Day 3- Grand Canyon and Vegas hotel
Today we woke up at the Grand Canyon destination charger with a full charge and a serious need for a bathroom. We drove to the main lodge to take care of business, then to a campground to eat breakfast at a picnic table. We packed instant oatmeal to have for breakfast so it would be quick and easy (and enough bottled water to drink AND make breakfast). We have been doing PBJ sandwiches and chips for lunch each day since we are on the road and eating at superchargers. It's been quick and easy to do the trip this way because the cooler fits nicely behind the passenger seat for easy access.
Here are some views of the Grand Canyon for you to enjoy, we drove around the south rim (~50 miles of driving in the park) before heading out to Vegas. I did all the driving today, but Vanessa did take over for about 25 miles in the GC so I could check out the views. Thanks Ness!
Shout out to the Grand Hotel in Tusayan, AZ- they have ~12 superchargers, and at least 6 destination chargers, a nice lobby, clean bathrooms, and friendly staff. We didn't stay long because we still had a high amount of charge left from the DC overnight.
Our next stop was Kingman, AZ for a charge. We stayed here just long enough to get to Vegas with 35% battery left because it got really busy. We ate while we charged here and during the time we were there 2 other cars showed up to charge. As we were leaving a third car pulled in as well. Since this supercharger was so busy we left another #teslacaching car here. Oh- also Vanessa left her #teslacaching car in Shamrock on Day 1 (I think I forgot to say that). So far none have been scanned as found or as moved to new locations, so hopefully someone found them that will move them on.
**Vanessa has the pictures of the drive (I was behind the wheel today) so be sure to visit her blog for those! I will link it down near the bottom of this post.**
Heading in to Las Vegas we passed by the Hoover Dam. Vanessa hasn't been to it before so we decided to try to stop and get pictures. I say try because we didn't actually make it there. We took the super fun-for-me-not-for-her mountain road down to the gates for the dam, and were then stopped by the dam police. They told us the dam was closed and if we "go to lane 3" they would direct us how to safely turn around. Really? You couldn't out a sign at the TOP of the road so people don't drive all the way down there? I guess the dam police need something to do. It was only 2 miles down the dam road so it wasn't bad (I enjoyed it because the car handles so well), but for some I can see it being stressful. We went on in to Vegas (a harrowing experience with heavy traffic and crazy people on the road) and to our hotel.
The Trump Tower is where we stayed, it is a 5 star off-strip hotel without a casino, and it was amazing. The lobby is gorgeous, the 7th floor housed the gym and a pool. The pool was heated so we were able to walk right in, the hot tub was roomy, and the windows & water fountains are gold. Yep, you read that right. The room is great, staff is friendly, service is awesome, the hotel is practicing social distancing, the governor just made a mask mandate, all is well. Vegas is actually pretty empty compared to the last time I was here. We had Nik valet parked, hung at the pool for a couple hours, went back and got ready for dinner then played a game until we had to leave for dinner.
Back to the room to work on blogs and go to bed. I don't have my mileage data up here with me (just realized I left it in Nik) so I will post this at a supercharger on the way to Salt Lake City.
The numbers for day 3:
total time today: 6 hours (includes GC trails/overlooks)
miles driven = 332
miles charged = 435 (bc we charged to full overnight).
cost of gas: $79.93 assuming 25 mpg
cost of electricity: zero
Total miles driven: 1696
Total Gas Savings: $196.27
Also we added about 200 miles to the overall trip total by going up to the grand canyon and driving around to see the viewpoints. :-)
Be sure to subscribe to the blog (over in the column on the left) to get an email notification when I add a new post. You will need to confirm your email by clicking the link in a message from "feedburner." No spam involved, you should only get an email when a new post is made. :-)
For anyone interested in taking a ride or getting more info on Tesla's (or EVs in general) get in touch and I am happy to help. If you want to buy a Tesla, please use my referral code to get some fabulous bonuses- the program changes, but right now it is 1000 free miles of supercharging for each of us. Tesla Referral code: is valerie50080 or just click this link https://ts.la/valerie50080
Here are some views of the Grand Canyon for you to enjoy, we drove around the south rim (~50 miles of driving in the park) before heading out to Vegas. I did all the driving today, but Vanessa did take over for about 25 miles in the GC so I could check out the views. Thanks Ness!
Shout out to the Grand Hotel in Tusayan, AZ- they have ~12 superchargers, and at least 6 destination chargers, a nice lobby, clean bathrooms, and friendly staff. We didn't stay long because we still had a high amount of charge left from the DC overnight.
Our next stop was Kingman, AZ for a charge. We stayed here just long enough to get to Vegas with 35% battery left because it got really busy. We ate while we charged here and during the time we were there 2 other cars showed up to charge. As we were leaving a third car pulled in as well. Since this supercharger was so busy we left another #teslacaching car here. Oh- also Vanessa left her #teslacaching car in Shamrock on Day 1 (I think I forgot to say that). So far none have been scanned as found or as moved to new locations, so hopefully someone found them that will move them on.
**Vanessa has the pictures of the drive (I was behind the wheel today) so be sure to visit her blog for those! I will link it down near the bottom of this post.**
Heading in to Las Vegas we passed by the Hoover Dam. Vanessa hasn't been to it before so we decided to try to stop and get pictures. I say try because we didn't actually make it there. We took the super fun-for-me-not-for-her mountain road down to the gates for the dam, and were then stopped by the dam police. They told us the dam was closed and if we "go to lane 3" they would direct us how to safely turn around. Really? You couldn't out a sign at the TOP of the road so people don't drive all the way down there? I guess the dam police need something to do. It was only 2 miles down the dam road so it wasn't bad (I enjoyed it because the car handles so well), but for some I can see it being stressful. We went on in to Vegas (a harrowing experience with heavy traffic and crazy people on the road) and to our hotel.
The Trump Tower is where we stayed, it is a 5 star off-strip hotel without a casino, and it was amazing. The lobby is gorgeous, the 7th floor housed the gym and a pool. The pool was heated so we were able to walk right in, the hot tub was roomy, and the windows & water fountains are gold. Yep, you read that right. The room is great, staff is friendly, service is awesome, the hotel is practicing social distancing, the governor just made a mask mandate, all is well. Vegas is actually pretty empty compared to the last time I was here. We had Nik valet parked, hung at the pool for a couple hours, went back and got ready for dinner then played a game until we had to leave for dinner.
I won't put bathroom pics on here, but I will say it was fabulous. The shower and toilet were each behind textured glass doors, the tub was an extra deep double wide jacuzzi, and there was enough room to set a 2 person table and chairs in there. The rooms are set into little alcoves (2 doors per alcove and you can close the doors from the alcove to the hall) and they all have doorbells. We got a room on the 44th floor and had a view of the strip. The elevator went from the ground floor to the 44th in about about 15 seconds, the slowing down near our floor took some getting used to, it had a bit of a stomach drop moment the first time. :-)
Fun fact: the hotel is enforcing social distancing right now so the pool chairs are set up 6 feet apart, the elevator is limited to 2 people & has markings on the floor to show you where to stand. Also the water fountains are gold. Also the governor made an announcement tonight that he was requiring masks in public everywhere (it was business to business before) and he was closing the state to tourism coming from "hot spots" like Arizona (where we came through) unless they quarantine for 2 weeks upon arrival. Glad we got here before he made the announcement! For the record we car-camped until now and stayed away from people so we are fine!
We ate dinner at the DJT restaurant in the lobby. IT's got a Michelin star, and the food was amazing! They brought out a selection of homemade breads, we had the braised meatball appetizer, then we each had the filet mignon. We forgot to take a pic of the appetizer and breads, but below is the filet. This was seriously good!
Back to the room to work on blogs and go to bed. I don't have my mileage data up here with me (just realized I left it in Nik) so I will post this at a supercharger on the way to Salt Lake City.
The numbers for day 3:
total time today: 6 hours (includes GC trails/overlooks)
miles driven = 332
miles charged = 435 (bc we charged to full overnight).
cost of gas: $79.93 assuming 25 mpg
cost of electricity: zero
Total miles driven: 1696
Total Gas Savings: $196.27
Also we added about 200 miles to the overall trip total by going up to the grand canyon and driving around to see the viewpoints. :-)
Be sure to subscribe to the blog (over in the column on the left) to get an email notification when I add a new post. You will need to confirm your email by clicking the link in a message from "feedburner." No spam involved, you should only get an email when a new post is made. :-)
Vanessa's blog: Travel the World History
Enjoying both blogs. I may have to copy the itinerary for this trip, apart from your choice of hotel in Vegas!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are enjoying it!
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