Page to Flagstaff

We headed off first thing from Page AZ. My intention was to get to Amarillo TX. I knew we could make it home in two days from there. Karen’s health continued to deteriorate so I was keen to make quick progress home.

As we were travelling down US 89 from Page to Flagstaff an SUV behind us started to flash their lights at us repeatedly. Thinking this was some sort of road rage I ignored the flashing lights. The trip to Flagstaff was very pretty, I was glad we came home a different route.

Flagstaff to Winslow – Vehicle breaks down

After supercharging at Flagstaff we joined I-40 for the 1,500 mile trip home. Not long after getting up to speed I started to hear a strange noise from the car. I assumed it was the road surface and continued on. As time went on the noise started to increase until it got to be very noisy. We were going to have to pull over. I saw an exit ramp ahead and pulled off. We had arrived in Winslow AZ. I pulled over at a disused gas station to examine the car. I saw the Aero Shield under the front of the vehicle had come loose and was catching the wind at speed forcing the shield into the ground. I went to the gas station on the opposite side of the road and bought some duct tape and taped the shield up best I could.

So there I was standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona much like the lyrics from the Eagles song “Take it Easy”. I suppose I was running down the road and my load did loosen.

Winslow to Holbrook

We rejoined I-40 and to my suprise the duct tape stopped the Aero Shield from rubbing on the ground. I inched along at 60 miles an hour. We didn’t need to charge at Holbrook but I wanted to inspect the duct tape job to see if it was OK to go faster or not. We stopped at the supercharger and when I looked at the repair job it was clear that after just 35 miles of driving the duct tape was not going to survive the journey home. It had already started to come loose. I added more duct tape until I had none left.

Holbrook to Gallup

As we drove on at 60 miles an hour I realized we would have to get the car seen to. We simply weren’t going to make it home. The question was where? When we arrived in Gallup to charge I contacted the closest Tesla Service Center in Scottsdale AZ. They were not very helpful, simply confirming I could take my car to any Tesla Service Center. I pushed them to let me know where on my way home to Tennessee the closest one on I-40 was. They indicated Albuquerque or Santa Fe. So off to Albuquerque it is, its on the way home anyway.

Before leaving Gallup I called by a gas station and picked up a monster sized roll of Duct Tape and reinforced the failing repair best I could.

Gallup to Albuquerque

We drove carefully to Albuquerque and charged at the supercharger there. We also visited WalMart to get Karen some Mucinex to help with her cold. She slept most of the journey today.

I looked up the address of the Service Center. It is 20 miles north of Albuquerque in a city called Bernalillo. That seemed like an odd location, why not locate it alongside the other car dealers in the city? We drove to Bernalillo and found a hotel to stay the night. Being Memorial Day the service center wouldn’t open until the next day. The Service Center opened at 8am. I negotiated a late checkout with the hotel to give us time to repair the car before heading out. We had until 2pm to check out the next day. Tomorrow promised to be an interesting day.