After a good night’s sleep and a great breakfast, I had the opportunity to wash clothes and re-sort my stuff.  I loaded the car up, said goodbye to Bev and Amber, and then left for the Ortega Highway.  Bev and Amber recommended I drive it west over the mountains for the scenic views and switchbacks.  It’s highway 74 between Lake Elsinore and San Juan Capistrano.  It was a wonderful suggestion!  I very much enjoyed the drive.  The Tesla has no problem with the mountain curves and inclines.  Going up, I was averaging 1131 kwh / mile at one point.  Going down, I was averaging 29 kwh / mile at one point.  Quite the fun road!  In the first picture, you can see part of the road on the right side.

In San Juan Capistrano, I encountered another full SuperCharging location.  This one had a Tesla Attendant. She informed me that it would be about a 20 minute wait until charging.  I had plenty to make it to the next charger, so I said I would keep going instead.  Tesla is rapidly building out more SuperCharger locations.  California already has the most, but it obviously needs more.  Most of the locations I stopped on my cross-country trip in April / May were empty when I charged.

Before leaving Phoenix, I sent off two emails, one to Tesla and one to Space X.  In each, I inquired about taking a tour.  Tesla has responded and I may be able to join a tour next week in Fremont.  I have not heard back from Space X.  Nevertheless, I decided to drive over to Space X in Hawthorne.

The Hawthorne Supercharging location is behind Space X.  It’s an interesting setup with more charging stalls than I recall seeing at any other location.  I connected to the charger and walked into a Tesla store at this location.  This store does not have any cars on display or available for test drives, but there is merchandise for sale and it is part of a much larger building.  I heard what sounded like an electric vehicle driving through the building behind the store walls.  I asked if it was possible to get a tour of the building, but was told no.  I did buy a Tesla stainless steel bottle for the trip. 🙂

I walked behind the Space X building and around through the alley to the entrance.  A security guard stood outside.  I asked if it was possible to enter and see part of the inside and maybe even get a tour.  He informed me that it’s only possible to get a tour if you know someone that works inside at Space X.  So, if anyone reads this happens to work at Space X or know someone that does… I’d really like a tour, please. 🙂

After Space X, I decided to drive up to West Hollywood and drive through on Santa Monica Blvd.  I then circled back on Sunset Blvd, and finally East again on Hollywood Blvd.  Meh.

Tomorrow I’d like to drive some of the Pacific Coast Highway, so I headed Northwest out of Hollywood.  I’m stopped for the night in Oxnard.  This will be my first night sleeping in the Tesla.  I’ve been sitting in a parking lot in front of a TMobile store using their free Wifi to catch up on the blog.  I’ll get a picture of the assembled bed tonight before going to sleep.

Car numbers so far:
Miles: 738
Energy: 235 kWh
Avg Energy: 318 Wh / mile

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