T minus 3 days

One would think I was leaving the Civilized World for a year with all of the "stuff" I am planning to take along! Probably would be completely fine with a credit card, duct tape, and my sunglasses...

I did do a "test drive" with an electric cooler I was given. It plugs into the 12v socket and can either heat or cool the contents of the "cooler". Interesting concept, and likely would also be nice in the motel rooms. Well, for two reasons that little device will be staying at home! One, the fan is annoyingly loud, even when the cooler is stashed behind the seat. Two, it seemed to increase my energy consumption by 30-40 Wh/mile, according to the dashboard graph. Not worth it! It is about 20 years old so likely there are more efficient things on the market currently, but a zip lock bag full of ice will do the trick for this trip.

I am learning about saving maps to the "cache" so I can look at them when there is no internet signal. I find the area I want on the Google Map app on my iPad, type "OK maps" in the search bar, and magic occurs. I have no idea where they are saved. I am told I will be able to not only look at the map when in the middle of nowhere, but also zoom in, etc as one normally would. Hope it works!

I also created a folder of pages on the desktop of my laptop via "save as webarchive" (in Safari) for each of the superchargers along the route -- from the Tesla web site list of superchargers. I like how each location is up on a single page with a clear map, satellite image, and list of what else is around. Those superchargers can be tucked away behind things and hard to find, particularly when it is dark, and somehow more so when your remaining range is under 5 miles...

This morning there was freezing rain in Madison. This afternoon it was 102 degrees in Palm Desert. No wonder my suitcase has so much in it!