Yesterday I bolted out of bed at 5:30 AM and checked my watch. Yup, my alarm did not go off. Apple (“in their infinite wisdom”) defaulted to PM when I set our 4:00 alarm last night. Why? This is not the first time this has happened. Sure, I should correct myself for the iPhone, but isn’t the point? I should NOT have to do that.
As I was the culprit in getting a late start, I gave Ellen all the time she needed to pack and go. We left around 6AM. There was some traffic around Walnut Creek, but pretty much smooth sailing all the way through the grapevine and down to Anaheim.
We stopped to charge at Gustine, near the Anderson’s split pea soup restaurant. We’ve eaten here in the past and were not impressed. Rather we played two hands of Phase 10, then had sufficient charge to move on. Our next stop was Harris Ranch. We “always” stop here. The food is quite good. We arrived around 9:30 (I think, I have the time recorded but not with me). There was another S and a model 3 charging when we arrived.
I highly recommend the chipotle pulled chicken tostada. It is new (to me) on the menu. The two tostadas bookend a small portion of rice and beans and a generous portion of yummy chicken. Two eggs cooked how you like them sit atop the upper tostada. The corn tortillas are cooked crunchy. The crunch along with the egg and chicken are wonderful. It’s textural heaven. Ellen had a Belgian waffle with fresh strawberries atop and whipped cream and maple syrup on the side. This was my favorite before the chipotle chicken.
There are enough chargers along Hwy 5 that you do not have to charge to nearly full to make the next charger. When we left we had charge to leapfrog the next supercharger. The Tesla navigation system now choses superchargers along a long route and shows approximate charge time at the next supercharger. It also shows the number of cars charging and the number of open charging stations in real time. In a few instances we’ve found one charger full and could drive to another that had open chargers.
Our “S” is remarkably smooth and fast. On a number of occasions Ellen would calmly call out “82” or “84” implying that at 82 or 84 mph I was going too fast. Ellen drove one leg of the route. I had fun noting that she let the speed creep up to 90+ mph occasionally exceeding 95. The issue is less that she is uncomfortable with speed, but more that the view from the passenger side adds an apparent 25mph to your speed. 82 looks like 107 and 95 looks like 120 mph from shotgun.
Three of our favorite spots to stop on the way to San Diego are Harris Ranch, Tejon Ranch, and San Juan Capistrano. The only difficulty is San Juan Capistrano. Where the others have extended superchargers to 24 per site, San Juan Capistrano has 7; just 7. Further when we arrived two of the 7 were being serviced! All five stalls were in use and we had to wait. One freed up in about 15 minutes, but still that’s a pain. As the model 3 build out continues, this problem will increase.
When the model X was introduced it took weeks for us to see our first one. In the first six months we didn’t see more than a handful of them. We’ve seen more than a handful of model 3’s in our day trip to San Diego. We see more S and X models, though not by much. Every 3 owner we spoke with loved the car.
I have never been happier with our Tesla S. I really enjoy our Boxster S, though at nearly 20 years old, it is “old school” and not technologically sophisticated. I am sure the drive train is quite sophisticated. It is the handling that makes the Porsche outstanding. It is the comfort, power, speed, and high tech that is the hallmark of Tesla. Both are great and successes in their own right.
We had Bun at a Vietnamese restaurant in San Juan Capistrano. All the times we’ve stopped there, we did not notice the restaurant. Kevin, our waiter, said the owner was never interested in building the restaurant’s success. He owned the entire block and was comfortable with no need for more headache. The new owner/manager is building the business and has signs out front. That’s what drew us in. The Bun was good. It had significantly more meat than a traditional Bun would have. The cuts of meat were good, not excellent, though the way the meat was grilled and the spices used were excellent. We’ll go back.
It is a long drive to San Diego from San Francisco. The drive is made easily manageable with a Tesla. My favorite feature of the car is SINGLE PEDAL DRIVING. Press down on the “gas” pedal and the Tesla accelerates, ease off and the car slows. With no pressure on the “gas”, the de-acceleration profile is perfect. The slower it goes the more de-acceleration is applied, but in a smooth way. I’ll often drive for long periods without using the break pedal, even in stop and go traffic! Our breaks may last a decade or two!
Today, Tuesday, I skipped a Peloton session. I was not sure what Chanda’s work plans were for the day. Tomorrow I’ll be back in the saddle in the morning.
Le Roi is being his old self. When he wants attention, he buries his snout in my elbow. “Hi Le Roi, what’s up?” He’s a good boy.
