There are no words to explain that initial experience of seeing the immensity of the Canyon for the first time in your life. You begin to wonder how it is possible that something like this could exist naturally — until you realize that the only way for something like this to exist IS naturally. No man-made attempts can compete. Even the Niagara has been affected by humans (in that they decreased the flow considerably to preserve erosion). This — that’s it. No words.
I walked the pathway to the various available viewpoints. Surprisingly, every spot gave a different perspective despite how expansive the Canyon is. This speaks to the incredible depth and variation of its contours and colours. And as the day progressed, the Canyon kept changing in character. You could just sit there for hours and stare without boredom. And that’s exactly what I did. I found one of the many rock seats made available, channeled my inner introvert (redundancy intended), and just soaked it all in. This is about as close to heaven as I could imagine.
I had originally planned to stay for an hour or two, knowing that I would one day return with a plan in hand. But I couldn’t leave. My heart wouldn’t allow it.
Humour Break: My brother was SO WRONG!!!
So I was in planning mode. If I could find a charger for Sparky for the night, I was going to stay. In fact, I could survive the night without a charge (having fully charged in Flagstaff before coming in with over 60% charge remaining, and a downhill drive back to the I-40), but best to be safe knowing I would have climate control on all night.
PS: The navigation in the Tesla is wrong. There were no chargers at Park Headquarters. I checked... a lot. I then ask Visitor Services, and she “wasn’t sure” but said to try the parking lot at the Yavapai Lodge. Yup! Three Tesla chargers, and another three J1772 chargers. Unfortunately, they were located in a convenient parking location and unmarked. This means it invited gas cars to park there. I live in an EV world, but am reminded that there are many people who have never experienced an electric vehicle and don’t understand that these parking spots are not an option for them. I left a kindly worded note on a Range Rover that parked in a Tesla charging spot, as my contribution to the education of EVs.
I went to the Lodge, and then to the Market. And there were two more J1772 chargers, which time clearly marked — and really space-aged looking! I tried out out, and the charging light reminded me of Battlestar Galactica. (Wish I had taken a video now!)
So 8 charging spots for Teslas that I found. I have marked them here in the map.
There is a lot to share about visiting the Grand Canyon in a Tesla. I do intend to dedicate future blog posts to specific tips to prepare for some of the places I visited, and road tripping in general.
So it was all settled — I was staying for the night. I would not leave until I had witnessed a sunset and sunrise at the Canyon. I proceeded to the Lodge where I connected to the free wifi to do a little research. First, what are the park hours. For the South Rim (where I was), it was 27/7 365 days/yr. Perfect! Sunrise here I come! Next, could I sleep in my car. I figured if I plugged into a charger for the night, that would prepare me best for the next day. But the answer was no. So I headed towards the Mather Campground where I purchased a campsite lot. $18/night was a small price to pay. (I realized now that there were EV owners who plugged in for the night and just slept in their car for free anyway! Don’t know how they managed to avoid the rangers but maybe having your car plugged in was a viable reason to allow us to sleep for free?)
The last thing I did was cancel my AirBnB in Flagstaff for that night. Lost over $87 — and worth every penny!
The campground services document the time of sunset and sunrise. So I took a snapshot of the times, and planned my return to find a good viewing spot. Apparently, watching the sunset and sunrise are super popular events for tourists, and so I had to shut out the noise once again to enjoy the view. I was reminded how in my younger years, hiking to a perfect viewing spot meant avoiding scream kids and loud tourists calling each other or loudly arguing. But nothing was about to spoil my date with the Canyon.
I headed over to the sunset, and parked myself in a good spot for 90 minutes. I watched the colours and shadows change over the course of the evening, and was mesmerized.
At about 7:45 pm, I decided it was time to get Sparky charged up as much as I could before headed to the camping spot for the night (where there are no RV hookups). I captured him with a beautiful twighlight backdrop. I was happy.
Just as I was plugging in, I met another Tesla Model 3 owner there from Colorado Springs who had just taken delivery of his LR in late May. Being in about the same phase of ownership as I, we enjoyed sharing our amazement over how incredibly easy it was to road trip with this car — and to be in a place like the Grand Canyon at no cost. The effortless drive up in elevation, the convenience and decreasing range anxiety over time — it was all so fun to gush with a fellow Tesla owner!
I plugged in, and then tried to take a nap. Honestly, the sunset experience had raised up my adrenaline, and I couldn’t sleep, though I closed my eyes and tried.
It was fortunate that this was not my first camping experience in my Tesla. After two nights in Ontario, I knew the drill. The only thing missing was the LTE coverage, which was there very faintly in spurts, but not consistent enough to run music all night. So I resorted to my phone. After all, I could keep it plugged in all night and not run the battery down. Oh the joys of not having to worry about power! Unfortunately, the sleep was not as comfortable. Looking back, I should have cleared my passenger seat and slept there instead of the driver’s side (like I had done in Ontario). I even resorted to trying to sleep in the back seat, but after a while, I was desperate to stretch my legs. In the middle of the night at around 2AM, I absolutely HAD to go to the bathroom. (GULP). I opened my door to the noisy loud crickets all over, opened the flashlight on my phone, and proceeded towards the general direction of the bathroom (according to what I saw on the map). Pitch black, and unmarked paths, I managed. I met two LARGE critters at the sink while washing my hands. Jumping green crickets are cute when you are watching “Pinocchio”, but NOT in real life. I have a lot to learn before I’m ready to go hiking again — I’ll get there.
I had set my alarm for 5:20 AM to make sure I was up in time for the sunrise. It turns out, there was already a lot of light when it went off. I panicked, and drove off (very quietly and cleanly.... hehe) back to the visitor centre and practically ran towards the viewpoint of choice. I had not brought water with me, and was scrambling uphill with my asthma starting to activate in struggle for oxygen due to the higher elevation. But nothing was going to stop me. Sunrise is MY favourite time of the day — and I had to see it over the Canyon.
Now, I’ve turned into a morning person over the last decade. But I treasure quiet in the mornings. I don’t socialize. I don’t turn on music or the TV. I just want peace. But when tourists consider sunrise as a “must-see”, peace is far away. Once again, chattering ladies speaking way louder than they need to (I’m one of them, but NOT in the morning!), and more screaming, crying kids. It was difficult to find a perfect spot. This is something I will plan well the next time I visit.
Fortunately, time lapse worked (on a crappy iPhone, but it’s something)
I then plugged Sparky back in, enjoyed a hearty Grand Canyon buffet breakfast, before heading out to the West Coast.
*****
I have to admit that it was over ambitious of me to think that I could make it to San Jose by the early evening. It turned out, I arrived at midnight, completely exhausted and tired from sleep-deprivation. The Supercharger stops were brutally hot — the hottest to date ranging in the low 40s (celcius). It got as high as 111 degrees Fahrenheit! TOO HOT!
But I was finally on the West Coast — and I loved it!
No matter how late I would be, navigation had lead me to the Kettleman Supercharger. I could not resist!
I proceeded to go straight to the counter, buy a Tesla T-Shirt (for the Fremont Factory visit the next day), and totally “fan-girl” at the Tesla employee at the desk. She was super gracious in listening to my great North American adventure, though it was at the end of her work shift.
I was pleasantly surprised to find decently fresh food in the vending machine, and a drink machine that served you in the most robotic manner I’ve ever seen!
I connected to wifi there, and almost immediately, I got this:
Could it be? I had been hearing about Version 10 the entire road trip! Was it here?
It was another 3 hours to San Jose, and it was already 8PM. But I couldn’t resist! I unplugged Sparky, turned off Sentry, and went for it! Turns out, it was just chess and dog mode improvements. Oh well. I mean, I’m not even sure V10 has rolled out to early access owners yet!
*****
I managed to arrive at my AirBnB in San Jose at almost midnight. Of all the AirBnBs, this is the second most expensive (but still way cheaper than hotels), and the worst of them all. So no shout-outs here on this host.
However, I did sleep.... OH did I EVER sleep!
Today’s adventures have taken an interesting turn. Will report when the day is over. However, I have found this pocket of time wonderfully productive. I found a wonderful cafe with strong wifi (so glad to be in California!), and treating myself to Parisan-style croissant and some ice coffee.
Next door, there is a Boiling Point. California feels like my second home now.
******
This days odometre reading: 25,627 kms
KMs traveled on this road trip so far: 12,265 (double-gulp! Need a tire rotation BAD!)
My referral code: somi22310
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for responding! :)