I made it

 

Eighteen hundred miles, five states, three time zones, 55 hours, 16 charging stops, five mountain passes, four coffees, three Cokes, half a bag of pretzels, more turkey sandwiches than one person should be allowed to consume in three days, a number 2C, two naps, my first time in Idaho, and one ferry ride. I made it. 

And if you’re reading this, it’s largely because of your love and support that all of the above and all that’s coming is even possible.

There’s an important difference between how I got here (a technical question) and how we got here (a more existential - and probably more interesting one). More to come on how we got here. For now, the trip…

After weeks of planning and talking to all of you about this great opportunity and days of somewhat nervous, humorous acknowledgement between Shareen and I that the 15th was coming, it was time for us to say goodbye. We hugged, cried, laughed with each other, walked to the car, and I was off. (After we’ve seen each other, my friend Andy likes to say “Until soon.” It’s maybe the best way to describe our parting since I’ll be back for a visit in December.) Two totes of tools, four bags of nonperishable food, a suitcase, a backpack, and shoes shoved in among it all.

Here’s the trip in a nutshell:

• Alexandria - My first time charging at a Tesla charger. Intimidating. How do I get their plug into my car?? Is the woman sitting in her charging Tesla watching me wondering WTF is he trying to do to his VW? Can I figure it out before my full bladder becomes an all out emergency? (I couldn’t.) In the end - success!
• Fargo - Alexandria was only 136 miles from home but my car’s computer was still calibrating driving 75 MPH and since I don’t want to deplete the battery out in the middle of North Dakota, I stop in Fargo next - only about 100 miles later. Charger at Ford dealership where they had a full row of gas truck inventory parked in front of their chargers. Brilliant. On to a visitors center where they had a less powerful but available charger.
• The Shoppes at Jamestown, ND - I was looking for an outlet mall, I found a dilapidated 5-store strip mall. The chargers were worth more than the building, I’m sure of it. A guy walked past while I was charging and asked me if I liked the (charger) handles better. After some clarification I understood he meant “better than gas pumps” which led to him meaning do I like electric better than gas which led to him questioning all the other environmental harms and was this one electric car really worth it?? Preach.
• Bismarck, ND - Uneventful, it’s Bismarck.
• Dickinson, ND - One genuinely fast charger in town at the local Chevy dealership. Which required an “activation card” from a dealer employee. Which required the dealership not to have closed an hour ago. Dammit. On to a slower “fast charger” in town - out of order. Plan C: Plug into a 5-hour charger just long enough to get me to my next stop 100 miles down the road in Glendive, MT. Sat for two hours in a very dark and empty parking lot watching the miles add very slowly to the battery.
• Glendive, MT - Made it with plenty to spare. I’m guessing I picked up a tailwind in western ND because I had plenty of battery left after the long slow charging trickle in Dickinson. I think this is where I slept. Dozed off for a couple of hours in the dark back corner of a truck stop (where the chargers were). Woke up alive. Good.
• On to Billings - This was the longest stretch of the whole trip and I was sweating it a bit. Nowhere to stop half-way - it was either make it or call a tow truck when the battery died. The history of the trip told me I’d make it easily but you know - it’s 4:00am in western Montana and my mind is playing tricks. About 75 miles in I realized I would (probably) be fine. I was. 
• Then Bozeman, and Butte. Spending a lot of time in the back corner of Target and Walmart parking lots and in their bathrooms. Big crosswinds across western ND and much of MT. Thank heaven they weren’t headwinds - that might have caused serious trouble. A bit of a nail-biter as it was. Beautiful golden aspens and tamaracks across MT and into Idaho and Washington - like hours and hours of them. Also, on a big truck In Butte I found this bumper sticker:

One more time: In the middle of Montana, I saw this bumper sticker. 

Then - no kidding - I’m eating lunch standing at my trunk while charging and up pulls a Volvo EV. As it backs in I notice a keep-your-laws-off-my-body style bumper sticker and a “Tester for Senate” sticker. In the middle of Montana. I introduced myself and we had a nice conversation about it all. Right there, in the middle of Montana.

• Then Missoula, MT and Smelterville, ID. Smelterville, ID has EV charging stations. Way to go Electrify America. Not many folks in this community can afford the EV itself, but there were my chargers! (Sigh.) Somewhere around now I drove through Cour D’Alene, ID - holy bananas what a beautiful place that is! 
• Then into Washington: Ritzville and Ellensburg. At this point I’ve been up and over a few mountain passes where I’ve hoped with crossed fingers that I’ve sufficiently accounted for elevation gain in my charging plan. I go up one side and watch the miles fall off quickly…but then, coming down the other side, I watch the car actually recover more and more miles - like I ADD 25 miles as I coast five. Crazy but very welcome. Rolled into Ellensburg with 9% / 18 miles on the battery. Cutting it a bit close. When I pulled up to the chargers and they were operable, I was a happy human. Worthy of celebration for sure - McDonald’s! Plugged in (up in some dark corner of a parking lot of a closed business where a cannabis outfit had set up shop in a trailer…all very sketch) and walked about 10 minutes to McD’s for dinner. While eating I texted Shana, the woman who owns the farm on Orcas Island where I’m working, and asked her if I could crash at a house she owns on Mercer Island (outside of Seattle). I was pooped and needed to stretch out my body after sitting in a car seat for two days. It worked out. No water at the house but that’s almost nothing a gallon of water from the gas station couldn’t solve. Almost. Except for a risk of a bowel movement. Which, it turns out, was a thing. I got creative; packed everything out. Ahem, and the drive into Seattle was soaking wet - it poured rain for most of this leg. And because it was dark, I didn’t get to see what I suspect was a beautiful drive.
• Flopped into bed and crashed from about midnight until 5am. Delightful. Talked to Shareen, checked the ferry schedule and realized I needed to get my butt to Anacortes too make the last morning ferry at 10:35 or else I’d be waiting to (hopefully) get a spot on the 3:30 ferry! 
• Next charging stop in Kirkland where I could also get coffee for the 90 minute drive up to the ferry. Easy. But can I say: Why are freeway traffic lanes in unfamiliar cities during rush hour always so damn narrow?! I was happy to be driving away from Seattle: my direction had plenty of traffic, the other side was ridiculous. (I will say though, the Seattle drivers I encountered didn’t drive particularly fast or crazy. There’s just a lot of them!)
• Quick top off in Mount Vernon at the final Walmart of my trip so I would arrive on the island with lots of miles. 

I arrived at the Anacortes ferry terminal about 9:15am - early enough to be first in the stand-by lane and all but guaranteed a spot on the 10:35. Talked to Lance for a bit, ate lunch, met and chatted up a family from Grand Junction, CO and it was time to board.

The ferry ride was beautiful. Windy light rain, moody clouds. I watched as boys from two vans full of Christian camp kids spit from the passenger deck down onto the vehicles (and ferry employees) below. WWJD.

I arrived at the farm at 12:15pm. Full of and also and exhausted from the adrenaline that got me here. Grocery shopped, unpacked, strolled the farm, talked with Shana, and fell into bed by 8:00pm. And stayed there for 12 hours. A very nice beginning.