Thanks for the links, there is some good info there. Most of my flying is solo. If I am in a hurry, I am in an RV 6 which is an experimental aircraft with cruise speeds of about 200 mph on 6GPH fuel burn. If I am just going for the enjoyment of the flight, I will be flying low and slow in a 180 hp super cub, which is when it is about the journey and not the destination. Either one of them can be put down without power at pretty low airspeeds, meaning that given a not that big flat spot, if you have to put them down, you can walk away from a forced landing. The operative issues are that its only the hamster in the cage that has quit turning the prop, (the plane is unpowered but still in one piece) and you are not over really rugged terrain, like the mountains, which means it is going to really hurt, since there is no flat place within gliding distance. Hence the less direct route down to Las Vegas and then a dog leg into SoCal... No mountain crossings.