How to get 36mpg summer mileage in your Prius and love it

Chase a cane. Drive 250 miles SE into an increasing east wind. Arrive in Morehead City, NC around dark as the rain and wind really gets cranking. Pick a spot a few blocks from the beach and sit in air conditioned comfort as the wind and rain increase throughout the night often shaking the car quite roughly. Computer, iPad and cell phone kept charged at all times.

At dawn the radar app on the iPad shows the eye just slightly east. Drive slowly around town as the northern eye wall buffets the car. Turn toward the beach to watch the surge come through the first row of houses and flood the beach road. Retreat back to as far east as you can go without being cut off by rising water. Sadly the eye passed slightly east of that position but boy did the wind and rain do their thing.

Being familier with eastern NC and not wanting to get cut off be inland flooding start the return trip immediately after the eye passed. Now a 250 mile return trip NW into a howling north wind. Crossing the US70 bridges in New Bern looked down and could see the waters of the sound racing west to flood New Bern and surrounding areas. Driving around fallen trees and power lines almost all the way to Raleigh the return trip took two hours longer than the drive down.

Result 39 indicated, 36 actual mpg and I couldn't be happier.