I awoke at the 100 mile marker rest stop at 4:27am and left by 4:37am for Murdo. the odometer was at 16,965 with 172 range remaining with temp at 74 degrees. The early morning departure was a great idea as there was a lot of construction along the way which would probably cause a serious backup as more cars began traveling. Seeing the South Dakota landscape brings me a whole new appreciation of the song Home on the Range! I loved watching the sun rise up as I skirted past the Badlands. I also listened to a program about cued speech to assist young deaf children in education advancement and reading with phonics.

There was a VERY horrible accident in Okaton just before my exit, so I exited early and used the big map to help me make my way to Murdo. The thing is, my Tesla does NOT have the tech package. So, although I do have a map on my screen, there are NO turn-by-turn directions or any navigation suggestions. I am mapping my own course across this great nation!

I arrived in Murdo at 7:08am (now in central time zone) with 70 range left, odometer 17,060 (passed the 2,000 mile mark!) and temp of 70 degrees. The WiFi signal was too weak to post a blog. So, I went to the restroom, cleaned up for going to church, and chatted briefly with two patrons of the Range Country Lodging about the Tesla owner experience. One of these men, Bob, has already commented in this blog. Welcome to the blog! I stopped charging at 168 range and left for Mass in nearby Draper, SD at 7:42am.

Leaving Lusk, WY at 6:11pm (after another guy from Florida stopped me to ask questions and take a photo) I rushed to get to Custer, SD to see something that Randy had recommended. Along the way I listened to “The Home Theater Geek” as he tried to solve the entertainment system problems of his listeners. Later the discussion was about the latest installment of The Planet of the Apes movies. He was broadcasting from Petaluma, CA and here I was hearing it in Wyoming!

I entered South Dakota at 7:10pm with 162 range remaining and temp at 92 degrees. The welcome sign said, “Great Faces, Great Places”. As I drove through Edgemont, SD I saw the longest fully loaded coal train as the highway went high over the train tracks. The terrain sloped uphill then down again repeatedly. Approaching Custer, there were signs of logging and then I passed a big sawmill. Custer was bigger than any place I had passed in a while but I forged on to several miles North where I stopped to take photos of the Crazy Horse Memorial. This 3D mountain carving was begun in 1948 and work on it continues today. This is one of Randy’s favorite stops. Thanks Randy!

I left Crazy Horse Mountain at 8:20pm and hurried since the sun was going down fast. By 8:45pm I had reached Mount Rushmore. When I first pulled over to see if there was a view, I exclaimed out loud, “Hey! It’s George’s face!”.  This was very amusing to the other tourists who were stopped there too. After a few quick photos, I moved on and snapped more down the road. That was it for the presidents, and I headed to Rushmore Mall in Rapid City, SD to supercharge.

I arrived at 9:30pm with 80 miles of range left, odometer 16,924 and temp of 82 degrees. At 10:10pm a gray Tesla pulled up with Dan and Shannon from the Twin Cities. They were heading West to see the Tesla Fremont factory. But, they said how disappointed they were to learn that there would be no factory tours in July. However, they were ready to have a fun visit to California.

I left at 10:30pm with 204 range. The drive from there was too dark to see anything except for some impressive fireworks displays ongoing until about 11pm. At 11:11pm I crossed the Cheyenne River, neared the 100 mile marker on Interstate 90, and entered a rest area to get some sleep. I set my alarm to prepare for my Sunday journey.

I left Cheyenne at 2pm with 200 range. I drove at the speed limit the whole way… up 25N at 80mph, and at exit 126 on hwy 18/20 E at 65 mph.  I arrived in Lusk with about 25 miles of range remaining! I knew there would be enough left when I took the exit 126 at Orin Junction with 70 range remaining and only 41 miles to Lusk. At that exit, the temp was 99 degrees and I crossed the North Platte River.

In both Colorado and Wyoming I have seen such interesting cloud formations in the most blue skies. Green grassy hills and plains abound spotted with black or brown cattle. Ironically, as I see all the cattle, a beef commercial comes over the airwaves. I am listening to the Rockies vs Dodgers baseball game with Rockies down 2 nothing. Former A’s pitcher Dan Harren is pitching for the Dodgers. When the reception died out, the Rockies had tied the game. I switched stations and enjoyed the Dr. Daddio talk show as they discussed the STEM program promoting science, technology, engineering, and math for young kids.  When sports radio reception returned, the Rockies were leading 7-2.  Rain briefly came down which helped wash off the dust from the car. Without tall buildings, the horizon opens up and seems like it goes on forever.

In Lusk, I meet Mark and Terry (a beautiful Chinese woman) who had met each other in San Francisco. They were charging a scarlet red Tesla and it was 60kw!! Mark alerted me that from Lusk to Cheyenne the return route should be different than the one I took North since going Southbound will result in running out of range (This actually had happened to them!). Thanks for the heads up.

I met Randy at the front desk of The Covered Wagon Motel who pointed out restroom locations, gave some map pointers, and offered some lemonade and cookies. While enjoying the snack I spoke with Dave from Chicago who was part of a group of 42 people cycling from Oregon to New Hampshire with America By Bicycle. No wonder there was no vacancy at this motel! Lusk is the lowest population county in the least populated state!  Several of the motel patrons took photos since they were surprised to see two Teslas charging here.

With my odometer at 16,769 and range of 206 I depart for Rapid City, SD at 6pm heading North on hwy 85 with temp of 94 degrees.  Another state later I will post again, Frugal Tesla

Wow, what a fun 4th of July celebration it was in Denver! Thank you Sean, the grill master, and his wife Melissa and children Alec and Ellie for their hospitality. The food was great and the fireworks were exciting to watch. I could look out over the Denver horizon and see at least 4 shows at the same time… a real pyrotechnic delight!

After getting an amazing night sleep (I woke up at 8:45am!) it was time to rearrange the car contents and pack up to go. After quick photo taking and reviewing my route, I repacked the cooler with ice and was off at 11am. The car had 150 miles of range, odometer 16,514 and it was 82 degrees outside.

The drive to Cheyenne was relatively flat with gentle rolling up and down slopes. The grandest peaks of the mountains slowly became less prominent as I neared Wyoming. The drive went quickly as I enjoyed listening to Warren on The Restaurant Show followed by “The Oldies” on Cruisin’ 950 AM on the radio. I entered Wyoming at 12:17pm with the giant “Forever West” sign welcoming me.

At 12:37 I was supercharging. odometer 16,610. temp at 91 degrees. I only used about 100 miles of range to get here. A blue Tesla (which is so dark it really looks black to me… same issue I have with the green Tesla) was also here. Soon, Josh from Denver and his golden retriever puppy named Levi returned to the car after their stop in the mall here. He was heading home which is conveniently close to the Lone Tree Supercharger in Denver. Mel, a mall visitor, stopped to ask about the Tesla owner experience. We were happy to let him know and he said that he would be looking into getting one when he returned home. As the charging was nearly done, a dark gray Tesla arrived with Jon and Melissa who were heading home to Boulder, CO. They were surprised to hear about my journey in the 60kw car. I still have only encountered 85kw cars on this trip!

Charging finished more than 30 minutes ago (It is 1:50pm), so it is time to head to Lusk, WY. Until then, happy trails! Frugal Tesla

After catching up with my Uncle and getting the names of my cousins, their spouses, and their children; my Aunt arrived home from work.  I cleared out the front passenger seat of the car and let my Uncle drive the car with her by his side.  I waited outside their home and then realized that I still had the key fob with me!  I called Tesla Help to find out what that meant… I was worried that the car might stop somewhere with them in it.  The helpful technician told me that the car will work fine unless they stopped and parked the car.  After that, the car will not restart unless the key fob is there.  After several minutes of worry, the car pulled up to the house. Whew!  They loved the experience and said that everyone should take a Tesla on a test drive.  My Aunt was happy that they happened to drive past her boss while he was walking his dog.  Her boss is a huge car fan, so he was blown away by what he saw!

My Uncle and Aunt treated me to a delicious Chinese food dinner and I was able to sleep in a most comfortable bed in their guest room.  After a nice shower, I was able to take on the primary task of the day… getting caught up on the blog posts. The best thing of all is that my Aunt has allowed me to use her laptop since it is easier for me to type on a keyboard instead of relying on the Tesla touchscreen and the one finger technique for input.  Thank you so much!! I am SO grateful to both of you for your generosity and hospitality.

Now it is time to enjoy our leftovers for lunch and l look forward to meeting more family during a 4th of July celebration tonight.  So, to all of you and your families, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!   I’ll be back on the road tomorrow.  Until then,  Be safe and have fun.  Frugal Tesla

NOTE:  This post describes the second half of July 3rd but is being posted on July 4th.  Hopefully this is the last time I will fall behind in the daily blog!  Again I apologize for this gap in my regular posting plan.  FT

Although I had intended to blog in Silverthorne, that did not happen for 3 reasons:  1st, I had to work on tracking down a contact for my Uncle who lives in the Denver area; 2nd, with so much range left in the car, it doesn’t take as long to charge the car; and 3rd, I met and enjoyed speaking with the occupants of 2 different scarlet red Teslas that had also come to charge in Silverthorne.

The first family that I spoke with were from Colorado and were heading West to Grand Junction.  They have ancestry from India, but their names are of Arabic origin:  The dad is Khalid (name means “immortal”), the mom is Shuah (which means “ray of light”), the older son is Naeem (which means “tranquil and content”) and the youngest is Zan (which means “handsome”).  Khalid told me to check out evtripplanner.com since that will help me better manage the terrain in an all electric vehicle.  Thanks for that tip!  Shuah recommended an author, Sam Kean and she was enjoying his book “The Violinist’s Thumb” which includes the topic of genetics!  What a fine family and I hope to see them again when I return from NJ.

The 2nd family with a scarlet car was Karl and Ellen who were traveling with their Aussie shepherd, Bear.  They are the first Tesla owners that I met on this trip who were actually traveling East. They were returning to their home in Frederick, MD after attending a wedding in Montana.  They said that the Tesla is a perfect car for traveling with a dog because the time to stop and charge is about the same time that you need to walk the dog and provide him with more water.  Since there are places where the superchargers are not found yet, like around Montana, they also had experience with recharging the car at RV parks.  They headed off to enjoy a cup of coffee together with Bear happily along on leash.

I remembered that I saved an old phone message from my Uncle back after Hurricane Sandy.  He had called to check on my mom, his sister who lives at the Jersey Shore.  YES!! He left his cell number in that message.  After a happy conversation to confirm my pending arrival to his home north of Denver, I was on my way with a full charge of 205.  I arrived at his home around 1:30pm.  There, I put things in the refrigerator, set up to refreeze my ziplock bags, and settled in for a pleasant visit with an Uncle that I hadn’t seen in many years.  I will stay here through the holiday for a nice break in the trip.

At 6am I woke up to the sounds of folks arriving to go fishing on the Colorado River. Next time, remember to bring fishing rod and license to this beautiful place!  I was glad to have my sleeping bag because the temperature outside was 58 degrees. At 6:50am, with my odometer at 16,318 I pressed on to the Supercharger at Glenwood Springs.  It was located in the parking lot of Marriott Residence Inn.  There I met Greg and June from Palo Alto, California charging their gray Tesla on their way back home from Denver. They spoke about the nice hot springs here in Glenwood Springs and then headed inside to enjoy their complementary breakfast in the Residence Inn.

I quickly checked the blog and realized that my post from Grand Junction did not get published so I posted it. Then I went inside to see if I could get more ice for the coolers.  The Marriott Residence Inn staff was very helpful and refilled my multiple ziplock bags.  Thanks Jason!  After texting family to try to find my Uncle’s cell phone number, I left for Silverthorne (exit 205) at 8:45am. There was no time to blog in Glenwood Springs, so I thought I would catch up at the next Supercharger.

The drive between Glenwood Springs and Silverthorne is remarkably beautiful.  Everything is lush and green as you wind through forests.  I began to see lots of bicycle paths and thought about how to bring a bicycle someday.  Then it was clear that I was near Vail!  I saw the ski areas with what looked like golfing sand traps all over the place.  But, of course, that was remaining unmelted snow!  There was also remaining snow on the tallest mountain peaks in the distance (reminiscent of a Coors commercial).  I decided that some day I will return to visit this area for camping, hiking, and cycling. One other funny thing, when seeing so many signs that said “Chain Law” I kept flashing back to high school algebra and the “Chain Rule”.  Obviously the chain law has to do with preparing tires for driving in snow, and not for solving quadratic equations!

I arrived at the Silverthorne premium outlet center at 10:15am with 76 miles of range left and the odometer at 16,439 and the outside temperature at 71 degrees.  I plugged in at the Supercharger found adjacent to the Under Armour outlet. (Hey Josh, need something there? I can get it on the return trip).  I had used 106 miles of range to get to the Vail summit (over 10,000 ft!) and I had charged to 185 range back in Glenwood Springs.  I drove at the speed limit the entire way, even during the climb upward.  So, the Tesla really did a great job and I had more fun going at speed.  I had no time to blog here in Silverthorne, but I had a great time meeting more Tesla owners… more in the next post.

NOTE:  This is the description that I was too tired to type up on the evening of July 2nd.  Posting it on July 4th.  Sorry for the delay.

The drive from Green River, UT to Grand Junction was not green at all!  One might think that I was driving over the lunar landscape!  I was tempted to visit Moab since there is a Supercharger down  there, but that will have to wait for the return trip.  I want to get to Colorado and find a place to sleep before it gets too late at night.

Driving through Utah was fun since speed limits are higher.  When the limits went from 60, 65, 70, and 75 coupled with the closer superchargers I did not need to drive slower to extend the range. Also, during my drive through Utah, I listened to lots of radio.  One show spoke about the history of the U.S. which was nice to hear as a review before Independence Day.  Another spoke about the increase of amorality in today’s world.  One disturbing news report spoke of a Utah woman who went out at night to check her mailbox and did not return.  Her vehicle was discovered the next morning overturned in a ditch and her lifeless body was found away from the car.  This is a grim reminder that it is ALWAYS important to wear a seatbelt, even when driving very short distances or during those quick errands.

At 6:36pm I entered Colorado.  Woo-hoo!!  After making my way to Grand Junction (the Supercharger is in the Mesa Mall parking lot) I wrote that last post and only partially charged the car since the next charger is less than 100 miles away.  Just in case there is a climb or unexpected situation, I charged up to 185 miles range.  At 8pm I left Grand Junction to find a place to sleep.  I drove only 69 miles to Rifle, CO where there is a Rest Stop off Hwy 13 (lucky number), at Lion Park Circle next to the Colorado River.  I arrived at 9pm and by 10pm I was sound asleep. It was still hot outside, but the car interior was at a comfortable 65 degrees.

NOTE: This post was written on  WEDNESDAY, JULY 2nd. I thought is was posted successfully that night, but discovered the next morning that it did not get published.

I just finished charging in Grand Junction, Colorado.  It is 7:47pm. odometer at 16,249. Temp outside is 96 degrees! I plan to find a place to get some rest, then make my way to visit my Uncle near Denver tomorrow (Thursday July 3rd). I will give details on my way there, but I want to get on the road to my rest stop. Next charge will be in Glenwood Springs, CO.  Best wishes for a good night to all, Frugal Tesla

After leaving Beaver, UT at 11:30am, I arrived an hour later in Richfield, UT with temp of 83. This was only 64 miles away, and mostly downhill. I now realize that these close together chargers are really for the trip West which will be all uphill. Here I met Mark from Michigan who was charging his gray Tesla. So far, every Tesla owner I have met on this trip has the 85kw version. No other 60kw Teslas yet! I made some important calls (Hi Mom!) so I did not get the chance to blog in Richfield.

Just before leaving, 2 members of the Sevier County Sheriff’s Department stopped to check out the cars. I gave the quick 3 minute tour and then headed out by 1:45pm to Green River, UT. Two hours later, I am here charging with odometer at 16,151 and temp at 98 degrees. 85 range was left in the car. Here some folks in an RV also received the 3 minute Tesla tour. Now for some scenery info:

From Beaver, the drive went past Fish Lake National Forest. This is not like a redwood forest or ponderosa pines with tall trees. It is many smaller trees all over the low mountains. But, after Richfield, there were many red rock formations and canyons that geologists would really dig (okay, bad pun). As I neared Green River, these became rock formations on steroids!  Seeing this really channeled my inner John Wayne. And I prayed a few prayers of gratitude for what I was seeing. Then I switched from sports and talk radio to the next random station. The radio locked on to the saxaphone solo of “Bad to the Bone”, a great driving tune indeed.

From Green River, I will drive on to exit The Beehive State and go to Grand Junction, Colorado.