Utah

No post yesterday as I couldn't get the wifi to work in Blanding, Utah. I would like to nominate Blanding, however, for the "easiest Tesla supercharger to locate". It is right there in a parking lot 100% visible 10 feet from the highway. Yay!

I drove to the Grand Canyon yesterday morning from Flagstaff (burned 100 miles of range for the 86 mile trip) and then re-charged at the Trailer Village RV park (free if you are plugged in less than 6 hours) within Grand Canyon National Park while I hiked around for awhile. The Grand Canyon free shuttle picks you up right at the RV park and as long as you call ahead for a reservation and give them a credit card to hold it for you, it is all good! I had a full charge when I left to head to Blanding, and despite what I have read in other blogs, I was able to monitor the charging from my phone app (i.e. there was enough of a cell signal at least some of the time, mostly in the village itself). As I left the Grand Canyon and in the moments I had a cell signal, the nav system on the car said Blanding was 250 miles away, which I figured I couldn't make. So, I planned to stop at Goulding's Campground RV Park in Monument Valley, Utah, which is about 75 miles shy of Blanding.

Entering Monument Valley at sunset

I arrived at Gouldings still with 100 miles of rated range and briefly contemplated just continuing to drive, but plugged in anyway. They charged me $10 for 2 hours of charge, but there was a shuttle van into "town" and back, a free museum and movie about the history of monument valley, and a recommendation by the shuttle driver to have a Navajo Taco on frybread at the restaurant, so all in all a great deal! I learned all about the history of Monument Valley and its relationship with the Navajo nation and also with John Wayne. I only added about 30 extra miles of charge, but on unfamiliar roads in the middle of nowhere at night it seemed like a good idea. I arrived at Blanding after burning 80 rated miles for the 75 mile trip.... This over-land route saved me about 500 miles had I followed the supercharger network through New Mexico, plus the scenery is unbelievable. When I came upon Monument Valley I thought "what the heck IS this place??"

Today was another goof around day and I only traveled from Blanding to Moab, 75 miles. However, there were a few side trips...

Canyonlands National Park is a gigantic park that is mostly "primitive". I visited the Needles section today. There is water in 2 places but certainly nowhere to plug in a car!! It took 66 miles of range to get from Blanding to the Needles Visitor Center (about a 75 miles trip). I then drove around in the park, including down a 3 mile unpaved road to get to the Elephant Canyon trailhead so I could hike in to look at the "needles" rock formations. The park ranger assured me "any vehicle except a big camper or someone with a trailer" could make the trip. I put the suspension on high and crept down the one-lane road, no problem. Maybe I was the first Tesla in that parking lot??? I took a photo just in case...

At the Elephant Canyon trail head, Needles Section, Canyonland National Park

The Needles of Elephant Canyon

As I was getting ready to leave, the nav list of superchargers said the Moab charger was 30 miles away. It is weird how they give the supercharger distance in terms of "as the crow flies". Once I programmed it in, really it was a 73 mile drive. Being more downhill than up, I only used 70 miles of range to get there. So -- no problem going from Blanding to Needles to Moab -- could have also gone to Arches National Monument without additional charge, but I plugged in for a bit in Moab since it was on the way.

Arches National Monument

Today and yesterday I have been noticing all of the yellow diamond-shaped signs on the side of the road. They all warn about something -- but the animal ones are interesting in the southwest. At home we see the one with the leaping deer. In the past few days I have seen lots with the deer silhouette, and also several for elk, cattle, sheep and even a mountain lion! Any mountain lion who wandered out onto the road should lose their "big cat" status!! In Canyonlands I did come across 3 wild turkeys in the road, who didn't have a sign. I was beginning to feel like there were a lot of unnecessary signs posted along the roadside until this afternoon when the reasoning all becomes clear...

 Tomorrow I start driving back to Wisconsin in earnest. Those of you trying to reach me by phone or text should have better luck tomorrow as I spend most of the day traversing Colorado.