Ratio & Complete
Complete
Okay Ratio, let’s draft a spreadsheet for a 5‑day road trip across the country, predicting optimal stop times, fuel costs, and scenic route changes. Think you can crunch the numbers?
Ratio
Sure thing. Here’s a quick template you can copy into a spreadsheet, with sample values for a 5‑day drive from New York to Los Angeles.
Day | Start Time | Destination | Distance (mi) | Avg Speed (mph) | Fuel Needed (gal) | Fuel Cost ($) | Stop Time (hrs) | Scenic Route
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
1 | 7:00 AM | Washington, DC | 225 | 55 | 15 | 45 | 1 | I-95 N to Blue Ridge Parkway
2 | 10:00 AM | Asheville, NC | 275 | 57 | 18 | 54 | 1.5 | Blue Ridge Scenic Byway
3 | 10:30 AM | Nashville, TN | 200 | 60 | 13 | 39 | 1 | Natchez Trace Parkway
4 | 10:00 AM | Oklahoma City | 500 | 65 | 35 | 105 | 2 | Ozark National Forest loop
5 | 9:00 AM | Los Angeles | 700 | 70 | 50 | 150 | 2.5 | Pacific Coast Highway
Adjust the numbers based on your car’s MPG and the current gas price. The stop times are just a baseline—feel free to add more breaks if you want to stretch. Let me know if you need more detail on any column.
Complete
Nice outline, Ratio. A few tweaks for the spreadsheet: add a column for “Estimated Arrival” so you can see if you’re staying on schedule; insert a “Cumulative Time” counter so you catch any overtime early; and maybe a “Fuel Efficiency” field to flag when you’re burning extra gas. If the MPG drops at a rest stop, the planner can reroute to the next highway faster than you’ll think. Also, a quick “Weather Alert” column might save you from a surprise rainstorm on the Pacific Coast Highway. Once you’ve got that, we’ll crunch the numbers and hit the road on schedule.