These reports and photos are of a road trip from Anaheim, California, to the 2nd Annual Midwest Tesla Gathering in St. Louis, Missouri. My wife and I are doing this trip in our new red 2016 Tesla Model X P90DL. This particular report is of Day 2, the segment from St. George, Utah to Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Note: This report is a rough draft. I have not yet done a spell check or final edits. Since we are driving this road trip right now, devoting time to driving takes priority. As I get time at our stays along the way I'll make final edits and spelling corrections. But for now, please pardon any errors.
There are many more photos for this day of Tesla travel than could be included in the body of this report. To see ALL of the photos that were taken on this day, click here for the slide show!
We woke up about 7:30 AM Mountain Time in St. George, Utah, and got ready to get back on the road! We stayed at The Inn at St. George which had adequate rooms and was reasonably priced. There wasn't any hotel within walking distance of the St. George Tesla Supercharger so I just found one nearby that had good reviews and decent rates. I would stay here again on a future trip, but probably would see what other lodging is available at a reasonable price just to explore what other hotels have to offer. There are a lot of restaurants, shops, and outdoor activities in the area, but we didn't get a chance to go to any of them as this was just to be a quick overnight stop.
We departed The Inn at St. George around 10 AM with 220 miles of charge on the battery.
As you can see from the above photos, if towing a trailer, it would be difficult to charge without unhitching. It could be done, but probably not without pulling in lengthwise and blocking all of the charging spots. Another gray Tesla Model S was already charging when we arrived. This was a different Model S than the one we had been running into on the prior day of our travels.
I took photos of the menu at The Timberline Restaurant but did not include them in the body of this report. Click here to view the menu. After viewing a page of the menu, click on the "Next Slide" link for the next menu page.
The Tesla GPS said we had enough charge to skip Richfield and make it all the way to Green River, Utah. But because of the mountain climbs, the extra weight in the car, and my habbit of driving a bit above the speed limit, I decided to stop at Richfield and top off the charge anyway. Plus I wanted to get photos of the Supercharger there and check whether or not it was "trailer friendly" for future reference.
If you were to be towing a trailer, you could pull into the one end charging spot which is configured for pulling forward into it. The trailer would not block other Tesla vehicles from being able to get to the other charging spots. There are additional photos of this Tesla Supercharging location and what you can see around from this spot. I did not include those photos in the body of the report, but you can view them in the slide show by clicking here. After viewing each photo, click on the "Next Slide" link.
There is a Holiday Inn Express across the parking lot from this Tesla Supercharging location. When we took this trip last year in our 2015 Tesla Model S P85D we stayed the night at this hotel. I've heard good reports from others about the staff and accommodations at this hotel. If you'd like to see the report and photos of this segment of the Tesla journey that we did last year click here.
The scenery on the drive through the mountains between Richfield, Utah, and Green River, Colorado, was breathtaking! I've only included a few highlights in the body of this report. It is worth seeing the full set of photos of the scenery in the slide show that can be viewed by clicking here. After viewing each photo, click on the "Next Slide" link.
On our return trip last year traveling in our 2015 Tesla Model S P85D we stopped at many scenic turnouts along I-70 between Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and Richfield, Utah. Thus there are many unique photos of the scenery from that trip that you won't find from this trip. To view a slideshow of this segment of our 2015 Tesla trip, click here. After viewing each photo, click on the "Next Slide" link.
If towing a trailer you could pull in parallel to the chargers, perpendicullar to the parking spaces without unhitching. If you charge at the one on the far left, you would block 2 or 3 of the charging parking spaces, but I think the one on the right end where I charged would still be available.
On our trip last year we spent some time visiting this museum while waiting for our Tesla to charge. We also took a photo of our Tesla Model S in front of the above giant watermelon. Last year they did not have a roof over the watermelon which made for a better photo op.
These rock arrangements were also there when we stopped here last year. Curious if these rocks were cemented or wired together, I attempted to pick up one of the rocks off the top of one of the arrangements. It wasn't attached at all! Someone has just carefully arranged and balanced these stacks of rocks! All I could think was there must not be much vandalism in this town and they probably never have any earthquakes. There must have been a dozen or more of these rock towers, each more precariously balanced than the next.
The Tamarisk Restaurant is directly across the street from the Green River Tesla Superchargers. Almost the entire restaurant overlooks the Green River. The above photo was taken from our seats in the restaurant. Since we just had lunch at our prior charging stop, we just ordered coffee and a diet soda at this restaurant. They kept coming around with free refills for both. I took photos of the menu at The Tamarisk Restaurant but did not include them in the body of this report. Click here to view the menu. After viewing a page of the menu, click on the "Next Slide" link for the next menu page. There were a number of hotels within convenient walking distance of this Tesla Supercharging location.
If you are towing a trailer, you could charge without unhitching but might have to block a number of charging parking spaces. At the end of the row of charging spaces there are regular parking spaces. If those are empty when you arrive, you could park there with the nose of your Tesla just blocking 2 or 3 of the charging parking spaces. When we were there, those regular parking spaces were occupied.
There is an entire shopping mall in the same parking lot with the Tesla Superchargers. The closest place for food, restrooms, and free WiFi is the Taco Bell which is just a few steps from the chargers. I went in to the Taco Bell and ordered a medium diet soda. The gal at the register asked: "Is that all that you want to order?" After I said: "Yes", she said: "In that case there is no charge." That was a bit of a surprise! I thanked her and headed back to my car with my free medium diet soda!
There was more great scenery between Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Again, I've only included a few highlights in the body of this report. To see all of the photos of this scenery, click here. After viewing each photo, click on the "Next Slide" link.
When we arrived there was just one other Tesla already there charging, a white Model X! This is the first other Model X that we have encountered on this trip. The first time I charged at this location I thought most of the Superchargers were not working. There were white cones blocking many of the charging spaces. I didn't realize that was just to discourage other vehicles from parking in the Tesla charging spaces. I've only run into a few places that put cones in spaces to discourage parking of non-Tesla vehicles. I guess the parking lot sometimes can get pretty full here and they want drivers to look for other available spaces before taking up one of the Tesla Supercharger spaces. When we arrived only one of the spaces did not have a cone blocking it and we selected that space for charging. If they had all been blocked by cones, I would have just gotten out of the car and moved the cone out of the way.
As with many other Tesla Supercharger locations, you could pull in and charge without unhitching if you were towing a trailer, but not without blocking a number of Tesla charging spaces.
There is a Residence Inn by Marriott in the same parking lot with these Tesla Superchargers. We would be spending the next two evenings at this hotel. There will be more photos and information about the hotel and downtown Glenwood Springs in my next post.
Around 7:30pm we went into downtown Glenwood Springs to grab some dinner. It is a short drive from the Tesla Superchargers and out hotel, maybe about 2 miles. As you can see above, a railroad line runs right through downtown. Two of the main old buildings in the center of town is the train station and Hotel Denver. Both are shown in the above photo. I'll be proving more photos and information about the hotel and the train station in my next post.
We went to the Bookcliff Vineyards Tasting Room downtown. We had first topped by this place when we passed through here a year ago. The owner, John, remembered us and remembered that we owned a Tesla. Last year when we visited we purchased 3 bottles of wine and discussed not just the Tesla, but our common interest: wine and vineyards. John remembered that we own the Silver Rails Vineyards in La Plata, Missouri. At this wine tasting room you can get one taster glass of wine for free. Each additional tasting glass is $1. We each got a taster glass of 3 of the red wines and then ended up buying bottles of all 4 of the Bookcliff red wines.
We then went upstairs in the same building to the Las Palmas Mexican and Seafood Restaurant. This was a bit different than most other Mexican restaurants as it also featured seafood. We sat at a table near the window. As you can see in the photo above, we had a nice view out the window. The food was quite good and I'd definitely recommend this restaurant.
My next post will cover the day that we spent in Glenwood Springs.
There are many more photos for this day of Tesla travel than could be included in the body of this report. To see ALL of the photos that were taken on this day, click here for the slide show!
A bit more than a year ago we traveled almost this exact same route but in our 2015 Tesla Model S P85D. For the report and photos from this segment of the route from last year click here
Note: This report is a rough draft. I have not yet done a spell check or final edits. Since we are driving this road trip right now, devoting time to driving takes priority. As I get time at our stays along the way I'll make final edits and spelling corrections. But for now, please pardon any errors.
