The drive from Trinidad Colorado to Rocky Mountain National Park was a breeze, compared to the first day’s drive. No rain, hail, no tornado warnings. Again, the drive and charging stops went like clockwork. Our first charge of the day was in Monument, Colorado, a northern suburb of Colorado Springs and we arrived within ten minutes of our schedule. A Whataburger was located a couple blocks away, so we picked up lunch and took it with us to the chargers.
The next stop was in Boulder. We did not need to charge but had planned on meeting a friend for a beer. Unfortunately, he had to pick up his son from school. His son was not feeling well. We decided to reschedule for our trip home, when we pass through Boulder again. We needed a few supplies and there was a Trader Joe’s next to the chargers, so… Multitasking! When we got back to the car we met a couple who were charging their very first (rental) EV. We answered a questions and headed up, into the mountains.
We arrived at our campsite a little ahead of schedule around 6PM. We put up the tent, offloaded some of the gear in the car and took a quick drive up to Bear Lake, just to see if the parking lot there was as crowded as it is in the summer (it wasn’t, so we parked). There was still ice on part of the lake’s surface and snow in mounds on the trails. Looks like it’ll have been a smart move to buy spikes to strap onto our hiking boots.
Then it was then time to drive down into Estes Park for Bonnie’s Avocado Margarita at Ed’s Cantina.
We arrived at our campsite a little ahead of schedule around 6PM. We put up the tent, offloaded some of the gear in the car and took a quick drive up to Bear Lake, just to see if the parking lot there was as crowded as it is in the summer (it is). Then it was down into Estes Park for Bonnie’s Avocado Margarita at Ed’s Cantina.
We arrived at our campsite a little ahead of schedule around 6PM. We put up the tent, offloaded some of the gear in the car and took a quick drive up to Bear Lake, just to see if the parking lot there was as crowded as it is in the summer (it is). Then it was down into Estes Park for Bonnie’s Avocado Margarita at Ed’s Cantina.
A little about the avocado margaritas: Bonnie accidentally discovered these at a random stop in Ed’s Cantina for dinner. She has been talking about getting her A.M. for a couple weeks now and as soon as our campsite was set up, she was ready for her cocktail. And yes, it was as wonderful.
Tesla “Camp Mode”
We allowed the LostHorizon mattress to self-inflate, zipped our sleeping bags together and got dressed for bed and our first experience with Tesla’s “Camp Mode.” Camp Model allows you to sleep in the car while running the air conditioner or heat and the audio system. You van recharge electronic devices via the multiple USB-C outlets (or with the inverter we bought, plugged into the 12V outlet. (It’s actually 16V, but looks like the old “cigarette lighter” type of port.)
Camp Mode was easy to start, using the smartphone app. I started it, set the desired temperature for the car’s cabin and could have played music but decided against it. The large touchscreen displayed a camp fire burning to show Camp Mode had been started. I was surprised at the number of stars I could see through the Model Y’s tinted glass roof, but it was dazzling. Bonnie likes it cooler than I, so I set the cabin temperature to 65℉. Unfortunately, I forgot to record any sort of battery status (charge level, available driving range, etc) to evaluate how much energy Camp Mode used. We did plug in several portable devices (smartphones, tablets, etc). The outside temperature was forecast to be around 30℉. I’m not sure if it actually got that cold, as the 4 one gallon bottles of water we left on the table did not freeze.
It’s off to bed for us, so stay tuned for Camp Mode results!
Check out Day 3 of the Texas to Colorado EV Road Trip!
