Well Traveled Fishing Car

Folks sometimes like to tally of how many states or countries they've visited or something more specific, like the number of states where they have caught a fish. Not long ago, my 12-year-old son Asher wondered aloud how many states our Ford Fiesta has traveled through in the 2 1/2 years since I bought it used. Asher has helped me log a lot of miles in quite a few states in the Fiesta, so it makes sense that he would think about that question.

I tried just tallying in my head, but that got confusing pretty quickly. So I printed a simple map of the states and starting thinking through travels and coloring in states. When I was finished, I had colored in 39 of 50 states. Two of the blank ones, not surprisingly, were Alaska and Hawaii. Also uncolored was Rhode Island, which is one of two states I've never visited. (The other is Hawaii.) The remaining blank states were in clusters it the upper Midwest and the Southwest and included some states where I've spent plenty of time -- just not in the Fiesta. Maybe someday.

I've admittedly been looking at bit at something with 4WD or AWD, more clearance, a bit more space, and a roof better suited for toting a boat for fishing expeditions, so it's hard to say weather the Fiesta will find it's way to those other regions. That said, the practical space it offers for being so small is astounding, it's comfortable to drive, and I sure like that 40 MPG when I'm logging a load of miles.

Thinks it's a Truck

I really debated taking my Expedition on my most recent trek with Asher because I was a bit concerned about clearance with my Fiesta on some logging roads in Maine. I was told that I "should be OK," though, and decided to hope for the best.

Just as it did last summer, carrying us 8008 miles and conquering mountain roads all over the West during the Rebel Trout Trek, and just as it has on so many Southern Appalachian back roads, the little car performed nicely as we added another 3000+ miles to its odometer. It got seriously dirty, threw a few rocks and bumped bottom once on a New Hampshire logging road, but it kept trucking along and never flirted with getting stuck anywhere.

What I like most about my little car, not surprisingly, is its fuel efficiency. At 40 mpg, it's mighty practical for long drives. What impresses me, along with surprising toughness, is how much junk fits in such a small car with a good hatchback design. Much larger sedans and even some small SUVs would carry less or make gear much harder to access.

Asher and I have learned how to pack the Fiesta so the stuff we need the most stays pretty handy. Not that we don't sometimes lose that order in two weeks on the road with too much junk. We do. But it doesn't take long to get it back in place.

There may be a 4WD or AWD need somewhere in the future, but for now we'll let the little car keep pretending it's a truck!

Fiesta Passed the Trek Test

I won't deny that as the Rebel Trout Trek gear amassed on the dining room table I wondered a bit about the decision I'd made to travel in our smallest family car, a 2012 Ford Fiesta hatchback. Beyond what we would pack the night before leaving on our 3 /12-week trip, we would be picking up rods and reels, float tubes and their accessories, and a tent and sleeping bags from Cabela's along the way. The only other option had been my Expedition, though, and based on my estimates, the cost difference in gas would be about $600. Good enough for me.

Having now returned from 8,008 miles of travel, I can say that the Fiesta, which I jokingly call my go-cart from time to time, worked wonderfully. Despite its small overall size, the design is very space efficient, and with the seats down, it actually holds quite a bit of junk. And the front seats are big enough for comfortable travel, especially with a 10-year-old passenger. We had to maintain at least somewhat of a system for placing stuff, but that's not a bad thing when you're toting that much gear, even if you have a bunch of extra space.

The Cabela's folks had put the float tubes and all their accessories in one big soft duffel and the camping gear in another, and we kept them that way, storing them atop or beneath our personal duffels, and that system worked really well. We generally sought to keep waders and stuff like vests and tackle boxes right in the back so they were easy to access from the hatch, and we only kept the two rods and reels that we were using out of the rod tubes most of the time.

I reset the car's MPG calculator before we left, and we got 41 miles per gallon for the total trip. The Fiesta also did fine on some steep, rough dirt roads and had no problem climbing to some pretty high passes. There are quite a few things I would plan differently if I was starting over, but the car I would drive is not one of those things.

Digging My Duffels

As Asher and I were packing the car for our cross-country trek, I was reminded how much I like my XXL Cabela's Ripcord Duffels. I use one for all but my shortest trips, but Asher and I each packed one for this trip. I like these duffels because they hold an enormous amount of clothes and other gear, but unlike other bags I have owned, they have virtually weight of their own, and because they are fully flexible, they really don't take up any more space than whatever gear I tote on any given space. That's extra important for this trip because 3 1/2 weeks of travel and fishing calls for a lot of stuff and because we are traveling in my Ford Fiesta, which though roomy for its size is not exactly a giant car.

I've also owned one of these duffels for three years, and I've never gotten a tear in either or had any problem with zippers, despite extensive use.