Here, There, and EVerywhere – Day 21

A quick note of thanks to the Beatles for inspiring the title for this series of posts. This is the twenty-first in a series of posts written about our trip that will be published four weeks to the day of the trip.

Missed Day 20, click here.

Day 21 – Drive on Friday, May 22, 2015

Predictability in experience is one of the strengths of Hyatt and its Hyatt Place brands. It’s interesting to me because everytime I stay at a Hyatt Place, I can’t tell where I am (as in city). They all look and feel the same. And when one has been on the road for 21 days, a sense of familiarity is good.

Hyatt Place Topeka

If the following pictures had not been geo-tagged, it could have been any Hyatt Place at any city.

IMG_20150522_094131

 

The design of the front lobby desk is definitely one of those “things” that shout out Hyatt Place to me.

IMG_20150522_094126

IMG_20150522_094146

It could be at Nashville or Las Vegas or Topeka, as is the case in this particular location.

IMG_20150522_094155

And that’s not a bad thing. Many times a surprise in hotel lodging is usually a “bad” surprise versus a “good” one. So, I’ll take consistent (when it comes to lodging) any day.

With that in mind, we had an ambitious goal to make it to Denver this evening. We normally travel a lot (via airplanes and rentals, and not driving trips in our Model S) and as a result have membership with many hotel and airline programs.

One of the things that we “cashed in” was a “free night certificate” from the Omni Hotel. The certificate actually was expiring as we were leaving for a trip, so we redeemed it. In considering the locations that we will be driving to and from, we redeemed the certificate for the Omni Hotel Interlocken in the Denver metropolitan area. The stipulation on the certificate is that it must be booked ahead and only if the room type and rate was available. After booking, we can only move the room to another date in the same hotel if the same conditions exist. Once redeemed, we can not get the certificate back nor change the certificate to another hotel.

Since we didn’t know when we were going to make it to Denver, we kept moving the booking, and the hotel was not available on Saturday night, so it was either Friday or Sunday, and today was a better day for this attempt.

Besides, we’ve always had very good stays at Omni Hotels and expected the Omni Hotel Interlocken to live up to those experiences. It is, after all, a “proper hotel.”

IMG_20150522_094602

IMG_20150522_094607

Looks like there was no rated range lost last night.

IMG_20150522_094543

Well rested, bright-eyed, and bushy tailed. We headed off to the Salina Supercharger.

We saw signs on the road directing travelers to visit the “Little Apple”, Manhattan, KS.  Didn’t have a hankering for that, so we continued on.  Just passed the Manhattan, KS exits, was Fort Riley, home of the Big Red One. The only thing I really know about the Big Red One is what I saw in the movie of the same name.

I spotted the “really cool” helicopters on the side of the highway and we tried to take some pictures.

IMG_8820

IMG_8821

 

IMG_8822

IMG_8823

IMG_8825

And soon after that, we noticed a sign on the side of the road.

IMG_8826

President Dwight David (“Ike”) Eisonhower’s Presidential Library and Museum was ahead in Abilene, Kansas.

We had so much fun visiting the President Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum with the Orange County Tesla Club that we thought that it would be cool to visit President Eisonhower’s Museum.

IMG_8828

After all, the Interstate Highway system that we’ve been traveling on may not have happened had it not been for President Eisonhower and his championship. Besides, this was the start of the Memorial Day Weekend and President Eisonhower was Supereme Commander Allied Forces Europe and one of the architects of the victory in Europe.

Eisonhower Presidential Library and Museum

The parking lot had its fair share of visitors, no other Model S, but quite a bit of folks from many states.

IMG_20150522_110310

One of the interesting facets of this Presidential Library and Museum is that it was built around President Eisonhower’s childhood home.  The trustees actually bought out the homes and businesses around his childhood home to create the space for the Presidential Library and Museum.

IMG_20150522_110315

IMG_20150522_110444

IMG_20150522_110454

Visitors can actually take a tour inside the home as part of their entry to the museum.

IMG_0933

IMG_20150522_110637

So, we figured, why not.

IMG_20150522_111048

The tour was only in the ground floor and we were not allowed to go upstairs.  They at least provided a photograph to show the upstairs rooms.

IMG_20150522_112059

The downstairs rooms were quite modest.

IMG_20150522_112105

IMG_8830

IMG_20150522_112117

The front door.

IMG_20150522_112141

IMG_20150522_112209

The Front Salon was rarely used and only such when there are distinguished guests.

IMG_20150522_112224

The Family Bible where they recorded the births in the family was opened to the page of President Eisonhower’s entry.

IMG_20150522_112303

There was a room that the family converted into an indoor restroom

IMG_20150522_112916

that is adjacent to the kitchen.  Notice the old phone on the wall.  Apparently it was in the same state as it was when the foundation acquired the home and land around it.

IMG_20150522_112920

IMG_20150522_112927

A shot of President Eisonhower’s family (parents and siblings.)

IMG_20150522_113009

And then we headed back to his museum.

IMG_20150522_113250

IMG_20150522_113252

IMG_20150522_113256

IMG_20150522_113301

IMG_20150522_113305

IMG_20150522_113309

Since President Eisonhower spent most of his adult life as a military man, a good portion of the Eisonhower Presidential Library and Museum covers military stuff, for more pictures, let me refer you to my Flickr album.

The military things were cool, but I’d like to highlight a few of the things at the museum that were not military themed (as well as some military vehicles and technology.)

The first is to highlight that President Eisonhower actually drove an Electric Vehicle.

IMG_8845

It was a 1914 Rauch and Lang Electric Automobile with a maximum 100 mile range when driven at 13 miles per hour (top speed was 19 miles per hour.)

We took a photograph of the write-up that was provided for guests beside the vehicle.

IMG_20150522_115303

The car itself looked like many cars of the era.

IMG_20150522_115235

IMG_20150522_115357

There were also other vehicles (mainly military) in the museum.

IMG_20150522_120404

A Jeep.

IMG_20150522_120415

I think that this was an Armored personnel carrier.

IMG_20150522_120431

And the sort of vehicle befitting transporting members of the command staff.

IMG_20150522_120449

It was interesting to see technology that inspired the modern mobile telephone.

IMG_20150522_120438

The Interstate highway system was named in honor of President Eisonhower for a reason.

IMG_8855

And look who took the time to be a little presidential. Or at least a Press Secretary, perhaps?

IMG_8857

This stop was another of those that “just happened” because of a road sign. We were glad to have spotted the sign for the Eisonhower Presidential Library and Museum and glad to have made the stop. Especially for the Friday that started Memorial Day celebrations.

IMG_20150522_121705

Besides Abilene, KS is along the route (86 miles) between Topeka and Salina and is definitely worth it. The diversion was probably close to a three mile round trip off I-70.

IMG_20150522_121911

Besides, it’s even closer to Salina Supercharger (less than 30 miles away) than the Topeka Supercharger.

IMG_20150522_121924

And we were headed to Salina.

IMG_8859

No tour for Russell Stover unfortunately. Besides it’s no Hershey’s (is that a good thing or a bad thing?)

One of the biggest complaints that Model S owners have is the cost of replacement tires. The 21 inch tires are much more expensive than the 19 inch ones.  For those that worry about the cost of tires. I wonder how much these tires cost.  I would guess that these tires are over 15 feet.

IMG_8860

IMG_8861

The weather ahead is cloudy and cool. So, I would guess that we won’t have to worry about tornadoes as much. Though I wonder if this is foreboding of pending weather ahead.

IMG_8865

How many of these trucks are there? And what is the vehicle that they need to provide the spare tires for?

IMG_8866

I also wonder how big the nail is that will puncture that tire.

You know that you’re really bored in the Kansas drive when a curve excites you.

IMG_8868

IMG_8870

We reached the Salina Supercharger. This supercharger is also hotel adjacent. A Holiday Inn Express this time.

IMG_8871

Salina Supercharger

We arrived at Salina with plenty of rated range to spare.

IMG_20150522_124523

IMG_20150522_124526

When we got to the supercharger stall, another Model S was already charging. We didn’t head into the lobby and the owner of this vehicle was not near the car, so we didn’t meet the owner of this grey Tesla.

IMG_0934

Soon after we started to charge, another grey Model S arrived.  It was driven by a new local Kansas owner who just took delivery of their Model S the prior week.

IMG_0935

I was curious as to why it had temporary Colorado tags. Apparently, Kansas Tesla Model S purchasers need to go to Colorado to buy their car.  It seems that he was unable to purchase the car in a state that has many supercharger locations and stalls. I take it that this means that there probably are no service centers in Kansas either.

After charging in Salina, we needed to make a stop at a Post Office. We had to mail several parcels that required a post office stop. We headed to the Salina post office.

When we were departing the post office we met with the gentleman who was parked beside us in his Ford C-Max Plug-in Hybrid. He was admiring our Model S and was friendly. So, we struck up conversation with him. He spoke how he loves driving an EV. He communicated that he and his family rarely go beyond the 20 mile EV limit of the vehicle.  However, when they do, he appreciates the ability to go beyond. He told us a funny story of how smooth the electric drive train was that he didn’t realize that he had hit 100 MPH when he was driving on the highway.

We had a good laugh and left our new-found PHEV friend and headed to the Hays Supercharger.

Another long day of relatively flat and straight terrain.

The cows must not be worried about that giant snake on the billboard.

IMG_8872

Check out those horses.

IMG_8874

Wait, are those windmills I see?

IMG_8875

IMG_8876

They are windmills!  Well, that’s cool.

IMG_8877

The windmills distract me enough that I didn’t even notice that there was our nemesis, the “Deer Crossing” sign in the picture. Besides, I’m only worried about the “Deer Crossing” at night when I sens that they’re just lurking there.

This windmill design seems to be prevalent in the windmills that we’ve seen around the country.

IMG_8878

Windmills near and windmills far.

IMG_8882

It’s quite a sight.

IMG_8884

IMG_20150522_143324

Good for you Kansas.  I wonder how much of the wind power generated by these windmills find their way to the superchargers that we’ve been visiting.

We discovered taking panoramics while driving.

This is our first attempt.

IMG_0936

I think the second attempt was better.

IMG_0937

But the built in panoramic function on my iPhone doesn’t seem to like to work in moving vehicles.

Some more windmill shots.  This team, really close to the highway.

IMG_8887

IMG_8890

On the way to Hays, we spotted an interesting structure in the distance.

IMG_8895

IMG_8896

This is the Cathedral of the Plains – the Basilica of St. Fidelis.

IMG_8898

IMG_8899

The structure was impressive from the highway, but we didn’t feel like stopping there, so we continued on.  Perhaps next time.

Hays Supercharger

The distances between superchargers on the I-70 route seem to be quite close to each other.  I suppose the effect of winter weather needs to be part of the planning on these parts of the country.  We continued to stop at each location to make sure that we provide content for the beta of the (now released) Teslarati App for iOS.  Besides, we’re a lot more conservative when it comes to charging “insurance miles” than many folks out there.

IMG_20150522_152401

IMG_20150522_152404

IMG_20150522_152604

The Hays Supercharger is located at an Applebee’s Restaurant. I have not had a meal at an Applebee’s in many years and thought that it is good idea to try to have a meal at the restaurants that had the forethought to support the Tesla Supercharger network.

IMG_0941

The lunch hit the spot, but we had Denver in our target and we need to keep moving.

IMG_20150522_161135

It’s been a rather cloudy day today.  Though the clouds make the weather cool, it also signifies the potential for rain.  And the cloud cover looked foreboding.

IMG_8918

It seems that people in Kansas like to build some impressive looking churches. This is another one that we spotted in the distance and decided to skip. I didn’t catch the name of it, but it looked interesting.

IMG_8902

IMG_8903

All the lemonade at Applebee’s forced us to seek a rest stop before we got to Goodland, KS. We took the opportunity to take a photo of the Eisonhower Interstate System sign at this stop.

IMG_20150522_171157

There was an interesting map of Kansas that was placed at the rest stop building.

IMG_20150522_171355

IMG_20150522_171421

Just before the Goodland, KS supercharger is this giant replica of Van Gogh’s “Three Sunflowers in a Vase.”

IMG_8915

The easel is huge, it’s as big as the water towers that we’ve been obsessively photographing on this trip.

IMG_8916

IMG_8917

IMG_20150522_172213

A photograph of your guides on this journey with the Giant Van Gogh.

IMG_20150522_172310

The Goodland Supercharger is a short drive from the Van Gogh that we took local streets to get there from the giant reproduction.

The view of the Goodland Supercharger as we approach it.

IMG_8919

Goodland Supercharger

The drive from Hays to Goodland was a good time to discuss our plans for the rest of the trip.  Denver is approximately 1,000 miles of driving to home if we return along the same route that took us East.  At this time, we were toying with the “crazy” idea of heading North to Washington State and go home along the Pacific coast.  But we’ve been on our drive for 21 days and we need to figure out where to go.  The last point of inflection for us to make that decision is around Beaver, UT or Richfield, UT. If we decide to “take the long way home,” we can expect to be on the road for another week.

IMG_20150522_172926

IMG_20150522_172929

The navigation to the Omni Hotel Interlocken had us skipping the Limon Supercharger.  But we figured that we were stopping at each charger to make our entries into the beta of the (now released) Teslarati App for iOS, so we figured to charge on the upcoming climb and still stop at Limon.

We made sure to note that the supercharger at yet another Holiday Inn Express was adjacent to a Steak N Shake that was currently closed.

IMG_0942

I haven’t counted all the hotel collocated superchargers, but there seems to be a fair share of Holiday Inns that have one on property. At least two in Kansas.  We don’t normally stay at Holiday Inns, but their support of supercharging needs to be rewarded with a stay.

IMG_0943

The weather was turning chilly and precipitation threatened our continuing journey.  We still had a lot of light and we had “crossed the Rubicon” with our “free hotel certificate” at the Omni Hotel Interlocken.  So, we were committed to sleep there tonight.

When the drive ahead of you is fairly flat, large buildings tend to stand out.  You’ve seen the two churches that have drawn our attention.  One of the other things that seem to pop up were these buildings.  I think they are grain silos, but I’m not sure.

IMG_8920

Ooh cows. (See, I’m getting better with being in the country, I’m not referring to them as steak.)

IMG_8923

We found ourselves departing Kansas and crossing back into Colorado during sunlight.

IMG_0609

IMG_8927

The climb to Denver was not the sudden climb that I was expecting. It was a gradual one. I thought that the elevation changes would be more pronounced and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is. However, the clouds really are starting to look threatening.

IMG_8928

IMG_8929

We had the promise of sunshine ahead, and with it, the sunset photographs that my wife had enjoyed taking.

IMG_0617

IMG_8930

We switched panoramic devices to an older Pano App that played with the moving vehicle better.

My wife was able to capture the rainy weather ahead in panoramic.

IMG_0624

IMG_0625

She was also playing with taking inside the car panoramic shots.

IMG_0637

IMG_0638

IMG_0640

And then the rain started to drop.

IMG_8938

IMG_0618

IMG_8933

IMG_8936

The rain was quite refreshing.  After being threatened by it for the day, it was nice to finally have it pour.  Nature is definitely impressive and the backdrop of the country beside it makes one appreciate how much smaller we are in comparison to it.

The majesty of the sunset ahead as the rain took a break was a sight to behold.

IMG_0628

IMG_0631

Some chase rainbows, others are chased by rainbows.

IMG_8942

IMG_8943

And as we headed toward Limon, we see windmills in Colorado.

IMG_8951

The Colorado windfarms look a lot more dense than the ones to their neighbor East, Kansas.

IMG_8952

IMG_8953

I wonder if they get more wind in Colorado, or if it’s a case of “Keeping up with the Kansans.”

IMG_8954

Either way, the pursuit of renewable energy is something to be commended and good for you Colorado!

IMG_8950

Looking at the inclement weather in our rearview side mirror we made it to the Limon Supercharger.

Limon Supercharger

The Limon Supercharger is also located at an Arby’s (like the Topeka, Kansas one.) As much as I like to support those businesses that promote supercharging, we were still full from the stop at Applebee’s. Now if it was an Ice Cream or Ice Custard stop, I might have been able to be convinced.

IMG_0647

IMG_0648

It was actively raining at the Limon Supercharger stop.

IMG_20150522_194922

IMG_20150522_194918

In fact, some small hail pellets started to fall. The sunset and rain coupled with the red of the Tesla signs made for some interesting photo opportunities for the car as we charged.

IMG_20150522_195148

IMG_20150522_195152

Now, this was one of those stops that was “not required” by our range, so we intended to take a quick break, charge a few miles and then head on our way.

IMG_20150522_195208

IMG_0946

As I was taking panoramic pictures of the car with the supercharger and Arby’s behind it,

IMG_0947

another Tesla Model S from California drove in.

IMG_0948

We introduced ourselves to the nice couple that was driving the California Model S. It turned out that not only were they from California, they are from the same city that we live in. What are the odds to run into a fellow Model S traveler from our own city? They were proceeding Eastward to Iowa as we were headed West.

IMG_0949

We rolled out of Limon with 201 Rated Range to get to the Denver/Aurora Supercharger.

IMG_20150522_202109

IMG_20150522_202112

Figured we were still climbing the Rockies here so I wanted to make sure we had lots of charge.  Additionally, I photographed the trip meters because I wanted to see what the effect of this elevation and weather would have on our consumption of rated range.  After all, the day’s consumption was at a pretty inefficient 351 Wh/mi per Trip B, was that the rain or elevation?  Probably both.

Denver Supercharger

It was only 77 miles away, but we used 91 rated miles to travel. So, the usage wasn’t as bad as I thought.

IMG_20150522_213310

IMG_20150522_213316

The drive to Denver from Limon was actually more efficient than the drive through Kansas to Limon. Our day’s efficiency went down from 351 Wh/mi to 347 Wh/mi.

Now, the hotel we’re staying at is around 30 miles away and we wanted to get to Silverthorne tomorrow without having to charge overnight, so we charged up close to full again.

It was raining while we charged in Denver/Aurora, so we stayed in the car.  It was another hotel location.

IMG_0950

IMG_20150522_221018

It was getting late and we were looking at the promise of a “full service hotel”, so we charged close to 90% state of charge (SOC.)

IMG_20150522_221108

IMG_20150522_221113

Took a photograph again as I was interested in seeing the consumption from the charger across a rainy Denver metro area.

Omni Hotel Interlocken

IMG_20150522_224906

IMG_20150522_224910

We arrived at the hotel with 199 Miles of rated range overnight. and an improvement from our 347 Wh/mi consumption to 346 Wh/mi.

Go on to Day 22. Click here.

21_Topeka to Broomfield

Here, There, and EVerywhere – Day 20

A quick note of thanks to the Beatles for inspiring the title for this series of posts. This is the twentieth in a series of posts written about our trip that will be published four weeks to the day of the trip.

Missed Day 19, click here.

Day 20 – Drive on Thursday, May 21, 2015

Today’s goal is to cross Missouri, hopefully be on the other side of the state (around Kansas City, MO) by the end of the day.

Holiday Inn, Effingham

As I read on a T-shirt at the joint Tesla Supercharger-BP Gas Station that we charged in last night, “Where the Effingham am I?”. Looking out from our hotel room is another view of the supercharger and gas station.

IMG_20150521_100155

The same view, zoomed in.

IMG_20150521_100202

We lost six miles overnight, not enough vampire loss to prompt us to stop at the supercharger again. So we packed up and headed toward the St. Charles, MO supercharger.

IMG_20150521_101829

Pay attention to the 518.8 miles on Trip B. That’s what we did the previous day.

IMG_20150521_101824

A rather impressive cross can be seen at the side of the highway shortly after leaving the supercharger.

IMG_8666

Looks like Effingham, IL is on the way to many places. Thinking of Paul Simon’s song, “Graceland” with this sign. i.e. “I’m going to Graceland / Memphis, Tennessee / I’m going to Graceland…” Except, we’re heading to St. Charles, which is just past St. Louis.

IMG_8667

It was strange because our regenerative braking is being limited. I wonder if this was because of the weather overnight. Not the sort of thing we normally see as we garage and live in Southern California, so I’m guessing that’s what the dashed limit lines are for. It didn’t stay long for long, but enough to take a picture of it.

IMG_20150521_102418

We encountered another issue on the drive to St. Charles Supercharger, it seems that the mobile data on the Model S just wigged out. (Yes, that’s a technical term.) If you look at the photo below, there are 3 bars, but neither 3G nor Edge is indicated. The typical fix for these sort of “Ghost in the Machine” errors is to reset the center console and driver display; however, that’s entirely inconvenient to do when driving. So we proceeded on.

IMG_8669

Figured that this data connectivity issue was the Model S because my wife’s iPhone 4 is on AT&T 3G. On this trip, more often than not, the Model S actually had a signal when her phone had no signal, I suspect that the Model S either has a stronger antenna or the Tesla SIM card has additional roaming agreements to cover those parts of the country that an AT&T direct product does not. Either way, this was the first time on the trip that we’ve encountered the car’s Internet connection being disabled while her iPhone still worked.

We’ve been traveling with three different mobile networks (AT&T, T-Mobile, and Virgin Mobile), so we tethered the car to my T-Mobile Blackberry and kept on driving. You can see the wi-fi indicator on the car in the photograph below. With that temporary fix in place, we proceeded on our journey with the plan to reset things when we come to a stop.

IMG_8679

Is today partly cloudy or partly sunny? Either way, a beautiful view of the countryside.

IMG_8671

IMG_8672

The view was rudely interrupted by the start of some construction on the roadway.

IMG_8673

IMG_8674

Looks like we’re passing Lebanon. Again, not the same Lebanon, either. 😉 It seems that a lot of places are named after other locales.

IMG_8682

IMG_8684

When I spotted the sign, I asked my wife to try to take a picture of it. I found it entertaining to be driving on the Paul Simon Highway away from Memphis, TN. Especially after thinking of his song “Graceland” just a few miles earlier.

IMG_8686

The route to St. Charles had us bypass St. Louis by taking the Northern route via I-270.

IMG_8687

With that we crossed into Missouri. Like many borders, the river is the border between Illinois and Missouri. This state line sign is over the midway point of the bridge.

IMG_8693

We crossed over to the mighty Mississippi River. A river immortalized in the writings of Mark Twain and his characters Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. The river is brown. I wonder if that’s because of the depth of the river, or something worse. Apparently, it’s been brown for a while.

IMG_8695

A much nicer state welcome sign was ahead on this route.

IMG_8696

We made it to St. Louis on this drive.

IMG_8697

St. Charles is just passed St. Louis. The Gateway Arch (aka “Gateway to the West”) is South of us at this point (off I-70.)

IMG_8698

It was near lunchtime for us. We didn’t know what to expect when we arrive at the St. Charles supercharger, so we went online and found out that according to Trip Advisor 2015 two of the top three BBQ restaurants in the US were in Missouri, specifically, St. Louis and in Kansas City.

This information gave us the idea for “the BBQ run.” (We thought, why not try to do our own comparison between the two restaurants ourselves.) We were barely passed St. Louis that I proposed to turn around and head to Number Three on the 2015 List (and 2014 as well,) we re-directed ourselves to Bogart’s Smoke House.

IMG_8700

Until we decided to re-direct ourselves to St. Louis on our route, we were going to ditch the Arch.

IMG_8701

The arch is an impressive sight to behold from afar.

IMG_8702

And our route took us closer to it.

IMG_8704

In fact, the restaurant is on the other side of the arch from us.

IMG_8705

IMG_8706

My wife was able to catch an interesting shot of the arch through the panoramic glass roof.

IMG_8707

As well as our rearview mirror.

IMG_8708

Bogart’s Smoke House 

IMG_20150521_124516

We made it to Bogart’s Smoke House and found a line out the door. We queued up and parked the car down the street. However, as we were waiting in line, the prime parking spot in front of the restaurant opened up, and I moved the car.

IMG_8714

The barbecue was excellent, went with some ribs and brisket sandwich.

IMG_20150521_125759

Some happy diners seated outside and enjoying the sun in the picnic benches for some al fresco dining.

IMG_20150521_125722

The prime parking right in front of the restaurant has a meter, but is a great spot for pictures of the car with a really great restaurant in the background. Or a great shot of the restaurant with a great car in the foreground. Either way, it was cool to get the spot in front.

On the way to @TeslaMotors St Charles MO Supercharger... Bogart's BBQ in St. Louis! Roadtrip 2015!

IMG_8713

Now, if you visit Bogart’s we found out later that the parking on the street perpendicular to the entrance is free (right beside the same picnic benches that we sat and ate our lunch on.) But, the picture was worth paying St. Louis street parking.

IMG_20150521_132656

The line upon our arrival was much longer, however, there is still a line later in the lunch hour crowd.

IMG_20150521_132621

IMG_20150521_132752

The barbecue was not only top-notch, but the service was even better. The restaurant staff were very helpful and accommodating. We would not have heard of the picnic benches had we not been assisted by the restaurant staff. As a special treat, the chef was very friendly and welcoming to the diners and even posed for a picture with us.

IMG_20150521_131836

The barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, MO have very big shoes to fill.

We were full from lunch and happily headed back to St. Charles for our supercharge for our Missouri state crossing.

Before we started on our trip, remember the lack of 3G/Edge on the car’s Intenet connection, so I proceeded to reset the front panel and display by doing the reset pattern (press and hold the top two buttons (right and left) at the same time for a minimum ten seconds AND press and hold the two rocker wheels (right and left) at the same time for a minimum ten seconds.) Unfortunately, this did not resolve the 3G/Edge issue.

We wanted to stop off at the arch for a picture near the base, but the construction and other things made it difficult, so we pressed on.

IMG_8718

IMG_8719

Until we meet again St. Louis. And now, we’ve officially passed the “Gateway to the West.”

IMG_8720

As we headed toward St. Charles, I gave Tesla’s Roadside Assistance to help with the 3G/Edge issue. Roadside Assistance saw the signal from the car just fine. We determined that this was because we had it tethered to my Blackberry. However after we turned off the tether, it resolved itself. The agent said that he was just checking status and had not actually done anything else to fix it. So, we just made note of it and pressed on.

St. Charles Supercharger

This supercharger is interesting in that it had five stalls. Most superchargers are even and the St. Charles. When you’re faced with a choice to charge in a supercharger with an odd number of chargers, I would suggest to pick the sole A stall that does not have a B stall to pair it with. I would guess that that charger will not be split by any other car coming to charge.

As you can see, I didn’t follow my own advice. I was used to charging by myself on this trip.

IMG_0919

IMG_20150521_141553

Forgot to reset Trip B, so we decided to reset at St. Charles and calculate the first miles of the day as 159 miles. Remember the 518.8 miles that was on Trip B at the start. The distance between last night’s charge and the hotel at the start of the day is 0.8 miles, after all.

IMG_20150521_141601

IMG_20150521_141607

One of the main reasons why we supercharge extra miles is to be able to go on a “detour.” And we were rewarded with our stop in St. Louis today.

IMG_0920

IMG_0921

At the St. Charles Supercharger, we wanted to see what the navigation would do when one were to try to navigate from St. Charles Supercharger to the Independence Supercharger, the car will try to route you quite a ways around. 1,148 miles to travel a 213 mile distance. I suppose this is the appropriate time to remind folks that the trip planner on firmware 6.2 is still in beta.

IMG_20150521_141920

Here is the route when you force it to route directly. (i.e. select the “Remove all charging stops option.”

IMG_20150521_141938

It’s important to note that the car doesn’t trust that you’ll have enough charge to get from St. Charles to Independence. Note the empty battery with the red triangle through it and “–” percentage under the battery denotes that the car will think that you’ll be empty before you arrive at the location.

IMG_20150521_141948

Impromptu Tesla Model S Meetup

We’re not nearly as brave as others that have driven this route. We figure to stop off at Columbia, MO at one of the destination chargers enroute. To minimize the time spent at Columbia, MO high power wall charger (HPWC,) we decided to do a range charge. (Realizing that I haven’t defined this term in a while,) a range charge is when one charges the car to 100% of the battery’s capacity.

As we charged the car, other Model S soon started to arrive at this location.

The first to arrive was the P85D on the left. The car was driven by recent owners from Colorado on the way to Florida. They did the drive from Independence to St. Charles on one charge (driving very close to 65 mph for that route).

Shortly thereafter, a big SUV drove up to us to welcome us to the city and supercharger. The gentleman driving the vehicle was a member of the city council and helped approve the installation of the supercharger. We had good conversation and we thanked him for his vote.

IMG_20150521_151947

The other two Model S were driven by a couple of locals. Jim M and Matt M, no relation.

Matt works nearby and decided to just drop in and check out the new supercharger in his area. He was surprised by the number of Model S that were using the SCs when he arrived.

Jim is a very experienced Tesla owner and has actually done some several thousand mile roadtrips before the SCs were even in existence. Jim knew @LithieTWTesla and the HPWC that they share on Plugshare 30 miles West of St. Charles. However, we already had a plan to stop in Columbia, so we stuck with that.

IMG_0925

So, this is how an impromptu Tesla Meet-up was borne.

Now I planned to show the new D owners one of the benefits of standard (non Dual Drive) ownership and show our spare tire to him. However, when we tried to open the frunk, it jammed. Looking at a jammed frunk made me somewhat cross, so I called the Tesla St. Louis Service Center to see if they can fit us in. The service concierge went to check. However, one of the benefits with meeting with other Tesla owners is the fact that there is always someone who might know more about the car than you.

By the time the service advisor called back, my wife had told Jim what the problem was and he was in the process of teaching us how to fiddle with the manual frunk release.

IMG_20150616_175857

There is a release underneath the right side of the glove compartment. Pull it toward you (down and to the rear of the vehicle.)

IMG_20150616_175843

Once you pull that back, within the frunk is a button around the middle that you can depress and push slightly then pull up to release.

IMG_20150616_175934

IMG_20150616_175929

This took some fiddling, but it worked just fine and we cancelled our planned detour to the Tesla St. Louis Service Center.

The appearance of four Model S became the talk of SmashBurger (located right across the superchargers,) that one of the customers at SmashBurger, came out to ask us about the cars. We spoke to him about the benefits of EVs and Tesla and he was intrigued. Nothing drives home the point of limitless driving to someone located in the MidWest than showing him a California license plate. Additionally, those that are prone to purchasing American vehicles have no counter to the fact that Tesla is a decidedly American car, and more so when the Gigafactory is producing the batteries for the car’s use.

IMG_0926

With our range charge completed and our EV advocacy completed, we headed out toward Independence, MO with the plan to get dessert and coffee at Glenn’s Cafe at the Tiger Hotel in Columbia, MO.

IMG_20150521_154915

The route between St. Charles and Columbia is through Missouri Wine Country. We opted to skip it.

IMG_8734

The first “classic” water tower that we’ve spotted on this trip.

IMG_8736

Tiger Hotel, Columbia

The valet parking at the Tiger Hotel is shared with Glenn’s Cafe.

IMG_20150521_173637

We switched the car to valet mode and handed the valet our key.

IMG_20150521_173626

Prior to choosing to stop at the Tiger Hotel, we called ahead and inquired as to the charging policy. We were told that it is complimentary for guests of the hotel or Glenn’s Cafe. We were also told that the valet parking is $4.00 if we opted to just valet/charge the car. We chose to go for dessert and coffee at Glenn’s Cafe.

IMG_20150521_173633

When the valet parks the car, they will make a right at the first street ahead and an immediate right into the alley around the corner from the entrance to plug it in.

IMG_0928

The Tiger Hotel has both the HPWC and a J1772 charging station available to guests in the alley behind Glenn’s Cafe. Each charger is locked up in a box with a combination like below.

IMG_20150521_184036

IMG_0927

The HPWC is located in the rear box. The front box is where the J1772 is located.

IMG_20150521_184028

We plugged in and started charging with 79A/213V for an approximate 50 miles per hour rate.

IMG_20150521_184054

The Tiger Hotel is located a comfortable 103 mile distance from St. Charles Supercharger.

IMG_20150521_184101

IMG_20150521_184228

Some closer shots of the HPWC behind its locked cabinets.

IMG_20150521_184233

IMG_20150521_184235

IMG_20150521_184240

We made sure to check in to the the beta of the (now released) Teslarati App for iOS for this Tesla destination charger.

Glenn’s Cafe

Though we got to Glenn’s Cafe close to 5pm, we were determined to make it to Kansas City, MO to complete the BBQ Run.

IMG_20150521_175917

We had Bread Pudding – with whiskey sauce & chantilly cream.

IMG_8741

IMG_20150521_175920

And the Gold Brick Sundae – Brownie topped‏ w/ double bean vanilla ice cream, strawberries & banana topped w/ new orleans gold brick topping & whipped cream.

IMG_8740

The coffee was good, nothing spectacular, but the dessert made up for it. So a recharge for the car and travelers and we are good to roll.

IMG_20150521_184319

The Tiger Hotel

The Tiger Hotel lobby and entrance looks like it was restored well. This is a shot from where we waited for the valet to come back to take our ticket. The door pictured is the entrance to Glenn’s Cafe from the Tiger Hotel lobby.

IMG_8742

IMG_8743

From the valet, the entrance is just up these stairs.

IMG_8744

The lobby looks good, but we had a goal to cross Missouri today.

A picture of your travelers with the Glenn’s Cafe sign in the background.

IMG_20150521_185300

IMG_8745

And another shot of us with the Tiger Hotel sign in the background.

IMG_20150521_185315

We got our car back from the valet, switched back from valet mode to me and we were on the way to Kansas City for dinner and try to catch Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que.

IMG_8747

Columbia is definitely a University town. That looks like a University building.

As we drove out of town and stopped at an intersection, we noticed a gentleman in a nice Porsche 911 that was checking out our Model S, not an entirely unheard of reaction on this trip. What was comical was my wife noticed the guy in the pickup beside him was checking out the 911.

IMG_8748

IMG_8750

Challenge of heading West is the sunset is ahead of you. The challenge with taking sunset pictures is choosing the one to share with our readers, so here are a bunch of sunset pictures, enjoy.

IMG_8757

IMG_8759

IMG_8761

IMG_8766

IMG_8776

IMG_8778

Switching devices gives us a different view of the things that we photograph.

IMG_8798

IMG_8800

IMG_8801

IMG_8804

Now these sunset pictures meant that it was going to be tough to make it to Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que original ‘Gas Station’ location. So, we figured to call them to see if we can make arrangements to pay for our BBQ ahead and just take the order to go.

The GPS was estimating our arrival at their location around the 9pm closing time (with a variance +/- 5 minutes.) Around 8pm we called and spoke with the person on staff who answered the telephone to see if we can place an order for pickup. That person was unable to assist, so we asked for a manager. The manager was unwilling to take our order even when we offered to pay for the food ahead with a credit card.

So, the BBQ Run ended with a whimper and Bogart’s Smoke House won the contest by forfeit. It’s interesting to contrast the type of service and congenial nature of the staff that we received at Bogart’s with the somewhat irascible treatment that we received from the manager at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. I don’t know about those that got to rank the place, but service is definitely something that I value, so we decided to just skip the place and proceed to the Independence Supercharger instead.

Independence Supercharger

Having nearly completed our Missouri crossing before the evening, we decided to press onto one more supercharger. We figured to find a place to stay at or near the Topeka Supercharger.

IMG_0930

IMG_8810

IMG_20150521_203924

IMG_20150521_203921

We were the only ones at the supercharger.

IMG_8811

The superchargers are located beside a Bass Pro Shop. Up until today, we’ve never been to a Bass Pro Shop. Since the shop was still open and I was curious, we decided to head into the shop.

IMG_8812

Bass Pro Shops

As I’ve mentioned numerous times, we’re “city kids.”

The Bass Pro Shop is a “trip.”

IMG_20150521_204316

It is huge and multi-leveled.

IMG_20150521_205021

The top level is apparel and the bottom level is something else.

IMG_20150521_205024

There’s an impressive aquarium stocked with fish. I don’t know what the purpose of the aquarium was, to practice fishing in, perhaps?

IMG_20150521_205128

IMG_20150521_205131

There were these “nature” scenes with what I hoped were animatronic animals, but would guess were probably not artificial.

IMG_20150521_205219

IMG_20150521_205231

IMG_20150521_205718

IMG_20150521_205722

So far, this is probably the closest I got to “wild” animals on the trip.

We stayed in the store until it closed and headed back to finish our charge in the car.

IMG_20150521_210106

IMG_0931

Once completed, we headed to Topeka.

Apparently Kansas has a Turnpike, ’cause we had to pay a toll when we took the drive to Topeka.

On the way there, there was this interesting truck and trailer that was ahead of us.

IMG_8816

Topeka Supercharger

So, a short drive from the Independence Supercharger, we found ourselves in Topeka. We were planning on staying at a hotel about a mile away from the Topeka Supercharger.

IMG_20150521_230355

IMG_20150521_230401

We decided to supercharge in the evening as we were still quite awake when we arrived in Topeka. So, we redirected ourselves from the hotel to the supercharger location.

The supercharger is located in the parking lot of an Arby’s that was already closed when we got there.

IMG_0932

There were hotels on the other side of the Arby’s but we decided to stay at the Hyatt Place about a mile away from the supercharger.

IMG_20150521_232619

IMG_20150521_232715

We charged the car to a high enough level so that we will not need to charge in the morning even if we lost ten miles of rated range.

Hyatt Place Topeka

The Hyatt Place Topeka is a very comfortable hotel. Hyatt has done a good job of ensuring that each location in Hyatt Place sub-brand is very close to how other Hyatt Place locations are. As a result, there’s a baseline one can expect. And this location met the expectations.

IMG_20150521_233354

IMG_20150521_233358

We arrived after 465 miles of driving, remember to add 159 miles to the total mileage for the day as we forgot to reset the mileage when we arrived at the St. Charles Supercharger. We checked in with 215 miles of rated range and a drive to the Rockies tomorrow.

Go on to Day 21. Click here.

20_Effingham to Topeka