I woke up at 5:30am and was exhausted and bleary eyed, but I needed to use the restroom.  I used the facilities and went back to sleep until 7:30am when I heard the loud roar of what I thought were Harleys parking adjacent to me. It turns out that they were racing roadsters heading to Bonneville. Pretty cool.  I spoke briefly with a man and his son, then I left in a hurry at 7:50am with temp at 64 degrees.

I paid the Ohio toll ($4.25) and also a toll just 22 minutes later in Indiana ($4.60) and drove really fast to the rest stop near Elkheart, IN to clean up and change for church. I left there at 9:15am to get to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame.  I arrived at 9:40am with odometer at 20,481.  After Mass, I returned to the car which had only 26 miles range remaining (GOLDEN!).  It was 80 degrees and I left for Mishiwaka, IN at 11:30am.

The charger was only 4 miles away… were you worried? I was not.  In Mishiwaka, odometer was 20,485 and temp at 81 degrees with 21 range remaining… the lowest I have gone on this trip. I plugged in at 12:42pm and charging was complete to 206 by 1:43pm.  While charging, I typed up the Ohio post and this blog post, picked up an item at Barnes and Noble (at the 70% off table), and met another Tesla family.  Peggy and John were bringing their daughter Rachel from their home in St. Louis to gymnastics camp with a stop in Columbus, OH planned. They had a blue P85, but they were so early in Tesla production that their car has neither the number 85 nor the letter P.

They departed and I reviewed the toll free route to the supercharger at Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlets in Wisconsin. I left at 2:15pm to do my “Chicago drive-by” and visit Lake Michigan en route to Wisconsin. There it will be Central Daylight Time.  Frugal Tesla

NOTE: This post was typed and published on Sunday, but it has info for Saturday August 2nd.

I arrived in Macedonia, Ohio at 7:07pm with odometer at 20,197 and temp of 70 degrees with 71 miles range. There was a gray P85 Tesla charging with no one in sight. I went to use the closest restroom which happened to be at Hobby Lobby. That place was like a Costco for crafts… crazy huge! Who knew there was so many craft supplies?!!

I typed up the PA blog post and left for Maumee, OH at 8:20pm with 206 range. Gray owner never appeared.  Once again I used a toll free route. I arrived in Maumee at 11:07pm with odometer at 20,334 and 88 range remaining with temp of 71 degrees. Lots of people were buying bottled water at the Meijer store (open 24 hours) since the water in Toledo was declared unsafe for drinking and bathing! This was due to a nasty algal bloom in Lake Erie according to one radio report. I stopped charging at 194 miles range at 11:55pm and headed to use the toll roads toward Mishawaka, IN (so I could use a rest stop along the way).  The Ohio Turnpike toll was $4.25 (but I didn’t pay until the next morning when leaving the roadway at 8:06am).

I arrived at the Indian Meadows rest area in Ohio (on 80W / 90W) near hwy 127 on the map.  It was 12:38am with 155 range, and odometer at 20,375 and temperature of 65 degrees.  Good night all, Frugal Tesla

I thought I would post something in Pennsylvania, but I either did not have time or the connection was not working. So now I am in Ohio but I will summarize the Pennsylvania information.

After leaving Hagerstown, MD after midnight last night, I headed about 29 miles on 70 W to stop at the rest area at Pennsylvania 70 W mile marker 171.  It is located near the MD/PA border.  I had 176 range remaining with odometer at 19,886 and 68 degrees at 1am.  I awoke in the morning with the temp at 64 degrees and left for Somerset, PA at 7:53am. My route would be a casual toll free drive on back roads and include a visit with a farmer named Bill and a stop to pay respects at the Flight 93 National Memorial.  (I will add this detailed info to this post later this week)

I arrived in Somerset, PA at 12:40pm with odometer at 19,987 with 74 range remaining and temp at 74 degrees. There I met Benny, who is in the navy and lives in the Washington, DC area (though he is from Texas). He was charging his scarlet Tesla and we both chatted with a professional photographer from Georgia about Tesla. I left at 1:15pm with 180 range to go to Cranberry, PA via a toll free route (remember that Eastward tolls in PA were very high, so I vowed to avoid them Westward!).

I arrived in Cranberry, PA at 4:11pm with odometer at 20,076, range at 103, and temp of 77 degrees. While there it began raining lightly.  I reset my Tesla touchscreen (since I could not get access to the blog) but the charging was done by the time I had finished looking up the route to  Macedonia, Ohio on googlemaps.  So, I departed on another toll free route at 4:55pm with 194 range.  Here I come Ohio!  Frugal Tesla

After leaving Newark, DE I paid another toll for $4 at 20:27 on the Delaware Turnpike.  Then, at 21:22 I paid a toll for $4 to the Maryland Transportation Authority.

I arrived in Hagerstown Maryland at 10:30pm with odometer at 19,855 and temp at 72 degrees and 76 miles range remaining.  No one else around except the security guard driving around the Mall in circles on his Segue (what I meant here was “Segway PT” as referenced by Brian H. comment. Thanks Brian!), which is sort of funny to see.

After typing some emails, the Delaware posting, and this one, it is already 11:40pm and time to move on to find a rest stop.  Good night all.  Tomorrow I will write from Pennsylvania.   Frugal Tesla

NOTE… I am writing very short posts while on the road, but I will edit them later to add more info. That way I can get going more quickly since the car is usually charged faster than I can type the blog!

Paid one toll on the way to this stop for the Delaware Memorial Bridge from NJ into Delaware.  This toll was for $4 at 18:26.

I arrived in Newark, DE at 6:41pm with temp at 74 degrees and scattered showers.  Range remaining is 91 miles.  odometer at 19,720. The striping here is messed up so it took me 2 tries to line up for the supercharger. I went in to use the restroom and when I returned outside, I met Craig who was riding a blue Kawasaki motorcycle. He had some questions about the Tesla and charging time, etc.  He had just returned from the airport after a visit to Miami and was heading home to NY.

Next I chatted with Jim and Andrew who pulled in with their P85 Model S. They were heading home to Virginia.

I left the Delaware rest stop just after 8pm with 206 range. On to Hagerstown, Maryland!   Frugal Tesla

After being treated out to breakfast by my brother, I finished loading the car and left for Beach Haven, NJ at noon. Range was topped up to 206 miles, odometer at 19,560 and it was 73 degrees. I enjoyed a toll free route so I could see parts of NJ that I had never visited before. It makes me want to return here during my next visit!

I arrived in Beach Haven at 1:30pm after driving through rain which cleaned the car nicely. There I met with the guys from Tesla of Short Hills, NJ who were providing test drives. Also, I met Steve who is the owner of The Gables Inn and Restaurant which hosted this event. He provides free charging for anyone dining there! Thanks for topping me up to 190 range and providing delicious gourmet food for all the participants.  With odometer at 19,615 and temp of 82 degrees, I departed for Newark, Delaware at 4pm.    Frugal Tesla

(This post was written late on Thursday July 31st)

These past few days have been occupied with many tasks including repair of the billiard cue sticks and getting a replacement cue ball so the nieces and nephews can play pool at Grandma’s house.  I also did some much needed re-caulking in the bathroom.  I attended a carnival and rode on rides with the kids, visited friends in Roseland,  West Orange, and Red Bank, NJ,  went shopping for a few travel staples at Costco, and even finished reading the C.S. Lewis book.

I have been to the Supercharger in NJ a few times (since charging at my Mom’s home is particularly slow from a 110 outlet).  On one day I met Mike from Western Massachusetts who was charging his blue 85kw.  He drives 1,000 miles a week in his Tesla for work between his home and South East Pennsylvania for work! He has already ordered his Tesla Model X.  On another day, I met Broades (cool name, but no known derivation).  He works for the Tesla Service Center in Devon, PA and he had just delivered a new Tesla to a customer who lives only 2 minutes away from the Hamilton, NJ Supercharger.  He was topping off a blue car so he could head back to work in Pennsylvania.

I enjoyed a nice dinner out with my brother, my Mom, and her two friends Betty and Ben.  We ate at The Four Winds in Wall, NJ.  The food was fantastic, and the service was wonderful too (thanks Jill!). While dining there, a man came up and said that it was rumored that someone at our table had driven there in a Tesla.  That caught me by surprise but I was happy to answer his questions about the car.  After dinner, I showed Ben the car and let him know about the upcoming test drives scheduled in NJ.

Later, I spent time packing up my belongings and researching the first leg of the journey West.  First stop will be in Beach Haven, NJ since the folks from Tesla headquarters are coordinating test drives there!  Then, it is off to Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.   The daily travel blog begins again…  Frugal Tesla

I haven’t posted in a few days.  Things have been busy with Mom’s birthday, more visits with nieces and nephews, and my preparations for returning West.  One glitch in my week was a migraine on Friday night which effectively made Saturday somewhat useless as well. I need to get back to my chiropractor (which eliminates migraines for me).   I was happy to be much better on Sunday and able to go to Mass at the Jersey Shore.

I am beginning to plan for the return drive.  I still have a few errands to complete before leaving, but I will get them taken care of in the next few days.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and you will soon have more travel blogs instead of these scattered reports of my NJ visit.  One more thing to report is that after some rain, there was no evidence of any water intrusion into the Tesla.  So, it seems that the NJ service center solved that issue. Thanks!  I will continue to monitor this after any upcoming rain.  And, the car still  looks great since I did wax it after the car was serviced.         Frugal Tesla

On Monday I drove from the Jersey Shore up to the Springfield service center.  I arrived before noon, and spoke with Mike about the water intrusion issue.  I explained that there has been a drought in California, and  I have the car parked in the garage during rain anyway, so this issue never presented itself before. George was there to shake my hand with a pleasant smile (he is the one who called and left me a message on Saturday).  I explained to both of them that my sister lived nearby so they could either get the car serviced by the end of the day or by the next morning since I would stay overnight in the area.  Then, George drove me to meet with my sister and nephews.

After a fun day with family, I received a call that the car was done and they could bring me back to the service center to pick it up.  But, I was too tired to do any more driving after having been up late Sunday night (too much fun reading the Tesla Model S forum pages!).  So, I asked if they could pick me up on Tuesday morning instead.  My nephews and I prepared tasty toppings for the pizza that we ate for dinner. Then I read a little bit of C. S. Lewis before going to sleep.

Mike arranged it so that I was given a ride to get my car in order to head back to the shore on Tuesday morning.  The car looked amazing since they cleaned it inside and out!  And, the water intrusion issue was taken care of (although I won’t know for sure until the next big rain hits… perhaps on Thursday?)   Everyone at the service center was professional, courteous, and pleasant.  And I even enjoyed the short time in the waiting area (chatting with Cari, and snacking on the chocolates there).  Another plus was being able to head out with the car fully charged.  Thanks Mike!

The drive back to the shore was pleasant and as usual I avoided the toll roads.  It turns out that there was a huge backup on the toll road, so it was a great choice!  The humidity is rising and temperatures are in the 80s here.  It is a beautiful summer day in NJ.

Thanks again to all who have sent in comments.  I look forward to hearing from you all.  Also, feel free to ask questions that I can try to answer regarding this journey.   Frugal Tesla

I was able to speak  to a Tesla Service representative in Fremont, CA regarding the water intrusion issue.  He put me in contact with the nearest service center, which right now is in Springfield, NJ.  George called me from the NJ center on Saturday, but I was not able to speak to him (I was in a restaurant with the phone off).  My plan is to bring the car in on Monday and hopefully they can resolve this issue.

Sunday morning I drove out to Hamilton to visit the Supercharger, pick up a few books at the Barnes and Noble, visit Mercer County Park, and attend Mass at St. David The King Catholic Church (about 6 miles from the Supercharger).  I highly recommend this 11:30am Mass for those Catholics who may be traveling and charging at the Hamilton Supercharger.  I even let the pastor drive the Tesla around the huge parking lot there!

At the Supercharger, I met a nice family from NY who were traveling to Hershey, PA.  Also, there was another family from Vermont.  When I first arrived, I was the sixth Tesla that arrived to charge making it a full house (6 stations there).  When I returned from the bookstore, several Teslas had moved on, and that is when the families arrived to charge.  So, there were at least 8 Teslas within one hour!  As I said before, other than Fremont, CA (the Tesla factory), NJ seems to have the most Teslas I’ve seen!

In a few days, I will let you know how the service center handled things.  Until then,  Be well.  Frugal Tesla