On my way back to Fremont this morning, I hit a milestone in the car:

I also grabbed a pic of the countryside coming into the San Francisco Bay area from Napa.

Tesla has tour attendees sign a NDA before the tour.  No pictures, no recordings of any kind, and we’re not supposed to talk in detail of what we saw on the tour.  As such, the only picture I have is turning into the facility.

Most of what was shown and discussed on the tour can be found online and on YouTube.  I think NDA may cover “just in case” something is accidentally revealed.  I am glad I did the tour, but I wouldn’t tell anyone to make a trip out to California just for the tour.

I drove over the Richmond-San Rafael bridge again on my way North out of San Francisco.  I tried to grab a few pictures, but they didn’t turn out so well.  The best of the bunch:

The traffic was slow and I didn’t get as far as I planned before stopping.  I intend to get back to some sight-seeing tomorrow.

Something I didn’t anticipate is trouble finding places to sleep in the car.  The actual sleeping in the car is comfortable.  I have the two custom pieces of foam that convert the back of the car into a bed.  The top piece of foam is covered by a sheet and then I have two blankets and two pillows.  I have a full windshield solar shade and the rest of the windows in the car are tinted with a high reflectivity tint.  Finally, I can set the car to run the climate control all night.  After trying to sleep lying the other direction last night, I’m quite comfortable sleeping in the car.

However, finding somewhere to park for the night has been a bit tougher than expected.  Tonight I thought I would try a SuperCharger location, a campground or a Walmart.  The Ukiah SuperCharger is in the center of a small town (Ukiah).  It’s actually in a small parking lot next to houses.  I was uncertain of parking there, but then thought that might work with the trees for shade.  I walked the lot and saw a sign that said 2-hour parking only.  So, scratch that.  I could try it, but not really wanting to be woken in the middle of the night and told to move.  Perhaps in time I will get more comfortable trying that.  So, I searched for a Walmart.  There was one a few miles back from where I was, but I could not find one further along my path and I wanted to go a bit further if possible.  I searched for a campground and found the same story of needing a reservation and $35 for a night.

The next SuperCharger is in Eureka.  It’s a bit of a stretch at 155 miles plus mountainous roads.  So, I wondered if there might be a hotel in between with a destination charger (slower than a SuperCharger, but can be used overnight).  Turns out I was in luck.  I found The Wild West Inn in Willits.  It’s themed a bit like the “Wild West”.  I called to verify the destination charger is available.  Turns out it’s broken, but they have a “universal charger”.  I said I would try that.  I arrived, found the right adapter in my bag for the charger, and my car is plugged in for the night. 🙂   I have it charged to 90% now and will charge the final 10% in the morning while I’m getting ready.  That should be plenty to get to Eureka with mountains and such.  I was amused that the Wild West Inn is owned by an Indian couple.  So, more expensive than sleeping in the car, but this place includes a shower, breakfast and wifi!  😉

Tomorrow I plan to get pics of the giant redwood trees along the Avenue of the Giants, perhaps some pics in Eureka and Crescent City, and push for Portland.  Not sure I’ll go that far tomorrow.  We’ll see.

I forgot to check the miles tonight, but I think I’m around 1900 on the trip so far.

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