Texas to Colorado EV Road Trip: Day 3

Day 3 started with a somber note. My mom passed away in November 2021. Her remains was cremated and divided among her three sons. She loved Galveston, but scattering of ashes is not allowed there. I have been struggling with where to scatter her ashes when this trip came up. She absolutely loved Rocky Mountain National Park. My mom and dad started bring us to the park around when I was 8 years old. We always stopped at the head of Moraine Park to look down the valley at snow-covered Stones Peak. I did not know scattering of ashes was permitted in national parks, but stumbled across the web page where you fill out a request. I submitted my request for scattering on Eagle Cliff mountain, which slopes down to Moraine Park. At a relatively early hour, for privacy, Bonnie and I scattered mom’s ashes among a circle of stones I found on the ground, looking right down the valley. I think she’d be pleased with the spot we selected. On the way there, I listened to Shake Russel’s song, “Sing Something Pretty for Me.”

Sing something pretty for me,
Like a red rose I wanted to be,
Look into your heart and remember please,
Sing something pretty for me.

My brother had called me, come as soon as you can,
Our mother is weak. Her time is at hand,
To return to our Father and see Him again,
We talked all through the night as the candle burned dim,

He says he remembers asking her once,
Mom, when your time is over and the angels shall come,
What songs should I play then? What words can I say?
She thought for a moment as a smile crossed her face,

Sing something pretty for me,
Play a tune with a sweet melody,
Look into your heart and remember please,
Sing something pretty for me.

As I write down these words my tears fall on the page,
For the one I had loved has left here today.
Lord, give me the wisdom, God grant me the grace,
And then through my sorrow, I hear her voice say,

Sing something pretty for me,
Like a red rose I wanted to be,
After I’ve gone, darlin’ don’t grieve,
Look into your heart and remember me.

Sing something pretty for me,
Play a tune with a sweet melody,
Look into your heart and remember please,
Sing something pretty for me.

Aw, look into your heart and remember please,
Sing something pretty for me.

After the scattering, we drove back to camp and got ready for our first hike. We knew some of the hike had snow that was slippery, so we included boot spikes and trek poles in the equipment. We decided to take the transit bus to Bear Lake and hike back to our campsite, which is mostly downhill. Coincidentally, our campsite was located at the head of the trail we would be taking, the Glacier Creek trail.

The hike from Bear Lake to our campsite was a great first hike, being just 4 miles long. Sections of the trail, under the forest canopy, were covered in hard-packed, very slippery snow. We got to try out the strap-on snow spikes for our hiking boots. We had heard the Nymph Lake / Dream Lake / Emerald Lake trail had lots of snow, so we needed to get some experience, since that hike is a tradition for us and we intend to continue the tradition on this visit.

The photo to the right is the view from where we had lunch during the hike.

Tesla “Camp Mode” Update

Last night we did get the chance to measure how much driving range was lost to Tesla’s Camp Model. We set the heater at 58℉ and ran it for about 10 hours. The outside temperature dropped to the low 30s overnight. When we went to sleep, the display showed 229 miles of driving range. When Bonnie awoke (she’s a late sleeper, compared to me), the display showed 215 miles of range. Camp Mode used about 14 miles of range. Based on an average of 3.5 miles per kWh, that represents about 4kWh of electricity expended. at that rate, if we didn’t drive the car at all, would allow us to use Camp Mode for 14 nights, at 10 hours per night, before we’d reach the 20 mile range minimum enforced by Tesla. On the negative side, Bonnie and I are 5’6″ and 5’2″ tall and even we found moving around inside the cargo area to be challenging. If you’re much taller than us, you’ll need to move the front seats forward and support the head of the bed, where it will hang beyond the back seats. We did not have to do that.

Trail Ridge Regen Test

Another RMNP tradition for us is driving to the Alpine Visitor Center near the top to Trail Ridge Road. Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved road in the United States, reaching a height of 12,183 feet above sea level. We usually wait at least one day for Bonnie to get acclimated to the high country. When we have driven up Trail Ridge immediately upon arrival, Bon suffered a headache.

In this specific case, we couldn’t make it to the Center because the slow had not been cleared from the highest elevations yet. This normally is done by Memorial Day, but the late snow this year prevented that.

What we found was that getting from our campsite (Elevation 8,500 ft.) to the closure point of the road, at Rainbow Curve Outlook (Elevation 10,829 ft.) used 35 miles of range. That drive is almost all uphill. The drive back down to camp regenerated 7 miles. In other words, it used zero electricity on the way back and the electric motor, being forced to rotate by the car rolling downhill, generated about 2 kWh of electricity and stored it in the drive battery. (more on this later…)

In the evening, we decided to charge the car. We found the Tesla Superchargers located in a remote lot behind the Stanley Hotel (inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King’s “The Shining”). It is an awful location for charging. There is nothing nearby, just a parking lot. It’s not even within walking distance of anything other than the hotel. If within walking distance, local businesses can benefit from the patronage of EV drivers. This is one of the main reasons I join the TxETRA Education Project on their Texas EV Road Trips. I want to make sure people in smaller towns and cities, who have relatively little EV experience, make the right decisions on charger types and locations. Perhaps in this specific case, charger location was driven by electric infrastructure, but based on other DCFCs in town, it’s looking like Tesla and/or Estes Park made a mistake.

Check out Day 4 of the Texas to Colorado EV Road Trip!