In summary, the biggest (and saddest) event is that my Tesla was side-swiped by another car who didn’t see me in the next lane before he decided to change lanes. The least eventful is the disappointment in my round of tech visits.
But let’s start at the beginning.
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Like I do every night, I logged my total kilometres the night before and gasped. This road trip had already hit 12,425 kms. For RWD, the recommendation is to rotate the tires between 9K to 12K. If you consider that the last rotation took place about a week before the road trip started, I had far exceeded the maximu by quite a margin. Knowing that I was driving over 7 hours the next day towards the south, I couldn’t bear going any further without finding a place to rotate my tires.
And so here’s another road trip tip: Calculate how many kilometres you are travelling, add about 10% beyond that to compensate for your travels while staying at a city, and book a rotation service appointment ahead with Tesla in the city you are planning to be in. If you are driving across the country like me, it will take a lot of planning to figure out which city that will be, but there is virtually no chance of getting your tires rotated without at least a 2-3 week wait.
Or you can do what I did. I managed to find the nearest Costco, and it looks like tire rotation is a drop-in type appointment. They said that they were busy and that they could get it down within the next 4 hours. I thought this meant “IN” four hours, but apparently it meant I had to leave my car there for the net 4 hours. I figured that would cut down my excursion time in the city, but this had to take priority.
And so the previous post was crafted in a coffee/pastry shop across the way.
I had to admit, with the temperature significantly lower than the previous three States, the presence of so many Asian-focused shops and restaurants, and strong, consistent, complimentary wifi, I was perfectly happy. There was even a side of me that hoped that they would take the full 4 hours so I could enjoy this time to myself. Then again, it’s possible the garage guys looked at the ticket, saw a Tesla in for service, and wanted to grab it for the chance to drive in a Tesla. Of course, Valet mode was on... but still. :)
A mere two and a half hours later, I got the call that my car was ready. A full day was still ahead of me. Perfect!
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While I don’t generally regret anything on this trip (even the car accident), if I had a regret, it would be the anticipation of visiting the various tech companies in Silicon Valley. No tours, no visitors. I see these paid tours of the big tech locations at $150+ for the day, and can say with quite a big of confidence that those are a complete waste of money. If you are desperate enough, do it yourself. They all have free parking, and a very nominal area for public access. If you were insistent, do some research ahead of time, and lower your expectations considerably. If “I was there!” is enough of an incentive to go and beat a picture. Then do it. Anything beyond that seems to me to be a waste of time.
Well, my favourite “I was there!” moment was the Tesla Factory in Fremont. I’m entitled to a factory tour, but I’ve decided not to book it until my brothers are available to join me. But there was something wonderful arriving at Sparky’s birthplace and witnessing “Tesla” all over the place. There were rows and rows of destination chargers and just a multitude of Teslas everywhere. I was home!
The biggest anticipation was using a V3 supercharger. I had made sure my battery was run down to below 20% just so I could experience it.
I was told that the first 8 stalls were the fast chargers. And because there was a waiting line (I was the first in line), I let the driver behind me take the available spot way down at the end. I had to have the V3 charger.
For future reference, the V3 chargers are labelled with this sign:
I would love to tell you the thrilling tale of the 15 minute charge at 250 kilowatts, but it didn’t happen. I did get an almost top speed as if it were a regular supercharger which was impressive considering I was sharing a charging circuit with another car which cuts the charging time to virtually half. So there it was... lack-ouster, but still impressive. Had I received this kind of speed on a regular basis on the road, I would have been on my way much faster in many cases.
I took my 40 minutes of time to grab lunch at a couple of food trucks that were parked in the parking lot. I figure these were for Tesla workers and visitors. I had to get the Tesla special! :)
I am not sure how these compare to other taco stands in the area, but for my unseasoned taco experiences, these were amazing!! (And way too much food!) I wonder if I should work at Tesla just so I can have one of these every day for lunch... hm. hehe.
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After Tesla, I had three other tech companies to hit before meeting up with a friend in town for dinner: Facebook (the sign), Google (public amphitheatre), and the Apple campus.
The nice thing, as I mentioned before, is that all of the parking at these places is free and open to the public. However, the companies are not, though I was politely directed elsewhere when I wandered unexpectedly into a Google Building where I didn’t belong (thanks the the Tesla navigation directing me there).
Facebook is just a sign on the street — placed there purposely for instagrammable poses.
Google was supposed to have a whole area of public activities and interactive displays. I had read an article able it’s construction to be completed in late 2018, and had thought it was perfect timing for my road trip. It turns out, it’s still under construction. And they say Elon is late on his timing?
So I did the next best thing, visited their statue garden (what the heck was that???), and bought a magnet at their Google store.
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The final stop was Apple. Unfortunately, I headed to what was called the visitor centre thinking it was a special display. It turned out to be another Apple Store. Yes, there was a cafe, and there was a cool virtual reality display of another future campus, but really lack lustre, It reminded me of the Apple Store I saw in Portland. No pictures, sorry. But really nothing to see. (Though I guess the restrooms seemed like more high tech than a normal bathroom, and there were Apple “security” all over the place directing people to the appropriate doors so public members didn’t wander unexpectedly into other areas. It felt very top secret.
I am aware now that there are other campuses that can be visited, and that would be worth my time to see. Next time through, I’ll look into it further.
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Then it was off to dinner with a friend. And on the way, the unimaginable happened. I heard a scrape across the driver’s side of my Tesla, and then saw the car that did it as I looked back. Sparky had been struck. I was mortified.
I pulled to the side, took a moment to breathe while I waited for the other driver to find his way to the shoulder, remembered to save the footage on the dashcam, and told myself not to panic. I was driving the safest car in the world. Had I been in autopilot, Sparky may have known to swerve. But the Bay Area has been so traumatic as a driver, that I had found myself taking over the driving a lot more. Maybe this was a mistake.
And so I have to say... there are so many drivers in the Bay Area with a stick up their butt, that the road rage and aggressive driving that people get away with here would be considered criminal activity back home or probably in most parts of the country. There is no excuse for driving they way that they do. For the number of times I’ve been almost side-swiped by some impatient prick in a BMW, I would consider never living here. I’ve been driving all over the country the last few weeks — literally. Bay Area is the absolute worst by a country mile.
I will not post much about the details of the accident, other than it is so incredibly fortunate that I had side-camera footage or I would have never seen the hit. It’s possible that according to the front view camera, you would never be able to tell that I had fully changed into the lane before I was struck. But the side camera shows that I was. Tesla is about to save me a whole lot of insurance money!
Most of the damage looks cosmetic. Even after I managed to scrape off the grey paint from the other car, it’s clear that all four panels were damaged in some way. However, the actual dents are not as evident all across the panels, and so it may be that they will decide just to repair rather than replace.
My road trip has been so incredible up until now. This has really truly been the trip of a lifetime, and I’m not sure how I will ever top it. So this incident I chalk up to part of the experience. I have insurance, and the car is completely drivable. I want to keep my head up, know that it will all be taken care of in time, and continue to enjoy the remainder of the great adventures that await me.
I am sad. I am still grieving. But I will be okay — and so will Sparky.
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I am far too tired to post more for now, though there is so much to share about my trip from San Jose to Irvine, CA. More later. Thanks for reading.
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This day’s odometre reading: 25,787 kms
KMs traveled on this road trip so far: 12,425
My referral code: somi22310
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