks for reading!
 

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