Art & Travel - Tesla model 3 road trip final blog with all entries chronologically ordered and with the final statistics

 #travelblogger #Tesla #roadtrip #yellowstone #adventure #artistsoninstagram #teslamodel3 #art&travel #artlife #journeytothewest

We were amazed how much STUFF fit in the Tesla model 3 at the end of the trip

Final statistics of our road trip that took us from Minneapolis to Livingston MT, Yellowstone, Jackson WY, Sandpoint ID, Seattle WA, Manzanita OR, Redwood NP CA, Monterey CA, Salt Lake City UT, Boulder CO, and back to Minneapolis:
Total Miles driven - 5889 miles
Total energy used - 1494 Wh
Average energy usage - 254 Wh per mile (We ran 6 A, 12 VDC electric cooler and air conditioning all the time and drove with an usual speed of 80-90 mph on the freeways)
Total energy cost - $198 ( we used Tesla superchargers only except 14 Wh scavenged from wall plugs over two nights)
Energy cost per mile - 3.4 cents/mile
Comparing to a normal car like our Hybrid Toyota Camry with 40 miles/gallon and assuming average cost of gas at $3 per gallon
Equivalent gasoline cost $442 or 7.5 cents/mile

Tesla travelers don’t miss out! Margaritas Family Mexican Restaurant next to the supercharger in Ogallala (4.5 trip advisor) is good enough to plan your trip around. Seafood soup and ceviche were #fresh and delicious (how do they do it in the middle of Nebraska?) uplifting decor, attentive staff ( FIFA World Cup on the TV at our request )real amigos for foodies. #gourmetfood #roadtrip

Sunday morning in Salt Lake

Saturday night in Salt Lake City. Dinner at the Red Iguana is definately worth the wait! Their killer Mexican food is an imperative during Andrzej’s family ski trips.#rediguana #travelblogger#artistsoninstagram #teslaroadtrip#sallakecityutah

Laramie, WY. Move over Deborah Butterfield? A western diorama two blocks from the Tesla charging station. #teslaroadtrip @laramie #artistsoninstagram

Storm clouds accompanied us as we skirted the Medicine Bow Range on Hwy 287 between Laramie, WY and Boulder, CO. No Superchargers here!

After meeting Elaine, Peter and their red Tesla “S” at 3 different Superchargers in Wyoming we invited them to take a closer look at Tessie. Elaine wanted door pockets and garment hooks. They both thought a smaller car would suit their needs. Now they want to trade their S in for a 3! 

The only aftermarket decoration on a Tesla we saw in the course of our 5500 mile, 14 state drive was on a lonely stretch of road in Wendover, Nevada - not far from a facility run by the Department of Corrections.

Our friend Bill whose family’s been in Watsonville, the heart of California’s farming community for over a century, said that migrant labor was a key factor for the success of this industry. The trouble started when the JF Kennedy government shut down the practice of transporting and housing seasonal workers each year. According to Bill the present crack down on illegal immigrants puts pressure on the farm economy and increases the abuse of migrant workers. In Víctor, Idaho we tried an Airbnb and were welcomed into the luxurious suburban home of a couple, both of whom began the American chapter of their lives picking strawberries in Watsonville. #travelblogger #artistsoninstagram #airbnb#watsonville #victoridaho #teslatravel

Pacific Grove & Monterey, CA , the western-most points on our Tesla trial journey, where we unraveled the curves on the iconic 17-mile drive, checking out Chill & Sport mode as we drove. Later we lingered on Napenthe Beach enjoying sea life, surfers and frolicking dogs before turning into our little cottage at the Sunset Inn. We awakened to foghorns in the morning, charged up Tessie and drove inland and north out of the fog through the rolling fields of strawberries and walnut groves around Watsonville #teslatrip #teslamodel3#artistsoninstagram #travelblogger#travelersnotebook #montereycalifornia#pacificgroveca #watsonvillecalifornia

Delightful & delicious: Mr Fish in Eureka supplied our campsite in the redwoods with carmelized smoked salmon. The owners extensive collection of piscine prints and mobiles, nets and fishing floats made for good photo opportunities and even better conversation

Tiny Ferndale, early bastion of the counter culture in Northern CA - has Victorian architecture and annual amphibious Kinetic Sculpture Race that draws enough tourists to entitle them to an EV charger - the first we saw. #teslatravel#ferndalecalifornia #travelblogger#electricvehicle #adventure #artandstyle#arttraveller

More musing on Tesla 3 problems
Tesla navigation software has problems :  - When driving south from Sandpoint ID we were asked to exit the highway with no reason and then routed back into the highway in the opposite direction. Eventually we were told to make an u-turn. As we approached the same exit the navigation system asked us to repeat the same "closed infinite loop".  On other occasions several times when driving through small towns the navigation system directed us off the main road into a town road. I learned to just follow the main highway as marked on the navigation map and not pay any attention tothe minute navigation direction.

Tesla navigation doesn’t estimate time of arrival by time zone as we found when driving from Jackson WY to Sandpoint ID

Tesla lights didn’t turn on at dusk and we had to do it manually  -  driving without  lights may be very dangerous as we found out on a road where both deer and driver fatalities were obviously because of teh car and deer carcasses.

There is a practical problem with the Tesla software route planning with the recharging stops and charging times selected automatically. Presently the battery charge level at the destination is always around 10%. However, I found that driving fast e.g. 80 mph vs. 65 mph could easily use that slim battery charge margin.. Similarly the head wind could knock off 10% of battery over 200 miles trip. I truly believe that the weather information about the wind and temperature is easily available on the internet. Therefore Tesla routing software could incorporate it in the the estimate of the charge required to arrive at the destination. The temperature affects the air conditioning energy usage and in the extreme cases e.g. Minnesota winter and -20F it could decrease the battery capacity by 40%. I also would like to see a Tesla advise on the speed of driving, for example add 10% of charge if you intend to drive 15 mph above the speed limit. I did learn how to do all of those charging corrections in my head for now. 

My musing on Tesla 3
​The Tesla that we drive might be the least expensive version for a while. It seems that the $35000 Tesla model 3 cars cars won’t be available until early next year so Tesla could make more profit on say our car w/ lux pkg 5000 different than black paint 1000 plus bigger battery 9000 extended range. I believe that at least  60% of this is profit.  Similarly releasing 4 wheel drive model with ridiculous mode drive for 78,000 yields high profit. It is a strategy to show stock market investors that Tesla can make profit and cars in large numbers. Once Tesla succeeds in that they can get more funding from the investors and build model Y, electric semis truck and expand to other factories in US and abroad. 

Another night in the Redwood NP with a creek song putting us to sleep and Tesla admirers coming to visit

Jed Smith Redwood State Park offered us a beautiful camp site in an old growth redwood forest. We enjoyed looking at the 20 story high trees through our roof and walking in the ancient and wild Stout Redwood Grove. The few other visitors there were also awed and in silence

We were so enchanted by the Manzanita Beach that we decided for the campground night. We were rewarded by a beautiful sunset and a misty morning beach walk. We also had a talk with a British tourist about Tesla.

Father’s Day. We could smell the sea by the time we made it to Manzanita on the Oregon coast Just past the tsunami warning sign, the Big Wave beckoned and the restaurant owner greeted us with the good news that the wait was not long. So we waited among the other fathers and were rewarded with the most outstanding Dungeness crab. He’d concocted an app of Dungeness crab deviled egg on a bed of marinated seaweed that I plan to try when I get home

In Centralia, WA we finally see the results of Model 3’s west coast roll out - 3 different colors in one charging station. Across the border in Oregon, Tessie actually turns the head of a Porsche owner!

Tess held her own among semis overflowing with hay and heavy pre-weekend traffic jockeying for position in Snoqualmie Pass. No matter the time of day, traffic in and around Seattle demands close attention. Model 3’s update that pictographically shows traffic ahead and behind helps somewhat, but we were still totally exhausted by the time we watched he sun set over Puget Sound.

"Happens near the weekend" one vaca-togged Tesla owner told me as he hustled back to his S at the Ellensburg, WA supercharger. Seattleites on the go appeared to be the source of the first supercharger traffic jam we've ever encountered.

2100 miles, (536 kWh) 7 days into our journey. Model 3 storage is still expanding magically.

The hazards of Superchargers include proximity to unusual shopping opportunities. 6 bottles of wine, cheeses, chocolates, dozens of snacks (in case we should ever run out of charge) and a much needed car vacuum cleaner squeezed into Tess at Coeur D'Alene

Sandpoint hired coyotes to keep goose poop off the beach

My Moroccan scarf finds a lovely new home in Sandpoint, ID. For more designs see ScarfArtByShelley ​or Etsy.com 

Dear Elon, There  are at least 3 Reasons

to put a Supercharger in Sandpoint, Idaho!
​

Elon pick the best and only place in Lima MT for the supercharger. The one and only waitress at Ian's Cafe could barely keep up with the crowd 

Jackson, Wyoming. Lots of traffic and confusion. Tessie led us off the highway to the right just beyond the Jackson Whole Grocery Store fence and then to the right again into an ever tightening spiral which terminated on private property across the fence from Whole Foods. 

With the patience of Job, the amazing rangers and staff at Yellowstone manage long lines of visitors for campsites and untangle traffic jams surrounding bison and their bewildered calves.

There almost 4 million visitors to Yellowstone each year and among them we found electric car enthusiasts from all over the world. 

This German fellow was from Tesla’s tire OEM. Though he had a Model 3 on order, it wasn’t due til mid 2019 - and he’d never actually seen one, 

Do you mind if my boys look at your car? They are crazy about Tesla’s!” asked one of our neighboring campers said? At first I thought it was an “X” one little boy lisped’

It was 29 degrees in our tent the first day camping. We deciding to experiment with sleeping in the car the next night. We used cell phone climate control and “clean screen mode” to shut off the light from the screen. It was beautiful to see the stars and sunrise through the glass roof of Model 3,
Room service was available at the campground on this freezing morning. Shelley may consider doing it again.

Julie & Mike Schultz make everything they serve at firehole BBQ: the brisket, smoked turkey, sausages, sauces and sides. And when they run out, they close the doors. From the buttermilk Cole slaw, sweet vinegary BBQ sauce  to the savory chili baked beans, their version of W. Texas cuisine is a star.

Marcin drifted over from the next campsite to take a look at Tessie. It snowed while we chatted but that damped none of his and his wife Kamilla’s enthusiasm for electric cars, the environment, camping, spotting wildlife and good food. They turned us on to a great restaurant in West Yellowstone that had only been open 3 days.

Our campsite had a large snow drift on the usual tent platform so we pitched our tent in the forest and put all our cloth layers on knowing that the night will be cold.

Our Canyon campsite was at 8500 feet, we had only 20 per cent charge and were 40 mountainous miles away from our next charge. The below freezing night would drain Tessie’s already low battery. Hats off to the Yellowstone staffers who helped us plug in to an equipment shed behind the rangers’ station . 

Welcome to Yellowstone! It will be a tad bit cold tonight, if there’s a snow drift where your tent goes, just move over a bit. Oh, and by the way the mama bears with their little cubs are a bit stressed right now...

Our room in the Travelodge had games and toys for sale for kids infected by Yellowstone Fever.

With a scarcity of superchargers in the American outback, we’ve learned to rely on curiosity and goodwill when scrounging for electricity. Despite an overwhelming number of Visitors on their way to Yellowstone Park,  the staff at the Travelodge in Livingston, Montana hooked us up to outlets designed for engine block heaters.

Roadside lunch in Montana 

​Finally we were in the middle of no-where surrounded by rolling hills that were blooming an uncharacteristically bright green.  We watched as the energy dropped and re-calculated that we should drive 39 mph without the tail wind. Meanwhile all other cars including Indian Reservation junkers sped past us.   

​Our next day's journey was going to be a charging challenge since we decided not to follow the freeway with supercharges spaced at reasonable distances.  The Tessie screen estimated that it would take 4 hours from Spearfish to Billings and that we would arrive with only 5% of charge. So we had to drive conservatively (my job) and take a short cut over the mountains.  Fortunately we had a 20 mph tailwind - seriously, that matters!  I set the  cruise control at 59 mph and let those big semi's cruise right past us. It was a beautiful drive. 

Dinosaur! 

An electrical storm was bearing down on us as we waited. As soon as their charge was complete,they decided to outrun it to the east and we were scheduled to drive right towards the darkest of the clouds to Spearfish for the night. 

​As I said, the family we met at the charging station in Murdo was full of energy: His spiky hair gave the impression that he too had been plugged into the charger;  She was lithe and wore cat's eye glasses with little rhinestones that threw off sparky bling.

He worked as a line-man who consulted with power companies in 5 states and she was the regular driver of their Tesla X and, while on vacation, the chief ECO (Electric Charge Operations) manager.  In a brief half hour meeting he gave me an understanding of electricity worthy of a college professor and she described how she had scheduled all of their household electricity use  to nighttime or off-peak hours, saving something like 20% on their electric bill.  She also gave me web sites to find slower chargers en route to the bigger, faster Tesla ones.  And she described scrounging electricity and how electric cars increase our awareness of energy. Their kid just wished he was old enough to drive and stared hungrily at our hamburgers.  

Our day was punctuated by visits Tesla’s Supercharging Stations. Finding them can be nerve wracking, especially if your charge is at less than 10%0 % capacity.

If the supercharger malfunctions we can call the help line to report it but they cannot fix. We just moved to another stall .

Model 3 owners pay Tesla 10-30 cents per kilowatt hour to use the Supercharger.  In 11 hours of driving, we travelled 617 Miles and consumed 171 kwh. Total $34, no maintenance cost (so far)

The Supercharger shown here with its picnic tables and pocket park next to an attractive hotel was especially nice. We ran into a family traveling in their Model X who were wishing for our Model 3 - the most recently released of the Tesla’s. Electric enthusiasts to the core; all three, father, mother and teenage son were  brimming with information. She told me about apps to locate slower,  non-Tesla chargers that, if more conveniently located near your hotel, could be used for over night charging. He explained the neighboring stalls share the same power feed so our charging was slow until they left.

Thirteen hours after we left home we are charging Tessie again because our charge level was only 9%. We will end charging the next morning before going for a 280 mile drive segment. We will drive 60mph versus 80 mph so our battery will last longer.

The excitement is palpable.

The license plates arrived just in time! Tomorrow we are departing on a 5500 mile trip in a battery operated car - Tesla Model 3. We'll introduce you to Tessie inside and out, take you to Superchargers (every 3 and half hours), interview other Tesla drivers, scale mountains, cross deserts and admire the tallest trees in the world through our glass roof.  I have actually agreed to camp for a few nights on the promise that when the wildlife gets rowdy, we can put our luggage in the tent and stretch out in the back of the car. 

To travel along with us, click here 
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ps. If  anything goes wrong, we promise to show you that too!

(ARCHIVES) Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon

Took a warm weather trip to Ashland, Oregon earlier in the year and had my first experiences with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  In addition to a world class production of My Fair Lady (rumored to be going on to Broadway)  we saw Midsummer's Night's Dream, Cymbelline and Robin Hood.  If I can find enough light, I draw during the performances and, because the subject is moving, my sketchbook fills quickly with gestural drawings.  (My orchestra scarves, made from drawings of the Minnesota Orchestra were born this way.)  

Ashland is a tiny town disproportionately filled with great shops and restaurants.  As you window shop or set out for your next great meal,  you can and do see the favorite sons and daughters of the town - actors and stagecraft artists, many of whom signed on for one season and ended up living and raising families there.   I had the idea of taking my sketchbook  drawings (this time - but not always - recognizable likenesses) and making them into scarves that would make great conversation starters for visitors and townspeople alike.  In between cocktails and dinner one day (try a  local favorite -  the Red Pepper) I happened into Nimbus - a terrific shop and gallery whose manager Judy was willing to work with me on festival-based scarves created especially for them.   Here are some of my original sketchbook pages,and the resulting silk scarves.