2008 Prius in Pennsylvania

I live in cold country, Pennsylvania, it is snowing and 30 degress outside as I write this. I traded in a Toyota Limited Highlander for our Prius, because my wife and I traveled together everyday in a vehicle that would haul 7 people for just the two of us and were getting approximately 20 mpg. I was very hesitant about switching from the Highlander, which I absolutely loved, to the new technology Prius. I listened to all the arguments, how long it was going to take me to make up the difference, how I was going to miss the 4 wheel drive (se still have a Toyota Tacoma 4wd). First the how long its going to take to make up the difference argument. Who cares? When I bought a new car before, I did not sit around trying to figure out if it got one more mile to the gallon more and how long it was going to take to make up a defference, a difference in what? Just because this one gets better mileage then the one I am trading, now I have to calculate how far I will drive before I break even. The 4wd issue is also a non issue, if you really think about it, there are only about 7 or 8 times a year, when the roads are so bad you need 4 wheel drive. After that, they are always plowed and cleaned. If you are driving off road, it would not be in the Highlander I owned, too nice a vehicle to ding it up. So anyway I have it, and have been driving it for about a month now, give or take a week. I am getting right around 47 1/2 mpg. I find I play with the accelerator and watch the instantaneous mileage on the readout screen. I find the car to be a lot more roomy then I thought it would be, and sitting in the back seat I have no problems with leg or head room, especially leg room (5'11"). It is a comfortable riding car, not too rough, not too soft, handles decently. What it is not, is a sports car, so don't buy it because it is small and you think you can play with it. What you can do is seemingly drive forever on a tank of gasoline. I pull into gas it up, and I end up paying less than 20 dollars. In the Highlander my bill was at least double that each time. It is a nice commuting car, and I would not be afraid to drive it from Pa to Arizona where my mother-in-law lives. It is peppy on the highway, and accelerating to pass is not a problem. I drive way too fast, and although I have slowed down some with this car, I find myself still setting the cruise at times above 70 and going. Car behaves well and responds well. I have package number 6 I believe it is. Leather trimmed interior and the nav system. I do think Toyota ( and I have been a Toyota owner since 1989) could have made a deal with Garmin and got a better GPS system then what they have, but it at least works and works fairyly simply. All in all, it is a nice car, it is made to be driven, it is under warranty including "those heavy expensive batteries", and I am saving money, and gasoline.
Just my two cents worth!!