June Trip 2014 - Part 6: Barn Finds

After our hike around Shawnee State Park, we climbed back into Serena and turned West onto Route 30-- the old Lincoln Highway.  Our next destination was the Flight 93 Memorial and we didn't really have any expectations of significant scenery until we reached it.

Cruising down the road we blasted past a couple interesting roadside attractions but didn't stop until we passed the HUGE mural.   WHOA.   Did you just see what I saw??  

June Trip 2014 - Part 5: A Natural Detour

After a grueling 6 days in city traffic, we had finally escaped and found ourselves a nice slice of natural beauty.   My relatives live on top of a mountain in Pennsylvania not too far from the Hagerstown, MD Supercharger and-- conveniently enough-- on the way home.

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Calling them from the road, we were a little concerned to find out that their well pump had died.  That day.   Meaning.... no water.   It's troublesome enough to have house guests dropping by with children in tow, but to have them coming by WITHOUT WATER--- well, what was supposed to be the most relaxing part of the trip was suddenly in jeopardy.

June Trip 2014 - Part 4: Finding the Perfect Place

I actually lived in Washington, DC for a while as a child.   I don't remember a lot but do have some distinct memories of the Smithsonian and flying kites on the Mall.  My wife has only been there as a tourist-- numerous times-- and the kids have already caught most of the major sites.

Fortunately, there's always something else to see in DC!  We were definitely taking Serena out of our comfort zone a little bit though, with several days of commuting ahead of us and parking downtown.  I was more than a little uneasy about the parking situation...plus dealing with DC traffic to get there!  Just how good an urban warrior is the Model S??

June Trip 2014 - Part 3: A Capitol Idea

Whew.  We'd made it through The Longest Day.  Whooshing and warping around Philadelphia and New Jersey had taken their toll.  The wedding and rehearsal were exhausting.  The traffic and immediate rerouting and recalculating our charges were taxing... but we had made it.  We woke up with a renewed sense of relaxation and ready to continue our journey.

Unfortunately, that journey meant going BACK through the Newark, DE Supercharger... but we'd be doing in on a Sunday morning.  Surely the city of Brotherly Love would have all its citizens clustered in houses of worship and thereby clearing the highways for us, right?  Right??

June Trip 2014 - Part 2: When Traffic Attacks

Well.  This is it.   This is the post where it all falls apart.  Stress.  Anxiety.  Frustration.  Near disaster.
Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic.
Remember when you were a kid and took your first ride on a roller coaster?  You were convinced you were going to die, that catastrophe would forever be associated with your name and that ride-- a nice plaque maybe, to commemorate the greasy smudge where your existence ended.  You shook with nervousness and built up a wall of worry that even the stock brokers bit their nails over...   and then you went on the coaster.

And it thrilled you and you looked back afterwards, laughing and smiling, and forgot about all the drama that had led up that point.  Suddenly you realized you'd been making a HUGE DEAL over nothing.  That coaster was impeccably designed despite your reluctance to trust it.  If only you'd known...

June Trip 2014 - Part 1: Blissful and Ignorant

Despite both kids reaching double digit ages I still periodically find myself subjected to "kids songs".   Around town these are easily avoided because the trips are short, but pack a car up and hit the open road and shure'nuff you'll find playful lyrics and corny comedy assaulting your ears soon.

This time, however, was different.   As we arced gracefully and quietly on the big sweeping Turnpike curves East of Pittsburgh, it was not the kids who were calling up the soundtrack of our early parenting years.  No.  It was my wife, in a fit of nostalgia, who encouraged the revisiting of silliness.  It could become a long trip...

The Best Laid Plans... June Trip 2014 Introduction

"Will it road trip?"  Variations on that question are among the most common ones we get.  "Where do you charge it-- if not at home?"  My usual answer is to point out that electricity is, after all, everywhere-- the real question is really in regards to how long it takes to charge it.  Well, we were about to find out.  After our short shake-down day-road-trip, we were eager to see if "it really does that" on a bigger journey.

So, with a wedding in New Jersey as our first destination, we charged up to nearly full, loaded up, and set out on a week-long 1200 mile trip... with no gas!   We quickly found ourselves scrambling and improvising our plans, however, with second guesses and regrets clouding the first leg of our trip.  Rut ro.

Full Test Coffee & Cars

After what seemed like months of negotiation and preparation, the Cars & Coffee / Tesla Test Drive combination finally came together!   For anyone who hasn't driven a Tesla (and that's still the majority of people, obviously) it's hard to understand what it feels like.  Even passenger rides (of which I've done a bunch of already) don't do it justice... you don't feel how instantly responsive the throttle is, you don't feel how reassuring the regen braking is, and you certainly don't get the full impression of just how much power is RIGHT THERE anytime you want it.

Certainly many of the C&C crowd knows about vast quantities of power, but even a McClaren has SOME throttle lag.   The question was, would Tesla win over any converts?  Would they "fit in" with the crowd?  Could some hearts and minds be won over?   Only one way to find out!

Ugly Duckling

Driving to work, I saw the new BMW i3 behind me and decided to give it a look over (first one I'd seen in person).   Having seen it, I have to say... I agree with Elon:  "I think there is room to improve on the i3 and I hope that they do."   Almost makes me miss Chris Bangle.   ALMOST.