After leaving the campground, I drove the Pacific Coast Highway a short bit before starting to work my way inland.  I planned to meet an online friend for some food and beer.  On the drive, I took a different route than recommended and ended up going through Solvang, California.  This looks like a very cool little town.  The buildings are Danish style.  There is an old motorcycle museum in the town, and there was a wine festival going when I drove through.  I’d like to return someday as I think it could be a romantic and fun place to spend a few days.

I stopped in Buellton, just West of Solvang, to charge.  The charger was next to a hotel, so I went inside to use the restroom.  On my way in, I noticed wedding attire and flowers.  The hotel was under construction so I was directed down a floor to restrooms.  As I walked to the restroom, I heard music from a ball room.  The door was open, so I looked inside.  There was a fashion show going.  On my way out, I passed some people heading to the fashion show.  Like watching a movie stereotype walk by.  🙂

On the way over to meeting Kevin:

Kevin and I met up at Firestone Walker Brewery a bit North of Atascadero.  I had the turkey burger and the 805 beer.  Both were quite good.  Were I not on the road, I would have bought some of the beer to take home.  Bartender grabbed a pic of us.  Didn’t turn out so great but…

Afterwards, I decided to head West on 46 to get back to the Pacific Coast Highway and drive that up to SeaSide.  This stretch of the PCH contains many of the cliffside driving and hair-pin turns seen in movies and pictures.  It’s also a long stretch without cell service, so don’t run out of charge or have any problems. 😉  Near the end, I drove through Big Sur, which seems to be a log cabin resort similar to ski resorts I’ve seen elsewhere.  I didn’t stop so that’s just a driving-by impression.  Some of the better pictures from that stretch:

I was tired from the drive by the time I reached SeaSide.  While charging, I looked for a place to sleep for the night.  I considered the Tesla charger location since this one is next to a Tesla Service Center, but decided against it.  I picked out two camp grounds, and hoped the first would be open since the second was further away.

The first campground was completely full.  Not even a place to squeeze a car into.  I left and headed to the second campground, further on.  This one had Redwoods in the name so I was hopeful to sleep with a very cool view in the morning.  I arrived at the second campground to see a Campground Full sign near the entrance.  I noticed there was plenty of space for my car behind the welcome hut.  I started to park there but then saw a sign stating that all campers must be registered and the fee was $35 per night.  I didn’t feel like spending $35 to sleep in my car, so I left.

I wandered the surrounding neighborhood for a bit before giving up and getting on the 17 Northbound from Scotts Valley to Los Gatos.  It was late and I had no idea how mountainous this drive would be.  After the mountains, I realized I was coming into San Jose and the Silicon Valley area.  I found the next charger and decided to go there and figure out where to sleep.

The Mountain View charger is close to the Google collection of buildings.  I didn’t count all of the buildings on the map, but I think it was over two dozen.  While charging, I noticed a large parking lot next to me with plenty of trees providing shade.  I drove over after charging and learned I was behind the Computer History Museum.  Exhausted from the PCH drive and the additional 100 miles after that looking for a campground, I decided the parking lot would do.  There was even a port-o-potty just across a small road on the side of the Museum.  I set up the car and was asleep in about 20 minutes.

Wasn’t bad.  I found a campground off the Pacific Coast Highway.  Map says I’m in Ventura, CA.  I arrived around 1am.  Fell asleep sometime between 2 and 3am and slept until 8.  Some noise woke me a few times in the night, so not as good of sleep as in a bed, but not bad.  I was able to hear the waves crashing when I had the sunroof vented.

This campground has pay showers, a breakfast place, and free wifi.  It’s actually the best free wifi I’ve found so far on this trip.

I used the unofficial ‘camping mode’ to keep the climate control system running in the car overnight.  It was set to bring in outside air, no A/C or heat, at a low fan speed.  It only used about 5 miles of range overnight keeping the car on.  Not bad.  The middle picture shows the water behind the campers in front of my car.

Today I’m planning to drive some of the Pacific Coast Highway and look at setting up meeting times / places with some people I know online.

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

Amber and I started the next day with brunch on the beach.  We found a place nearby that served breakfast burritos and drinks on the beach.  Sounded like a good place to sit, eat, and people-watch.

An older woman sat next to my right and started a conversation with me.  She told me about her travels to Europe and Russia, how she was a native Californian, how her father had been influential in California’s past, and took interest in the trip I’m currently doing.  It was a great conversation and I very much enjoyed meeting Phyllis.

After eating, we walked out on the beach.  I stuck my feet in the water and quickly backed out.  Too cold for me.  The highlight of the beach time involved a group of children and a sandcastle.  The sandcastle was quite impressive.  I tried to get a pic, but I didn’t get very close.  At one point, one of the boys, about 6 years old, starts running in circles around the sandcastle while chanting Sac ri fice, Sac ri fice, Sac ri fice.  I had to fight to keep from cracking up.

Our next stop was Coronado.  We spent some time driving around Coronado looking at the houses.  We stopped at the Coronado Hotel for a few minutes to walk around the lobby.  After that, we stopped near some shops and walked a bit checking out things, having some cheese and chocolate, and spoke with various shop owners.

I found a relic while there:

I did not check to see if it was still working. 🙂  I also found a painting I like, only $13,000.

After Coronado, we started back towards Lake Elsinore.  We stopped at the SuperCharger just North of San Diego.  For the first time, I experienced a location full of charging Teslas with a wait for one to become available.  This was outside of a Qualcomm building.  We decided to not wait and head back to the Temecula charger since we had enough remaining range.

After charging, Amber drove the Tesla back to her home.  She definitely likes the car. 🙂  I was offered the guest room again.  Three nights into the trip, haven’t slept in the Tesla, yet.