Sunday morning 2AM, March 16th, we drive home.  Orlando to Miami, FL.  Our battery has been somewhat depleted from the races,  yet we’ve located a few EV chargers on the way down, so we can recharge while grabbing a late night bite.   Kohl’s is piloting an EV charger program and they have chargers in 33 locations.   At 3AM or so we pull into a shopping mall off of I95 in Melbourne at a Kohl’s to use their Chargepoint EV charger from of charge.  We grab a bite at an all night McDonald’s while the car charges up a bit.  Satisfied we have enough on the …

Friday evening, March 16th. Daytona Beach to Orlando, FL.   We decide to move on to Orlando so we can participate in the drag racing the following night at the Orlando Speed World Dragway.  It’s a short drive to the Orlando area and upon arriving we have dinner at one of my favorite chains, Sweet Tomatoes.   We have a difficult time finding a reasonably price hotel near an EV charger, but finally settle on the Winter Park area with an EV charger 2 miles from the motel.   Even here, 50 miles from Daytona there are many bikers staying at the motel.      After  settling in at the motel, I drop the …

I’ll have to go back and read my own blog, but I don’t believe I have covered this particular matter in enough depth.  This car is a Magnet for attracting attention.  A really powerful People Magnet.   If you want to remain inconspicuous, or stay out of the spot light, do not buy a Tesla.  If you really want to have a Tesla, then be prepare to accept a somewhat constant job of being polite to complete strangers at any given moment.  It’s not uncommon for people to expect you to roll down your window, to scream out to them, “IT’S A TESLA”, while driving 75 mph down the interstate. …

Thursday, March 14th.  Gainesville, Ocala to Daytona Beach FL.   Today is a short drive.   Two days back after seeing lots of motorcycles on the roads, I recalled Bike Week in Daytona might be happening.  After checking online, indeed we confirm Bike Week is in full swing.  Juan is a big motorcycle aficionado, like myself, so it doesn’t take much effort to persuade him to agree to a change in direction and head East rather than South.  Glad we are heading to Daytona rather than Tampa.   I could drive 10,000 miles in this car in one trip!

We make the brief drive from Gainesville to Daytona driving the car …

Hi Everyone.  We’ve exceeded an impressive milestone.  We have surpassed the original 5,000 miles planned and we have passed 5,400 miles in route to Miami, Florida.   We have named over 90 winners from our customer database.  Each winner will receive either 60 Panasonic hearing aid batteries or 60 Panasonic AA/AAA alkaline batteries.   We are giving away one battery for every mile traveled on this Tesla EV cross-country trip.   Batteries are awarded to lucky customers in quantities of 60.   The side trip to Vancouver and Whistler, Canada at the outset of our road trip helped to push the distance traveled to this higher level.   We are …

Wednesday, March 14th.   We are up to 5,400 miles traveled and by the time we arrive to Miami Beach, it’s possible we may break 6,000 miles.  The distances I am using for the Post headings are distances I’m pulling from MapQuest.  I’m sure if you were to add up the distances mentioned in the Posts, it doesn’t add up to the 5,400 miles we’ve traveled.   In the Post headings, I haven’t been counting all the driving around we do, once arriving to each destination.  But it is official, our odometer reads 5,400+ miles.  It’s time for us to select and post more winners of free batteries.   Never …

Tuesday March 13th.   We are focused to move on.  No late Monday night for us in the French Quarter.  I take the St. Charles Trolley back to Whole Foods to retrieve the Telsa.  Return downtown and Juan is already at the hotel entrance with our bags.   We take I59 to the I10 and blast through Mobile, AL without stopping.  Sorry Mobilians, I’ll come back and visit.   Then we come upon the  Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile Bay, spotting it from the highway.

I’ve always been fascinated by military hardware, having almost become a Naval Aviator upon leaving college (that’s another story).  I beg …

Monday, March 11th.   Monday is probably not the top day for visiting New Orleans, but we’re both excited about the visit since neither of us have been to this exciting city.  It’s a short 85 mile drive and we arrive by lunch time.  Our hotel is downtown, but we can’t locate any EV chargers downtown on our charger data bases.  I guess the people of New Orleans are very focused on electric cars.  Fortunately, the Whole Foods, at 5600 Magazine St. has two chargers in their covered parking lot and we head there for lunch to scope it out.   As usual, two gasoline cars are parked in the EV …

Sunday, March 10th.   Saturday night was pretty uneventful,  Juan was worn out from the stressful afternoon of almost running the Tesla down to zero charge in The Woodlands, me I wanted to stretch my legs and explore the the City Center shopping area near our Four Point Sheraton hotel in West Houston.  Another great deal hotel deal of $46 from Priceline, name your price.

Sunday upon waking we are ready to move on, heading East we take a short detour to pass through downtown Houston and snap a few pictures.   We head East on I10 and stop in Beaumont for lunch at a truck stop and to charge the car …

Saturday, March 9th.   Dallas to Houston ought to be an eash drive.   Our last night in Dallas we leave the car charging at the hotel from a 110V outlet that a hotel engineer allowed us to use out back by the pool’s utility area.  We parked close enough to use the Tesla’s power cable without the need for an extension cord.   At only 2-3 miles per hour charge I believe we didn’t quite charge the battery to full prior to leaving Dallas.  The closest EV charger is around 4 miles away, which is the only disadvantage to the hotel location.   Since our trip is only 240 miles …