Missouri

We managed to get about 45-50 miles of range by plugging the car into the outside wall outlet at our motel.  It helped us feel confident we could make it to the charger in Columbia without worrying about whether the one in St Charles was operational.

We spent half the morning with Anna, the widow of one of Andrea’s cousins.  Anna was delighted to see Andrea.  Their relationship goes back to when Andrea was a young girl.

We continued to see Eastern Redbuds as we drove west, but fewer and fewer.  I always associate them with the Appalachians, so I’m a little surprised to see them this far west.  Probably once we get to the open plains we won’t see them growing wild.

We drove west to Columbia.  We arrived at the charging station with 65 miles of estimated range on the batteries.  We were really glad for the extra charge overnight — otherwise we would have been very anxious those last hundred miles or so.

At the charger we met again a couple from California we’d seen at the Effingham charger.  In my limited experience so far, I find that some Tesla owners will chat at the chargers but often the car will be empty or the people in them distantly friendly.  When I rode a motorcycle, I would talk to some bikers at the stops and others we’d just nod at each other.  This is a little like that, but just a bit more distant.  We Tesla people may be on the cutting edge, but we don’t have the motorcyclists’  bond of braving the elements together.

Going west, we ran into some rain and some light rain and some misty rain.  But this area is farm country, and the fields were showing off their rich, dark soil, some already with tiny green shoots showing above the dirt.

The last charge in Missouri was just off the highway in Independence, just east of Kansas City.  The charger is at a Bass Pro Shop.  I’d been in Cabela’s, so I had an idea of what to expect.  But this was almost overwhelming.  All I could think was: Now I know what’s in all those garages people can’t get their cars into and all the self-storage units we see along the way — STUFF!

It was a shorter driving day.  We’re glad to be at the motel, even though it is going through a major renovation.  The sky looks ominous.  Perhaps it will clear before morning.

Monday, April 18, 2016