Tesla Model 3

We really enjoyed our stay at the Grand Canyon. Karens’s health has deteriorated and we discussed returning home. Our original plans were to go to Utah next and see Zion National Park among others and work our way home via Colorado Springs. Instead we agreed to one more destination before returning. We chose to go to Page AZ which is just over 138 miles away, but more importantly two thousand feet lower in elevation to help Karen’s breathing. The most direct route to Page is through the Grand Canyon Park, so we had to set off early to beat any long lines of people trying to get into the park. I was sure to top off the cars battery the night before so we could head straight out.

We got to Page by midday, Page is one hour ahead of Grand Canyon so we did lose an hour on the journey up. It is close to where the time zone changes so the car, phones and our watches could not agree what time it was. We reserved a room at a hotel when we arrived but they were not able to accept early check-in, they said not to come back until at least 3pm.

Horseshoe Bend and Glen Canyon Dam

We examined the map and decided to look at Glen Canyon Dam. As we were driving we saw a sign for the Horseshoe Bend Overlook which is on the Colorado river. We pulled over, the overlook is on Tribal Lands so we paid a $10 entry fee. After parking we discovered the overlook was a 1 1/2 mile walk, and it was 90 F. Karen chose to remain in the car and I headed off with plenty of water and my hat.

If you look closely enough you will see at least three faces on the rock face. I can find three can you find more? This was a totally unplanned stop, I didn’t even know this is where this famous portion of the Colorado River is. Nice to come across stuff somewhat at random, it is more satisfying that way. The little white specks on the river are people floating downstream on kayaks. This overlook was a high one for sure at over 1,100 above the river.

Then we continued our way to to Dam.

The color of the water is gorgeous. We took in the dam and it was still too early to check-in into the hotel. We looked at the map in the car and saw a small town with a marina on the lake. We headed towards Wahweep.

Wahweep Marina and Lake Powell

To our surprise the Wahweep recreation Area is a National Park. We used our senior pass to get in and drove to the first overlook. Wow, just wow, the view was stunning. The blue water against the red rocks was very photogenic. Lake Powell water level is very low, about 150 feet lower than normal at 30% of capacity. This water level is considerably up from where it was this time last year.

We could see the Marina and drove down there from the overlook. You couldn’t really see the marina once you got close and we lost our interest. The overlooks were the real prize here. We didn’t realize it but we were just 1/2 mile from the Utah state line, so we didn’t quite make it to Utah. So close.

Midpoint of our trip

This point marked the end of our outward journey and from this point forward we would start our journey home.

For our first full day at the Grand Canyon we took one of the parks shuttle buses. Many of the viewpoints are only available by shuttle bus during the high season. This prevents the parking lots or pull-overs from overflowing with private vehicles allowing more people to enjoy the sights.

We got to the park at 8:30 am and took the sights in until just after 1 am. With our Senior Pass we can afford to leave the park and re-enter later in the evening.

The views are stunning and each view point was unique in its own way. As we were sitting on the bus we saw a couple get on with T-Shirts advertising a High School in Hendersonville where we live. We asked them if they were from Hendersonville and the surprise on their faces was amazing. What a small world.

Here are a few select photos of the Canyon.

When we got back to the Hotel in Tusayan I took a quick trip across the road and charged at the Grand Hotel so we would be ready to start another day. The Supercharger station was empty when I was there for a quick top off. The setup at the Grand hotel is awesome. Twelve Supercharger stalls and beyond that nine Tesla destination charging stations.

On the second full day at the park we took a different bus route. We left the park fairly early and came back in the evening for some sunset views as well.

The drive from Sedona to the Grand Canyon is relatively short at about two hours. I planned a charging stop at Flagstaff and we also picked up some supplies at WalMart. We arrived quite early and were lucky to be able to get an early check-in at our hotel. The staff were very helpful and let me know I could use electrical outlets on lamposts in their parking lot to charge our car. I discovered that the 120v pigtail Tesla supplies has a ninety-degree at the plug which turns the cable in the wrong direction for the recessed sockets. I now know that I should carry a short extension cord with a straight plug for such situations. We relied again on the supercharger in town. We booked three nights to be sure we had time to take in all the sights. We waited until the line at the entry gate was relatively short, the National Parks Service has a webcam on their website for you to monitor how busy the gates are.

This is the first time for us to see the Grand Canyon and my big takeaway was how incredibly deep it is. Karen said it is mind bending. It’s very wide as well at eighteen miles but I have never seen a sheer cliff a mile tall. It has to be seen to be believed, photos can’t express the scale of the canyon. It reminded me of the Wile. E. Coyote and the Roadrunner cartoon, that’s a long way to fall.

Karen has developed quite a bad cough along with congestion. I suspect this might be associated with the higher elevations. Tusayan where we are staying is 6,612 feet, the south rim of te Canyon is 7,000 feet. I noticed that my breathing has become more difficult. At the end of this road trip series of posts I will detail the data from my Fitbit which shows that my respiration and resting heart rate has increased and oxygen saturation decreased.

After returning from the Grand Canyon I ran over the the supercharger across the road to top off the battery for the next days adventures.

We woke up and realized we didn’t have to pack and jump in the car for another day of driving. Sedona is a really beautiful city. It is very clean, strict building codes have even made MacDonalds change the color of their arches from yellow to green. One feature of the city that is awesome is that there is not a single red light in the city, all intersections are roundabouts and traffic just keeps moving. When exiting a business one can only turn right should you wish to turn left you use the next roundabout to do a U turn. Well designed city. Most of the restaurants are high quality and we had excellent food the whole while we were there.

I took a walk from the motel to Bell Rock and walked up to the base of the rock. There are trails that go around the base of the rock, however we had booked a tour of the area in the afternoon so I headed back.

The tour we took is a tour of the Sedona area on a Mercedes open air vehicle. When we arrived the host informed us that we were the only ones to book the tour at that time, so we got a private tour. In addition traffic was unusually light so the tour guide added extra stops in like a trip to te airport where you can see the whole city below you, the airport is built on top of a mesa.

Just outside the city limits a home has been built on top and into a mountain. The only way in is via cable car from the driveway hundreds of feet below. This structure has many residents of Sedona upset that this was allowed to be built. Unlike buildings within the city limits it uses bright primary colors like red and blue in contrast to its surroundings. If you look closely at the silver oval in the photo you will see the cable car cables

Later in the day we went to Tlaquepaque which is a neat shopping and restaurant precinct built around an old tree sanctuary. The buildings were built around the trees resulting in some bizarre situations where a tree grew up through the roofs of structures. We ate at a famous Mexican restaurant there called El Rincon Restaurante Mexicano. I preferred the meal we had at Pisa Lisa the night before.

Gallup is 6,467 ft in elevation and we could tell our breathing was more difficult. According to my Fit my blood oxygen levels are lower, resting heart rate higher and respiration rate went up. We are heading to Sedona next which is 4,350 ft in elevation so we should breathe easier tonight. On the way to Sedona we visited the Petrified Forest National Park.

Gallup to Holbrook

We had read that the most interesting parts of the Petrified Forest are on the southern section so we decided to drive past the forest to Holbrook and double back to the southern entrance. We topped off our charge at Holbrook. When I plugged in at Holbrook the charge rate was very poor for a V3 station. Then I realized this station had been expanded and they had both V2 and V3 charging equipment. I unplugged and moved to a V3 stall. Much better.

Petrified Forest National Park

This was the first National Park since leaving home four days ago. It finally feels like we are arriving rather than just travelling. The drive from Holbrook to the park was very desolate, as we entered the highway a sign said that they did not patrol the road at night or during storms, in other words you are on your own. The forest was very interesting, many of the landscapes looked like moonscapes.

Petrified Forest to Flagstaff

The forest was very interesting and relatively quite, no crowds. We set off for Sedona with a top off at Flagstaff. We could have made it on the charge remaining but I prefer to have extra when I arrive at a destination to give you some touring miles before you need to charge. We stopped at the V3 station in Flagstaff, there is aV2 station but it didn’t make sense to go to an old location. We charged for just 13 minutes.

Flagstaff to Sedona

As we were charging at Flagstaff I visited the Circle K next door to use their facilities. They were disgusting, I felt I could wait the extra 58 minutes to Sedona to avoid catching who knows what. This turned out to be a questionable decision. Just as we entered the interstate I was experiencing a “personal emergency” and we pulled off at the first exit and found a port a potty at a local park. The port a potty had just been delivered and was pristine. So much better than the Circle K bathrooms. Refreshed I got back into the car and Karen said that the road we were on was rated as one of the most pretty drives in the US. So we did not get back on the interstate and take the scenic route. What a delight this drive was, it certainly lived up to its billing, what a happy accident this was. When planning a trip it’s important to have a plan in case your plan doesn’t go according to plan.

Arrival at Sedona

We arrived at Sedona and checked into the motel. What a fantastic location with the best views we could have hoped for. The motel looks old from the outside but they did make the rooms modern and we enjoyed our stay. This is the view that greeted us from our motel window.

Car looses its brain in Autopilot.

As we jumped back onto I-40 I put the vehicle in Autopilot for the long drive ahead. Within a few minutes the car slowed and simultaneously tried to change into the passing lane as it was braking. I aborted the maneuver and put the car back onto autopilot. This problem repeated which was annoying but then the car did something quite dangerous, as it was returning to the right hand lane it suddenly slowed and returned to the passing lane, the car behind must have been very confused. This could have caused an accident. I stopped using Autopilot after this, even cruise control only was unreliable. t puzzled me what had changed from the first two days where Autopilot worked very well on the interstate.

At our first stop I cleaned the windscreen and all the cameras thoroughly. Unfortunately this did not fix the issue either. As a last resort I re-calibrated the cameras. I have not used Autopilot since re-calibration, I just don’t want the car doing something crazy while we are in the wilderness with no cell signal. I may not use Autopilot again until we are close to Nashville again. I suspect a camera maybe going bad requiring service, something I don’t want to do while on a road trip.

Amarillo to Tucumcari

The cars nav indicated we could make Santa Rosa in one charge. I chose to stop sooner to top off at Tucumcari. This allowed me to drive as fast as I needed rather than eek out a few extra miles. There must have been over fifty miles of wind turbines, Texas have a massive amount of wind energy.

Tucumcari to Santa Rosa

The landscape has now changed from Texas ranch lands to a mesa landscape with much less signs of civilization. We have now entered a true wilderness. It is very eerie.

Santa Rosa to Albuquerque – Navigation mis routes us to wrong supercharger.

The suggested charging stop at Albuquerque was a few miles off the interstate. When we plugged in the charge rate was very poor, it suggested a fifty minute charging session. The station we were routed to is a 150 kW V2 charging station. I knew from planning our journey we should be at a 250 kW V3 station. I looked how close alternate stations were and just a few miles down the road was a V3 station with plenty of open stalls. I unplugged quickly and went down the road saving at least 30 minutes. I have no idea why the Tesla navigation routed me to a busy V2 station when a lightly used V3 station was available and closer to the interstate. Elon there is a glitch in the matrix.

Albuquerque to Gallup via “Route 66 sign” at Grants.

The wilderness continues as we climb through mountain passes into Gallup. About half way to Gallup we stopped at Grants. Grants have erected an elaborate sign that one can park your car under for a Route 66 photo opportunity. This is no doubt an effort to save the city of Grants from becoming a ghost town. After I-40 took all the traffic off route 66, many of the cities that grew up around the trade the traffic brought have fallen on hard times and are sad looking. Let’s hope this sign can save Grants.

When we stopped at the Gallup supercharger we didn’t have to look too far for a hotel for the night. The Supercharger is in the parking lot of a Best Western.

We slept late until 8 am and almost missed the breakfast at the Holiday Inn we stayed at. Today is the “big stretch” from Arkansas to Oklahoma City the longest stretch without another supercharger this entire trip. The cars nav told us to top off again prior to leaving, about 10 miles were used by sentry mode which records activity close to the car while parked overnight. We set off at 10 am to see how far we could go. As we crossed the state line into Oklahoma we were greeted by some of the worst roads we have ever traveled on. Such a stark contrast to Arkansas.

Van Buren AR to Oklahoma City OK

I kept the speed to about 70 to make sure we’d make Oklahoma City in one leg. The navigation routed us off I-40 onto side streets and then I-240. It turns out that this weekend I-40 was closed for construction through Oklahoma City so we followed the detour. When we arrived at Oklahoma City supercharger we were greeted with a line with just one ahead of us. It took about 15 minutes for a stall to open up.

This location is an older V2 station where you share the energy with your neighbor, so the charging speed was low. The Navigation routing software could do with some enhancements. It was indicating an hour charge to get to Shamrock TX due to the slow charging speed. However it was about 60 miles to Weatherford where there was no line and we would charge more quickly there. It made more sense to leave when we had enough to reach Weatherford. This allowed me to drive at full speed without concern of making it.

Oklahoma City OK to Wetherford OK

We were able to drive quickly to Wetherford where we were able to charge at full speed. It makes more sense to charge enough to get you to the next station and drive quickly rather than trying to skip a station and have to watch your energy consumption in order to make it.

Weatherford OK to Shamrock TX

After charging at Waetherford we left for Shamrock TX. Shamrock is on the old Route 66 and they have a neat Route 66 center right where the supercharger stalls are. Finally after all the driving we are starting to see neat things.

Shamrock TX to Amarillo TX

The final leg we took on day 2 was to Amarillo TX. We stopped to book a Hotel with EV charging. The hotel we booked hosted Tesla superchargers.

We set off just after 9am. It was raining hard and I chose not use autopilot, I have seen too many YouTube videos of Tesla owners totaling their vehicles using autopilot in the rain. Autopilot does not let off the accelerator if you hit a pool of water. It rained for the first ninety minutes of our drive but then cleared up.

Home to Jackson TN

Our first charging stop was at Jackson TN. This is a really neat location with a Casey Jones theme. They have an Pullman coach from the railroad. We got Blue Bell ice cream in the country store to power us onto our next stop.

Jackson TN to Brinkley AR

We stopped just after 2 pm to get lunch, there is a Sonic close to the Supercharger so we were able to eat while the charge completed. Neat Sonic, it had a dog park and restrooms. It was a big lunch so no need for dinner out.

Brinkley AR to Van Buren AR

Arkansas has a slightly higher speed limit at 75 mph which allowed us to make better time. Arkansas take good care of their interstates, many stretches were new and very few sections had potholes. I started to get tired half way through this leg of the journey and we stopped briefly at a rest area close to London AR. By the time we reached the next charging stop at Van Buren I was done for the day. We found a Holiday Inn half a mile from the supercharger. The Hotel is very good, definitely recommended. Unfortunately the hotel didn’t have EV charging, the only hotel in town that did was a Super 8 which didn’t quite measure up.

We are planning a trip from Tennessee to the Grand Canyon AZ. Our last trip to Cape Canaveral FL had plenty of charging stations on the route. Out west things are spaced out more so we need to identify places we may face limited charging. I use A Better Route Planner to plan potential charging stops.

The outward leg to Flagstaff AZ is over 1,500 miles, nearly all of which is on I-40. The charging stops listed above are suggestions, actual charge stops and timing will vary on the trip itself, the car will skip busy stations in favor of lightly used ones. Station busyness changes during the day and the car dynamically selects the best route during the trip. Between Ozark AR and Weatherford OK the planner suggests a non Tesla CHAdeMO charging station at Okemah OK. Five years ago there were no Tesla stations between Nashville and Oklahoma City, this trip back then would have been very challenging. Today it’s much easier with just one long leg in Oklahoma. A 200 mile leg isn’t normally an issue, however the planner compensates for steady headwinds that will reduce our range, if the wind is light when we travel we will make it without this extra stop with range to spare.

Using the driving duration of each leg I have been able to divide the trip up into three days with about seven hours of driving each day. We will need two overnight hotel stays as we drive west. If we are able to, we will pick hotels that have charging stations which will eliminate two on the road charging stops. Hotels typically provide overnight charging at no extra cost resulting in savings.

In preparation for our trip I have enabled “PIN to Drive” which requires a 4 digit PIN to be able to put the car into gear. This will protect against theft of the car should someone be able to get into the car and start it somehow.

All we need to do now is pack our bags and hit the road.

We chose to attend Teslacon in Florida and make the trip by road in our 2018 Tesla Model 3. This was our first 1000+ mile road trip. Previously we had attended a Tesla event in Asheville which was a 600 mile round trip. With a modest road trip under our belt we felt more confident in making the trip from Middle Tennessee to the East coast in Central Florida.

Trip plan

We planned the trip with A Better Route Planner. It estimated it would take 13 1/2 hours to drive plus an hour of charging for 14 1/2 total drive one way.

A better route planner was set to assume an average of 65 mile/hr in making its estimates. Due to the length of travel one way we chose to stop off at a Hotel along the way. Our Hotel reservation at our destination in Port Canaveral was already made. To provide as much flexibility as possible we chose to select a Hotel while on the road, stopping when the time felt right. I took my laptop with me so that we could book a Hotel easily from a parking lot or restaurant.

Before the trip I had Tesla Mobile service do some maintenance. I had them replace the cabin air filter and 12v battery. I have these done every two years as part of my maintenance plan.

Outbound leg

We set off at about 9:15 am Thursday October 20th. Late enough to avoid rush hour traffic in Nashville. We stuck to the plan we had prepared stopping at Kimballl, TN, Atalnta GA and Fort Valley GA to supercharge. I was getting tired after 6 1/2 hours of driving so we chose to pick a Hotel. We saw we could book at Cordele GA or Tifton GA. Tifton is a little bit further and has a better choice of Hotels with overnight charging. Using Plugshare I could see Hotels that had a good reputation for charging success and used Hotels.com to see which Hotels had good reviews. We chose the Radisson in Tifton and reserved a room online using the Hotels website.

According to Plugshare the Radisson at Tifton has four Tesla destination stations and two J1772 stations. When we arrived I discovered that the Hotel had expanded to six Tesla destination stations and four J1772 stations for a total of ten plugs!! Three of Tesla units were broken and several other stations blocked with ICE vehicles. I was able to park next to a working Tesla unit that was next to the rear entrance to the Hotel. All of the stations are free to hotel guests. I updated Plugshare with the new plugs. I charged to 85% overnight and set the charge limit to 100% when we woke up using the Tesla app. The car reached 98% state of charge when we left.

Since we got a full charge overnight the plan to stop at Jasper FL was no longer appropriate. We used the cars navigation and stopped at Ocala FL. The supercharger at Ocala is an older one that opened in 2014 and it charges at just 120 kW. The plugs were all beaten up from many drops to the ground over te years, they did still work. I left the charge limit set to 100% and we sat down for a meal at Mimi’s. The slower charge was welcome, it gave us enough time to eat our meal and unplug the vehicle at 96%, this charge took 54 minutes, the time it took to eat lunch. The charge was more than enough to get to our final destination.

In Tennessee and Georgia, Superchargers are charged by the minutes on multiple charging tiers. In Florida Supercharging is billed by the kWh. When billed by the minute one needs to ensure one arrives at a relatively low state of charge and leave when the charge rate drops below 100 kW. This minimizes time charging and therefore total cost. In Florida charging speed is not relevant, you pay for what you use, so a leisurely charge over lunch was perfect. The cost of supercharging in Florida is at least twice as expensive as Tennessee or Georgia. The single charge in Ocala cost as much as the three charges on the previous day combined! While billing by the kWh is fairer than by the minute, by the minute supercharging does encourage drivers to move on rather than let their cars reach 100%. On balance I prefer by the minute supercharging.

Charging while at Teslacon

This article is about the road trip, not the event, so I won’t cover Teslacon here. We stayed at the same Hotel as the event, the Radisson Resort at the port. The Hotel does have two charging stations, one Tesla one J1772. However with 276 registered Tesla owners the stations were at a premium. We arrived early on Friday and I was able to get a charge to 90%. I moved the vehicle as soon as I saw the charge had completed. As I was unplugging a Tesla backed into the adjacent parking space and I handed the owner the charging cable.

We toured the local area visiting a beach, restaurants and took an Airboat ride. Airboats need to be electric to make them quieter. Later we visited the Manatee Sanctuary Park which did have two J1772 charging stations. I plugged in next to a Mach-e while we explored the park.

The night before leaving both charging stations were in use, actively charging vehicles. At check in I was informed that the Hotel next door which opened that month had six charging stations, but I did not feel comfortable using stations that are designated for guest use. When I woke at 6:30 am the day of departure I was able to plug in. We got a hearty breakfast at the Hotel which would sustain us until dinner time.

The return leg

We left the Hotel with a 96% charge at 9:30am, avoiding the rush hour in Orlando. I did not know until that morning if I would get a charge or not so did not plan the route back. We used the in car navigation to suggest charging locations. I set home as a destination and drove. Our first stop was at Alachua FL. The charging station looked brand new. I checked later on supercharge.info and saw it was opened just a few months previously on June 8th.

Next stop was Cordele GA, a relatively new station opened a year ago, charging was flawless. Next stop suggested was Marietta GA, we set off however as we were driving the car disengaged navigate on autopilot and rerouted to a less busy supercharger. The suggestion was the Acworth GA, arriving with less than 10% charge. I also noticed the estimated charge kept dropping. Rather than slow down to be sure to make the new Supercharger I queried Superchargers on the route and found that McDonough GA was closer. I’d arrive with 30%, not ideal but I preferred that since I could get well north of Atlanta before needing to stop and select a Hotel. In addition a charge boost would allow for the vehicle to reroute around the city center if traffic issues occurred, it was rush hour in Atlanta. Another reason not to chance it.

McDonough supercharger is just over a year old. Several of the outlets in the mall had not opened yet. There were limited options for food, I was able to find a bathroom in JC Penney. As we were travelling through downtown Atlanta traffic was OK and we made great time. I now faced the choice of finding a Hotel or simply driving on. I felt great so decided I would at least go as far as I could.

The plan was to stop at Kimball TN as our last charge. However as we were traveling up I-75 we noticed signs for Buc’ees ahead. Brisket sandwich vs Taco Bell was no contest. I did not navigate to the Supercharger as I prefered a slower charge to eat dinner. Buc’ees supercharger is in Adairville GA, well north of Atlanta. Another brand new location that had opened just three weeks prior. The Adiarville charger at Buc’ees was empty when we arrived, we got brisket sandwiches for dinner and ate while we charged. Two Teslas arrived as we ate dinner. I realized we could make it all the way home if we charged to 67% and would arrive at 9:40pm. I decided to just go for it and we did indeed get home by 9:40pm. A 13 hour drive. Autopilot makes driving less tiresome and at no time did I feel drowsy or in need of a nap.

Plan vs Actual.

On reflection the trip back from Florida was much faster than the trip down to Florida. This was in part due to incredible luck in not having traffic holdups returning home like we did on the way down. In addition we used 250 kW charging stations exclusively on the way home, most of which were new, empty or lightly used. Does that mean one should not plan? No, plans can change but planning is important so you know your options should you change your mind on the fly.

A better route planner estimated the charging cost would be $54 for the outward leg to Florida. The actual cost for the round trip was $107.82. ABRP got the cost right almost to the penny, just 12 cents difference at $108 for the round trip!! The estimates per charging station were not the accurate, but overall it nailed it.

The travel time was very conservative with ABRP, since I had it set to use 65 mph as an average. I averaged more than that, saving over an hour compared to the plan for the return leg. Not having any holdups at all on the way home helped boost the average speed significantly. I would still plan with an average of 65 mph to account for traffic holdups.

Trip Stats and the value of Hotel charging.

The journey was a round trip of 1583 miles with 450 kWh of energy used. I averaged 284 Wh/mile.

Supercharging was totally flawless, every plug I tried worked and charged as fast as expected. Stopping every 2 1/2 hours is very reasonable for a long road trip, giving you the ability to stretch your legs and visit the facilities while charging. I got 4,500 steps according to my fitbit, so I did get a reasonable amount of exercise finding restrooms etc. I think this helped me stay alert the whole way.

I have always charged an EV at a Hotel and sought Hotels with charging stations when staying away. Running the numbers for this trip showed the value of doing so. Leaving the Hotel with a full charge means the first leg of the journey takes you to lunchtime before you need to stop to charge, up to three hours. It’s a great time saver over using supercharging the night before. In addition it saves quite a lot of money. More than I realized.

Hotel charging represented 25% of the total energy used on this trip and saved $50 (at Florida supercharger rates). Hotels provided 116 kW of free fuel. Thanks Radisson.

I noticed on my trip that nearly all the J1772 public charging stations were free and did not require membership to a network. All the stations were clipper creek brand and all seemed to be in good working order. I used several with no problems, no RFID cards required, plug and charge, the way it should be.

The state of charging infrastructure has improved dramatically in the last twelve months. 75% of the superchargers visited were opened in 2021 or later. The same journey just a year ago would have been slower and require meticulous planning and execution. Tesla have done a great job ‘filling the gaps’ on the charging map. The trip was anxiety free and very enjoyable. Road tripping a Tesla is the way to go.

What’s next

Now I know I can make a long trip with no issues, next up is a really long trip out west. Hopefully in the summer of 2023.