#evadventures

I plan my year around the week that is Electrics at the Dragon. Generally I spend the entire week out there with my eMoto buddies, who ride/tow in from around the US, for a week of fellowship and curvy roads. This is an exercise in putting myself out there -- from tolerating personality differences (like being ragged that your company’s hardware is broken) to coping with my fear of claustrophobia and heights in the tunnel-filled mountains of NC/TN. This year, however, I decided that I wanted to spend more of my time pool side in Georgia than the potential fight for charger access with 20+ EVs running around rural western NC. As such I decided I’d only spend one day - Tuesday - with the Dragon crew and the rest of the time would be spent completing my NC State Parks challenge and lounging with my other (reads: gay) friends in Augusta by the pool.

Sunday: pre-trip ride to Graham, NC

After volunteering a friend to take over house/dog sitting duties I’d committed to, I departed Raleigh in Sunday May 14th for Graham, NC. It’s only ~60mi from my home, but I have a friend who lives there and this would cut 2+ hours out of my Monday riding/charging plans if I left from his house. So I packed everything up into a tank and tail bag (CPAP, thermally-controlled injectable medication, clothes, charging gear for bike and phones, rain gear, etc) and headed over to his house. The hour-ish long ride was entirely uneventful, and this would be one of only two times I’d use my travel charging cable for the bike. After locating a plank of wood to use as a kickstand support, I plugged into the 120v outlet off his deck and left the bike. We walked over to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner, and we chatted (since both of us have been traveling a lot this year for work) until well after midnight. The next morning I awoke just after 7am to the smell of pork sausage being cooked in a cast iron skillet (this is a uniquely southern smell that takes me straight back to childhood and grandma’s house). I woke up and got a shower while my buddy worked on breakfast. After repacking the CPAP and medications, gearing up, and eating a delightfully southern breakfast... I hopped on my bike shortly after 8am and headed west in a light drizzle of rain.

Monday: all systems go

My first stop was at a Duke Park and Plug location (with BTCPower charging hardware) some 50mi away in Kernersville, going from 56-90% in 20 minutes total charging time for a cost of $2.74. 

From here I’d hop over to a Nissan dealer in Wilkesboro. Here is where I feared things were going to go south. I arrived and the charger wasn’t in use, but the screen was solid white and not responding to touch. The throw switch for the main power is right next to the station, so I turned it off and counted to 45 and then powered it back on. It took a moment for the ABB station to power up, but once it did the card reader came active and I was able to insert my credit card and start the station. It took an hour and three minutes to go from 13% to 85% but the cost was crazy: $25! Next stop: Mt. Jefferson state park!

One park down, 6 more to go until this bike’s been to all 41 North Carolina State Parks. Next charge stop: Circle K in Boone, NC. My arrival at the Circle K was met with panic: there’s a work truck, one of the stations is already opened up, and the other one is powered down. I pull up to it and turn off my helmet’s bluetooth so I could talk to a worker. He asked if I needed to charge, and I said yes else my trip ends here with a tow truck. They powered up the unopened station and allowed me to charge. 

This charge was just over an hour, and I didn’t record the starting and ending SOC (I likely was above 90% SOC when I left). After getting the charge session started, I unhooked the bags and walked over to an Italian restaurant where I had an interest observation with a table of Boomers and a delightful ravioli lunch. The table next to me was lively, but what really got to me was they got on the topic of electric vehicles by way of a “not to get political, but” comment targeting the current US Administration. I politely interjected that as someone working in the EV industry, their lack of understanding of capabilities, existing and planned infrastructure, and the sheer cost savings alone means they are only being fed the news approved by Oil Industry-backed media outlets, and that the transition will happen with or without their approval or involvement in the name of cost savings -- environmental benefits be damned. I also reminded them that, by the time I’m their age (they had a solid 25 years on me) that most people will summon an on-demand vehicle to take them somewhere, ownership will be a thing of the past. The guy’s only comment was “thank God I’ll be dead then.” Can’t say I don’t envy him there a little bit... After getting a sealed lid container for the left over ravioli and shoehorning it into the tail bag, which was becoming so tall now that throwing my leg over it was becoming a challenge, I set off for my next stop: Elk Knob State Park! The cost of this charge was $2.51.

After Elk Knob, I rode on over to Grandfather Mountain state park before my last DC charge before arriving at my AirBNB in Asheville.

I rolled into the Chevy dealer in Marion, NC and saw that a rather new looking Bolt was plugged into the DC station. I then spied a 24kW station next to the show room, so I attempted to use it. A man came outside to talk about the bike, informing me he owned a Zero a few years ago and was waiting on his Hummer EV truck to ship. He said he’d had issues with this 24kW station and offered me the L2 in their bay. That station was a Blink, and it didn’t want to work with my bike either! At this time I told him I’d just wait for the Bolt to finish since it was at 94% and wouldn’t take very long. I rolled over to the station and waited until I saw the charger report 100% SOC and stopped the charge to unplug the Bolt and plug in my bike.

While charging, the “owners” of the Bolt showed up. Turns out they’d rented it from Hertz, because it was the cheapest rental, and they were charging it up to return it. The father of the guy who rented the car is a fire fighter and we had a rather in depth but brief conversation about lithium fires and how sodium batteries were likely the tech to take EVs truly mainstream. It was great to talk to someone who had a legit concern but was aware it was a temporary one in the grand scheme. After topping off to 80+% (for FREE) I hit the Blue Ridge Parkway for nearly 30 miles of fog and cold temps to reach the last state park of the day, and the highest elevation in the state of NC, Mt. Mitchell!

I never feared running out of power, even though I know I hit the red (less than 20% SOC) before I got to Asheville. I had to pass through 4 or 5 tunnels on the road, but I rarely was above 35mph at any time due to the poor visibility -- seeing more than 5ft was impossible. I was literally traveling through a cloud for what seemed like an eternity. The weather was so bad that I was losing GPS signal for upwards of 10 minutes at a time. Luckily the exit came, I got off the parkway, weaved through some truly insanely designed neighborhood streets, then wound up on the outskirts of UNC-Asheville in a cute little neighborhood. I happened to pull into the driveway right as my Airbnb host - who drives a Leaf - got home. He showed me where the EV charger was (right next to the door to my room) and asked if I’d plug his car in when I was done. I agreed and we chatted a bit more about his solar setup and how his Leaf’s held up over the years. After our chat I plugged the bike in and proceeded to strip down and launder my clothes (everything was wet now), eat my leftovers, and take a power nap with my eSTIM TENS unit attached to my lower back. A few hours later my alarm went off, I swapped the charge cable to his car and pulled out my dry laundry and went back to sleep.

Tuesday: let’s slay the Dragon!

Tuesday morning I woke up and didn’t want to move. I was pretty sore, I’ve not done a ride like this in quite a while and frankly I’m badly out of shape. I popped some acetaminophen and ate a granola bar before packing up the bike and heading further west. I only had one charging stop - a Duke Park and Plug in Cherokee, NC - before I’d get to the Tail of the Dragon house. I ate at a local “Cakery and Deli” which had a really good Bacon-egg-cheese biscuit, and after getting to ~90% state of charge in 32m for a cost of $3.57.

On my way to the rental house in Robbinsville, I was following a pair of Harleys and an RV. The RV pulled over so we could pass, and 1.6 miles before the driveway to the rental, the lead Harley went down. The rider thought he had a broken rib - he’d indicated he’d had one before - and refused help to move. His son, who was my age or older, called EMS. After I was sure they had help on the way, I left them and headed to the house a little shaken. You forget the inherent dangers of two wheels until you get reminded of it. The guy wasn’t going too fast for conditions, he hit a patch of tar that was sticky and that caused him to break traction. His bike, which was weeks old, wasn’t totaled but it wasn’t in great shape either. 

I didn’t even get unpacked before my friend Rory asked me if I wanted to go eat at Tapoco lodge just down the road from the Killboy Tail of the Dragon tshirt shack. I agreed, store my medication in the big fridge and put the ice pack in the freezer, then hopped back on my bike and rode over to the lodge. Lunch was great, as it always is there, and then we went to the tshirt shack for the organized 4pm group photo (which many folks failed to attend). 

Rory and I went down and back up the Dragon before the photo event took place. When it was time to move my bike, it wouldn’t go into Run mode. It kept saying the kill switch was triggered, and what that means is the seat switch wasn’t working right. After adjusting the arm on the switch, the error went away and never came back. It was also during this gathering that I found out that Tellico Plains, TN no longer allows EVs to plug into the “Food Truck outlets” in town. This caused a stink and ruined some early morning ride plans, as stopping for a leisurely (and on average $25 per head) breakfast at Tellico has been tradition since 2021. A letter to the town is being written, the whole crew (usually 8-10 folks per rider group) agreed to boycott the town until their policy changes or dedicated chargers get installed. 

After the photo, I went back to the house with several other folks while another group went to Tapoco for drinks and food. I got to catch up with everyone, and found out the rental house has a house cat this year -- no idea her name, and no photos sadly -- she’s the sweetest little thing and she will plop down in your lap and go to sleep so fast it’ll make your head spin. I was glued to the sofa listening to the rain (oh, yeah, it POURED moments after we got to the house) for a solid hour before someone came looking for me (I’d only come out to check the charge progress of my bike).

I slept on the sofa that night, and was awake before 6am despite not going to sleep till after 12:30 (I stayed up talking with a new guy who I’d never met before). Tomorrow, it’s back to visiting parks and making my way south towards Georgia...

Wednesday: plans changed

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Rory asked me if he could follow me to Franklin, NC (my first charge stop) in the morning and I said sure. This ballooned into a convoy of 6 going to Franklin on a morning joy ride. Somehow I got into the middle of the pack and lost Rory and Rick (leading) in some curves and decided to follow my GPS which said to make a right turn... this led is on a good 17 mile, about 40 minute, detour around a lake on wet gravel roads with some serious grades going downhill. I felt so bad for everyone who was following me, tho Scott (from Florida) said that was one of the coolest rides he’d been on. Once we got to pavement, I sorted out my directions and the rest of the gang headed to a brewery in Sylvia. I finally, nearly an hour later than intended, got to the Franklin Post office where I mailed my extra clothes to myself -- this made it so I could get on and off the bike easier since the tail bag wasn’t as loaded down/tall. After my Post Office visit, I stole the charger from Rick at the Duke Park and Plug in town. The guy I’d met the night before, Lee, was also there along with Rory. 

They all decided to go to the brewery and left me shortly after I got there. I charged to 95% (cost $4.16) and headed over to Gorges state park.

The ride to Gorges was wet, cold, hot, and beautiful. After snapping my photo I had to ride up the access road to the gas station to get signal and be able to plot my route to the charging station in Saluda, NC. When I got to Saluda, there were two Mach-E’s charging. I plugged into the open space and popped my seat open to reveal my charging port then went into the Subway to order lunch. Right as I paid one of the pony cars was leaving, so I ran outside and moved my bike over to the vacant charger. I had to start the session twice, I don’t know why, but it didn’t work on the first go. As I was getting things going another Mach-E pulled up with a big muscle guy getting out. He seemed confused looking at the CCS and CHAdeMO plugs, and I told him the black one worked with his car. He thanked me and I went inside. As I ate I watched him plug the car in and walk away on the phone, then he came back over pulled a child out of the carseat in the back of the car. Then he realized he wasn’t charging, and I assume he called the 800 number on the machine for help. Ultimately, he unplugged and tossed the connector into the grass and drove off with his child sitting unbelted in the passenger seat and his charge port door open. No idea what happened there, but it was the first of two times I’d run into frustrated Ford owners that day. Well, 28 minutes and $3.26 later I was ready to go, but instead of going to Chimney Rock and South Mountains state parks, I realized I was very close to the SC border and the pool was calling me. So I decided to shelve the last two state parks for Memorial Day weekend and proceeded, unplanned, towards Augusta. My first charging stop would be in Piedmont, South Carolina at an EVgo located at a Spinx gas station.

When I arrived at the Spinx, I couldn’t find the charger. As I was pulling around I saw the meters and transformer, and a large white Ford Transit parked along the curb... oh, it’s an eTransit. Oh, the angry looking woman is pressing buttons on her phone and holding her hand over her other ear. I paused my music and pulled up next to her and asked “Is it broken?” and she said, angrifly, “yes and I’m on the phone with them now.” I sighed, opened Plugshare and picked another EVgo in Simpsonsville that was down the street from a new Duke Park and Plug location -- one of these spots had to be able to charge me up. I hopped on 385 and paid a $2 toll and arrived at an unoccupied EVgo in Simpsonville. I tapped my ChargePoint card to it and it authorized and began charging me to 70%. I laid out behind the charger resting my back, when this guy came up and asked if the bike was mine. Turns out this guy is an EV owner, has a Leaf and a Tesla now, and he had never seen an EV bike. We talked pretty much the entire 46 minutes I was there (cost $5.14). Once I hit 70% I had enough to get to Nienty Six, South Carolina for yet another Duke Park and Plug charge. I thanked the man for the conversation, and headed south.

The town of Ninety Six is a postage stamp. I was hungry but didn’t really want to try the China #1 restaurant across the street based on the reviews. I opted for a beef stick and some water from the nearby BP while the bike charged up. It took me 38 minutes to get to something like 75% I think (for $2.63), and I was only 60mi from the hotel in Augusta. I ran a little slow to save energy, and when I got to the highway that would take me into Augusta, I was at just under 20%. I arrived at the hotel and could barely walk, the last several days really took a lot out of me. My husband was already at the hotel and had run our travel charge cable under the door and dropped it off the balcony to the parking spot in front of the room where our Audi was parked. We moved the Audi and plugged the bike in, it was fully charged and balanced by 9am the next morning.

After another of our friends who was going to be hanging out with us this weekend saw how badly I was walking, he offered to give me a massage. It’s rare for someone to massage my back and get it to pop, but he did it in three spots. I felt so much better after that, and I slept like a log -- waking up before 7am, as per usual, with bright eyes and a smile. The next several days were spent lounging, laughing, drinking, and relaxing. We got one good day of sunshine on Saturday and I got my first sunburn of the year.

Sunday: all good things must come to an end

I was on the road before 8am on Sunday. I left all my bags with my husband and the crew we spent the weekend with so I had no issues mounting or dismounting from the bike. I decided on my return route the night before, my first charge stop would be Electrify America in Columbia. This location was half de-rated, but 50kW is still more than my bike can take. I got the last charger when I pulled in, and this was going to be the theme for the rest of the day. I spent 1 hour and 5 minutes in Columbia, with a yellow battery at the end of the charge session, for a cost of $5.77. I then rode to Rock Hill, SC and charged at a Circle K for 29 minutes and a cost of $2.31. While there, an etron pulled in to use the 180kW station and a Bolt EUV pulled in right as I was leaving.

From here, I hopped over to the Electrify America in Charlotte. On arrival only 4 of the 10 stalls were open. By the time I left there was a small queue of cars waiting to charge. This charge was an hour and 16 minutes long, costing $4.53. My last stop before home was Greensboro, NC. On my way to Greensboro, my nav phone bit the dust (third one I’ve killed on the bike), so I had to look at the directions and pay attention to the exit numbers. I rolled up with only 4% state of charge! This charge took over an hour and a half to complete, due to how warm my battery had gotten on this wonderfully sunny and 78F weather. The cost was $5.65 adding 15kWh (I charged to 88%). From here I hit the highway and didn’t need navigation to get me home. I pulled into my driveway about 10 minutes after my husband (who left 4 hours after me and only had one charging stop) with 5% state of charge and over 1200 miles on my odometer.

Route 1: US1 with a charge stop in Lilesville

This route is more direct, taking a little over 4 hours door-to-door with a charging stop on both the outbound and return legs. This station is run by the Pee Dee Electric Member Cooperative on the ChargePoint network and only costs 14-cent/kWh (about 3-cent more expensive than home charging), but it’s only a 50kW charger. 

Route 2: US1 with a charge stop in Hamlet

This route was roughly the same as Lilesville, however, the Duke Park and Plug stations here are 150kW each (so we’d get the full 75kW if the battery was low enough) but they cost more at 41-cent/kWh (30-cents or 3.7x the cost of home charging). In theory, we’d spend less time here since this system can max the car out -- but it also assumes that we’d need to be at a very low state of charge to achieve that maximum power.

Route 3: I-95 to I-20 with charge stops in Florence

Every single mapping app suggested taking 95 to 20, and at the time the Electrify America app said that all the stations at Florence were reduced to 50kW power -- so no maximum charge rate. It’s also 36-cent/kWh (25-cents more / about 3.2 times the cost of home charging). This route seemed the least attractive as the travel time was at best 12 minutes faster and we’d certainly be charging for longer, however this location does have good food options to chew up that time (har har, I made a pun!).

The Winner is...

My husband wanted to see what taking US1 to Columbia was like, as this is my alternative route to get to our campground in Georgia. So we decided to take the Hyundai down to Lilesville and then to Columbia. We left around 7:00am with a target arrival time of 12:00pm in Columbia (I budgeted 1 hour for charging). With 100% state of charge we set off for Lilesville and arrived with 58% after driving 110 miles. We only had two or three scary downpour moments from the severe storm front that was moving through the area.

As I plugged in I was inspecting the charge handle and noticed the rubber around the button was cracked. When I plugged into the car I did not hear the usual “click” of the latch on the plug locking into the socket on the car. However, the station said “Waiting for EV” and the car engaged the charge lock and the status ring in the charge port went green, followed by the ChargePoint station clicking and delivering power. Turns out the latch was broken, so it was pure luck that the station started charging. We never topped 48kW due to the state of charge, and we charged for 42 minutes to 90%. While PlugShare said this station was a 62kW, the screen said it’s a 50kW -- missing 12kW can make a big difference, but since the battery was over 50% the car wasn’t going to charge faster than 50kW anyway so it was a wash. This stop cost $3.52.

As we are pulling out of the parking lot, the foster texts me and says that she won’t be home before 1pm -- I tell her no problem, we will get lunch and see her at 1. The problem with charging at places like the Pee Dee main office is that there’s no bathrooms available outside their Monday-Friday business hours. Right as we went to leave, the urge to pee hit me. I asked Google for a truck stop and picked a Love’s that was on the way -- a little over an hour out. As we snaked our way into South Carolina and over to I-20, we watched as the sun peeked out of the clouds and the rain seemed to stay behind us. 

The Love’s I’d picked was off of I-20, and before we got there I spied another truck stop that also had a Subway -- this would be ideal for lunch. My husband’s like “Subway? Really?” and I told him that I know I can get something from Subway that won’t upset my stomach (remember I take Ozempic and I basically don’t like the “read meat burps” I get if I eat burgers and such from fast food places anymore). We pulled off at the Pilot travel center and hit the restroom, then walked into the Subway where we each ordered a wrap -- $25 later (when did Subway become so expensive?) we headed to the car to continue our trip. By this time we’d decided, since we were arrive around 12pm, that we’d go to the Electrify America and top the car off so we could drive straight home from the foster’s home.

Unfortunately, the Electrify America in Columbia was in worse shape than Florence -- only one station was operational, but it was running at 150kW. That said, it was in use according to the app when I checked about 20m to the exit. I decided to try the Nissan dealer down the road, seems the station works fine but the NAYAX card reader (ugh, I can’t stand these guys) was problematic and it might take a few tries to get the card to read. The Nissan Dealer is a mile or so from the Electrify America, so if it didn’t work we’d just wait for the person at the Electrify America station to finish and then plug in. As luck would have it, it started raining when we pulled up to the charger. I tried using Google Pay on my phone and it was rejected. By the time I got my wallet from the car, it had timed out so I had to run through the steps to start a charge on the screen again. This time I put in my chip card and it said not authorized. I tried swiping, it said to insert it, I put it in and it said not authorized. Then it timed out, so again I ran through the steps and got to the payment screen and I tapped my card. I got an error and then on a whim stuck the card into the chip reader and volia -- it started processing the payment! Third time’s the charm. The station fired right up, and as we were again around 56% state of charge, it never went above 48kW. We charged for about 42 minutes while we ate our wraps (it was tasty) and then drive the 6 miles to the foster house. The cost was around 42-cents/kWh with a $1 session fee, all said it was $9.39 to charge up here.

Darcy was more beautiful in person than any of the photos I’d seen. Her sister, Dixie, was also way more adorable in person. Dixie is blind, and despite that, she was the more social of the two and came up and head butted my ankle and rubbed on me. Now, my previous cat was blind... and I told the foster I’m really torn now. But we both agreed (tho me not 100%) that our household was way too active for her to adjust to, she panicked when she came into contact with any of the other cats living in the house that were not her sister or their room mate in the quarantined section of the house (a bathroom and a hallway that has a few bedrooms -- all doors closed, of course). Darcy was aloof and not really interested in meeting us or letting us pet her, but the foster said she was confident she’d be affectionate after she had time to settle into her new home.

When we brought in the cat carrier, the foster went and got gloves just in case Darcy decided to claw at her (she said she didn’t have a habit of it, but this was safety protocol). We opened the door to the carrier and low and behold Dixie marched right into it and checked it out. She was not scared of it at all, and then Darcy walked into the carrier behind her to check it out. We were both dumbfounded that the cats just put themselves into the carrier -- no cat likes the carrier! The foster put her gloved hand into the carrier and ushered Dixie out (she never bit, but she did growl), and Darcy never made a sound. Once Dixie was outside, we closed the cage door -- not even quickly, slowly. It wasn’t until the door clicked shut that Darcy’s Siamese yowl started. Oh, boy, this ride home was gonna be fun. It was at this time that the foster tells me the cats ate about an hour and a half before we got there... remember that, dear reader.

We spent well over an hour at the foster home before we loaded Darcy into the car and headed back towards North Carolina. About 10 minutes into the drive -- we’d just gotten onto the highway -- the smell hit. She pooped. In the carrier. Then she sat on the poop. We killed the AC and vented the sunroof and opened most of the windows -- it was sunny and comfortable (low 60s) so this wasn’t bad. Once we went nose blind to the smell, we closed up the windows and turned on the AC just in time for another surprise rain shower! We drove straight home with only one stop to pick up Pho for dinner about 4 miles from our house. When John got back in the car after getting the food he commented on how the nose blindness had worn off, and he gagged a little before rolling down his window.

As soon as we got home, Darcy was taken into her quarantine bathroom and let out of the carrier. I set the carrier outside and shouted “someone please take this carrier outside for me” and proceeded to get a wash cloth and my Lush “Honey I washed the kids” bath gel. Poor Darcy, who only made a few peeps on the drive home, was about to yowl like no tomorrow. I turned on the shower and the sound of water immediately made her start scrambling for a place to hide. I scruffed her (grabbed her by the back of the neck) and took her into the shower. Much to my amazement, she didn’t fight me. The only injury I sustained was a small claw puncture to my pinky finger. This cat can jump, though. She got on the shower seat and about cleared the top of the glass shower door. Once I got her soaked and sudded up, I rinsed her and wrapped her in a towel and dried her off. She never fought me, not once. This is a very good sign about her personality, so I was relieved that the worst was over.

After the bath, I moved a small cat tree into the bathroom and used it to prop open the sink cabinet and draped a towel over the opening so she had a level of privacy. I set out food and water, and let her be. Luckily she ate the next morning while I was sitting in the room with her, and she used the bathroom the night before in the litterbox. Now we wait for her to settle into her new home, and I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she sees how big this house is.

One of the Zero guys from South Carolina, Austin (the tall one in the above photo), decided that we should have an Electrics at the Dragon meetup June 25-28th. He rented a small cabin and still had some space left, so I said I’d be there! It would be the first time I’d take a motorcycle down US-129 - bka The Tail of the Dragon.

I decided to make this an epic trip with my new 2021 Energica EsseEsse9+ by going to Rabun Gap, GA before making my way along Highway 28 to Robbinsville, NC where we would be staying. I left Wednesday after work and rode to Charlotte for the night (stopping to charge in Asheboro and again at the rapid charger in Charlotte to 80% and 120v-charged at my friends house to 100% overnight). The next morning I left Charlotte and road down to Rabun Gap via stops in Boiling Springs, Greer, and Anderson SC and a stop in Clayton, GA.

All was fine and well until I got to Clayton. Clayton’s charger needed its CCS cable replaced, and it only worked if you held it a certain way. I managed to charge up for maybe 15-20 minutes before the station said “nope, not gonna do this at all now” and I plugged into the Level 2 next to it and went to a restaurant for a leisurely lunch. After eating I had the range to make it to my friend’s home, and once I arrived we ran the extension cords and plugged my bike it to charge. I wasn’t leaving until Saturday, so I spent all day Friday hanging out with my friends and their children. These are my friends who the wife was the officiant at my wedding, for those of you who attended it.

My friend lived in Rabun Gap, and it is a beautiful area. After a lovely visit, I headed to the Dragon by way of US28. My friend said “oh, that’s a fun road!” and I looked at him, he said I’d understand as I got going. I left their home and soon understood what he meant. This road was fun if you’ve got guts and confidence, I had neither at the time. I remember being white knuckled nearly the entire time from the time I left the Ingles about half-way from their house to the Dragon and getting to the Dragon itself.

I do not like heights. I do not like not being able to see around bends. I do not like rocks jutting out into the road way on blind bends. All of these hit me, in fact every single fear I’ve ever had would hit me on this trip. I had to pull over many, many, many times to catch my breath and shake out my hands. By the time I got to the Airbnb that the host rented, I was spent and needed to lay down for a little while. When I got there there was only one other guy there, Christian, and he let me unwind a bit before we headed to the T-Shirt shack (the Killboy tshirt shack across from Deals Gap Motorcycle Inn). 

When we got to the tshirt shack, we found Austin and the others. Someone suggested we go down the dragon, even though it was a tad bit wet. Reluctantly, I said OK. I encountered rain, fog, a snake in the road, a vehicle passing in my lane, and being passed because I was going to slow all within the first 5 miles of the Dragon. I don’t remember if we went to the last lookout point before the Dragon ends, or if we stopped at the mid-way point and turned around. I just remember that I was petrified most of the time. But I did get some good shots!

When we got back to the house, Rick and Sabrina and my buddy from Wilmington, Paul showed up to hang out. Paul brought his van with him, and after we got to talking he offered to trailer my bike back home for me so I didn’t have to ride it. I was pretty worn out and very thankful for this kind offer. I’d done 600mi and was pretty much spent. 

We hung out for one more day and then we loaded up the bikes at the tshirt shack and headed back East to Raleigh. 

Here’s a video of me “slaying” the dragon:

It's Wednesday and I'm waiting for my service contractor to arrive at a client site in Memphis to do some on the ground troubleshooting, which turns out that someone from my team needs to visit the site to do some local magic that only my team can perform. I knew this was a possibility, so I already had a bag packed and Karen the Kona charged up to above 90%. Once I got off the phone with the contractor, I loaded up my car and made my way west towards the home of the blues.

My first stop was in Statesville, North Carolina. I used to love this stop, but now it's one I may seek to avoid in the future. It has nothing to do with the hardware -- all the stations were in working order on both visits to this location. It has to do with the amenities and the construction at the exit that makes accessing it a royal pain in the arse. The construction has changed where the exits are, thus Google Maps freaks out and you end up going a solid 3 miles out of your way to get to the shopping center where the chargers are located. The bigger thing is that the Italian restaurant there used to be really good, but the portions have shrank while prices did not and the service has slid noticeable. The last time we went through here was during the cat transport in Feb, and I noted that the portions were smaller. Well this time I placed the order online 2 hours before I arrived, arrived 8 minutes late, and waited an additional 16 minutes on top of that for my food to be handed over. And if it had all the shrimp (I got 7, menu says 8) and if the sauce was...a sauce and not melted butter with some other things not quite mixed into it to be called a sauce... I might not have been upset about them being late an order placed hours ahead of time.

44 minutes, 31kWh and $11.16 later, I was on the road. I charged to 86% which I thought would give me enough range to make it to Kodak, TN for my next charge. But bladder and dropping temps had me detour to the Local Market of Waynesboro, NC for a quick charge, bathroom break, and snacks (mainly caffeine as it was dark now and I had the twisties to contend with ahead). 13 minutes, 6.17kWh, and $2.16 later - I was back on the road. Driving at night through the mountains is either alright or hell, and tonight it was alright. Not a lot of traffic, no broken down cars, no deer, no bears, no rock slides. I pulled into Kodak with 18% state of charge and plugged in for 49 minutes to get 46kWh for a cost of $7.97 -- I do love pay by time locations when you've got a car that charges relatively quickly. I charged enough to reach my hotel in Mt. Juliet - 180ish miles away - but I decided to stop in Cookeville and add a little more range to the car in the off chance that the ChargePoint Level 2 at the hotel wasn't accessible or broken. The Cookeville stop was for all of 13 minutes, adding 12kWh for a cost of $2.17 (compare this with the ChargePoint charge in Waynesville -- you'll see why I like time based charging a little more with this car).

I arrived at the hotel in Mt. Juliet around 1am local (central) time. The charger was not blocked and fully operational. I plugged in and went upstairs to sleep. 6-hours later, the car was at about 70% state of charge and I was refreshed and ready to make it to my client site in Memphis. I drove from Mt. Juliet to Jackson, TN and this is where I met my first "problem" charger. I was pulling up to it and tapped the start button in the Electrify America app on my Android Auto screen when the screen went from the screen saver to the "plug in first" screen and I saw the blue complimentary session banner. But then it switched to Plug in Here and proceeded to charge me 15-cents a minute. I decided that was fine, and went inside to use the bathroom. When I returned the car was still only pulling 17kW, so I disconnected and moved to one of the other stations -- only to see if I'd used the station next to where I'd parked (I would have needed to back up the car into the space behind where I'd parked) that station was also in complimentary mode. But I ended up paying $7.16 for 44kWh in 44 minutes, I also attended a work call while at this charging stop. Charged up with range to spare I headed to the client site where I proceeded to work magic and get the charging system into a state of semi-functionality. I was going to be waiting on a backend software tweak before I could test the station, so I called it a night at 5pm and proceeded to head over to a Pho and Sushi place to meet a retired teacher friend I've known since childhood for dinner. She had a celebration of life event (aka a funeral service) to attend, and said she'd be there at 6. As I hopped on I-40 I pressed the Voice Assistant button on the Hyundai steering wheel and told Google I needed a charging station. The first option it came up with was Jim Kerras Nissan, and it listed CCS as a charging option. I had a solid 45 minutes to kill, so I set the navigation to the Nissan dealer to charge up. Much to my surprise, as all the Nissan dealer in NC with CCS require payment, this station was FREE! I charged for a little over 40 minutes and made it to the restaurant at 5:58pm -- only to then see the text that my friend will be at least 15 minutes late because "this is rolling on with lots of stories from the speakers." Not a problem for me - I wanted sushi but also wanted to try the broth this place makes, so I ordered a dumpling soup appetizer and settled in. Dinner with my friends was delightful, and the sushi was superb. She told me about a recent shooting that her best friend witnessed at the local mall (the one across the street from the only Electrify America in Memphis). She also told me all about the Murdaugh trial in South Carolina. Then we pivoted to my cousin who is getting married next year in New Orleans. Truly a wonderful evening and a great way to end a long day. After dinner I followed her back to her home and unloaded a small piece of furniture from her car into her house. I hugged her goodnight and then headed over to Midtown Memphis to catch some shut eye at a middle school friend's house. He and his girlfriend had just gotten back from dinner with another mutual couple we know moments before I pulled into their driveway. I unloaded the car and proceeded to the bathroom for my eventual rituals. Afterward we sat at the kitchen table and drank wine while talking about the mall shooting, gun culture, what I was working on for the transit authority in town, and the upcoming Orville Peck show. Around 11 we were all exhausted -- well me and the girlfriend, my first works nights and it was his "day" off so he pulled out the iPad and started playing games -- so we retired for the night. I was up a little after 7am, showered, and texted my friend and his girlfriend that I was headed out the back door and would update them on my plans as the day progressed. At the time I had no idea if I'd be heading home today or staying the weekend. I drove to Bryant's Breakfast for a Philly Cheesesteak and Egg biscuit with a side of hash browns, then drove to Bartlett to pick up some labels that my company mailed to our contractor. From here it was back to the client's site to apply the labels and see if the back end database had been updated so the station would activate. I handled all my daily calls on site, including the end of week team call. It was determined that I should head back to Raleigh as all the hardware was in working order, so I let the customer know what the status was and that I'd be in contact with them before the end of the day most likely to tell them it was OK to charge their bus. I drove straight to Jackson, TN to charge. On the way there I had an engineer hit me up about doing some live troubleshooting on a different station when I got stopped, and I handled a couple work calls on the drive. I arrived to find a Polestar 2 using the other complimentary charger, the slow one I used had been marked unavailable, and a Kona attempting to charge on the only other 150kW. I pulled in and plugged up to the 350kW and my charge started fine, the Kona owner and a guy in a high-viz work jacket were talking and I could tell the Kona owner was having issues. I asked what was up and he said that he's at 3% power and that he thinks it's too low for the charger to charge it. I told him while being undervoltage could be a thing, it's really unlikely with that car. He then realizes I own the exact same identical vehicle. I told him I've run it to 3% before and charged it an EVgo without any issues. He seemed quite frustrated (which I totally understand) and not open for more help (to which I wanted to say, you should drive it over to the Nissan dealer half a mile away and plug into their Level 2 charger and see if you can unplug it from the car after locking the doors -- if so the charging lock has broken and that's why you can't DC fast charge).  I jumped in the car and pulled out my work laptop. This charge was an hour and 20 minutes long, adding 48kWh and costing $13.24. I worked the entire time I was plugged in. I got Memphis successfully charging, we confirmed what I suspected about a hardware failure for a FL customer, and I found out that Chapel Hill was going to activate their new hardware on Tuesday (so a good thing I was headed back to Raleigh today). As I was working, a tow truck showed up and hauled away the Kona that was parked next to me. I felt really bad for the owner, because I've been in that situation. I hope his car gets fixed and he never experiences anything like that again. After finishing up some paperwork to order parts and schedule contractors, I closed the work laptop and signing off for the day, unplugged my car and proceeded to Cookeville for my next to last charge of the day. I got nervous when I came close to Cookeville. About 40m out I decided, based on what happened in Jackson, that I might want to check the status of the site. Well, 2 machines showed unavailable and 2 showed in use. I figured that was OK as one of the two in use should be done by the time I get there. Nope, a Bolt and a Ford F150 Lightning were still parked at the chargers when I arrived. However, one of the two machines that said were offline had the green lights on so I pulled over to it and sure enough it was in complimentary mode! I reversed into the parking space and plugged in, the charger came to life and gave me the full 75kW my car can take. Who doesn't love a free charge?! While it was charging, I opened my hatch to get a business card from a bus representative I met at the client site. I wanted to let him know we got the client charging successfully today. While I was rummaging around, the Ford owner gets out of his truck to unplug. I asked him how he liked the truck, and the take away from out 10 minute chat was that he's owned Ford trucks for 17 years and this is the best truck he's ever owned from them. He said the front trunk was always a conversation starter at the parking lot of the grocery store. I do really love this early onset of mainstream adopters, the folks you meet at charging stations tend to be really nice (tho I've totally been cussed out by Audi owners before). He headed off to the college to get his son and I jumped in the car as it was getting rather cold and starting to rain. I charged for ... well I don't remember how long since I don't have the receipt! I left Cookeville and made it to Kodak TN where I plugged in at 26% and headed over to The Chop House for a nice dinner. An hour and one full belly later, I unplugged the car and drove across the parking lot to the Fairfield Inn where I'd stay for the night. This hotel had a Blink Level 2 charger that actually wasn't blocked, so I plugged in and charged my car to 100% overnight (it only took an hour and cost me the outrageous price of $6.34 -- not all chargers bill equally). I slept until 6am, when the hotel alarm clock went off on its own. I'd wanted to sleep till 8 or so, but I knew once I was up... I was up. I showered, packed, loaded up the car, unplugged, and headed back towards Statesville. I had some grapes I'd picked up at an earlier stop that I munched on to keep my blood sugar up. When I got to Statesville the app said all stations available, but a Mach-E had pulled into one of the 350kW stalls and the owner hopped out of the car right as I pulled in the parking lot. I parked next to them and took the other 350kW -- since the 350kW's share two 175kW cabinets and the Mach-E only needs 150kW max and I only need 74kW max this was the most efficient use of the machines available at the time. As I got out and stretched after a 3 hour drive to get here, some folks in a truck parked near the chargers asked me how long it'd take. I said about 30 minutes, that'll give me enough to get home to Raleigh. The guy driving the truck said that's not bad, and you've got a McDonalds next door too. We then chatted a bit about the Italian restaurant -- he too had a negative experience with them recently. Sad. I may start charging in Greensboro and skipping Statesville now. I wandered over to the McDonalds and ordered a sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle and settled in for about a half hour. As I finished easting, I saw a Porsche Taycan Grand Tourismo (the station wagaon) pull up and park at the 150kW charger that has the Nissan CHAdeMO plug. "Oh boy, we are going to get chewed out" I thought to myself as I downed the last of my tea and decided that I'd use the bathroom before walking over to my car. After using the bathroom, I walked over and walked in front of the Porsche and Ford, and unlocked my car to check my estimated range (it was more than enough to get me home). As I'm peering in my door to read the dash, I hear "Hey sir, excuse me, sir?" and I turn around to find a thin, long blonde hair, lady with a rather worried look on her face. She asked me if I could help her, she can't get her car to charge. She tells me she's only had the car a few days, that she's coming from Lake Norman and headed to Greensboro to pick up a friend and that she lives in Durham and doens't know this area at all. She said that her partner installed the Electrify America app on her phone but never told her how to use it. She said I've only ever charged a Tesla, and I don't understand the on-screen instructions of this charger. Now I picked up on the gender neutral language and general body language and figure this gal is LGBTQ+ family, but even if she wans't I was going to help her out. So I asked if it was OK to unplug her car, and she said yes. I unplugged it and said ok now pull out your phone and open the app. She did and I showed her how to navigate to the site, then the station, and then swipe to start. Once she did that the machine switched to "Please Plug in Now" and I said "When it switches to this screen, then you plug in the car." She did and it started charging. As we high-fived to celebrate getting the charge going, the Mach-E family returned and said she can use their 350kW since it'll be faster. So we stopped the charge on the 150kW and plugged into the 350kW. She was able to do it all on her own this time. The Mach-E left and I stopped my charge and went to get into my car and leave when I heard a knocking on my window. It's the Porsche lady again, she says I'm so sorry but the car say it can't charge. I glance at it the station has faulted (probably because the second shared power cabinet became available and their back end software doesn't handle ramp-up requests correctly), and the car has a red ring around the charger release button. I put my car in park and turn it off and say let's try this again. We unplug, we wait for the machine to say Plug in First. We swipe, we get the Please Plug in, we plug in, and it's happy. This time I stand there and wait to see it move up a % on the State of Charge (she was at 4%) before I jump in my car to head home.

So I am sitting at my desk working away, getting ready for my first work-related travel for my first customer deployment of charging equipment, when my friend Rick (from Orlando) pings me and asks what I’m doing October 1-3 and I told him I’d be getting ready to go to Jacksonville, FL for work. He tells me that Stefano, the US CEO of Energica, is trying to find customers who will lend the company their bikes for a parade lap during the MotoGP race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. He said that if I could meet them in north FL, they could trailer my bike and I could ride in their van (which is converted into a camper and has room for their two Energica Ribelles). I said let me talk with my boss...

I hadn’t even been with the company a month yet, but given that my boss is a race fan and another team member is a motorcyclist himself... they told me to go and to use that unlimited PTO. So without hesitation, I told Rick that I was in and texted Stefano to tell him I looked forward to meeting him in person finally, and began to figure out how I was going to get down there.

First, I needed new bags to hold everything. I had work gear, clothes, and other supplies that had to travel with me on two wheels. I found a good sized bag at Cycle Gear that was on sale. I was able to get it to latch onto the back of my bike seat, and I’d take my IKEA backpack as well (the one that I bought with my Energica EVA when I went to IKEA back in 2019).

This pack was huge, and it was going to create problems for me down the road -- but I was too excited about this amazing adventure to care. Next up, I needed to determine my route. I hit up my buddy Austin who lives in Columbia, SC and he said I could crash on his sofa so I could break the ride from Raleigh, NC to Lake City, FL up into two days. So I’d leave Tuesday the 28th from my home and ride down to Cacye, SC (about 230mi). I would be stopping in Moncure, NC and Wadesboro, NC and then topping off in Lugoff, SC at a Chevy dealership before I’d make it to Austin’s home (where I would overnight charge on his Level 2 charger). From here I’d head down to Augusta GA, Dublin GA, Tifton GA, Valdosta GA, and finally arrive in Lake City FL to meet up with Rick and his wife Sabrina -- about 400mi total. 

I left the house at 4pm and arrived at my first charging stop in Moncure at 4:46. I like this stop because it’s at a mini mart with a kitchen/cafe and a picnic table. While charging, I took a half hour work-related call and then saddled up to head to Wadesboro.

I arrived at Wadesboro (this location is no longer in existence) around 7:15pm. This charger is at an Electric Member Cooperative (EMC) office, and there is nothing within walking distance of this place. After charging, I headed off to Lugoff Chevrolet - my last stop before I’d get some much desired sleep.

I arrived in Lugoff just before 10pm. This charge was free, and I’m really thankful that they leave the DC charger out in the open like this and don’t power it off at night. I didn’t stay here long, I was only 30-ish miles from Austin’s house. I remember that we chatted a little bit when I arrived (I don’t remember the time). I told Austin he needed to go to bed because he gets up at like 4am to go to work, and I needed to get some rest myself. I made myself at home on his sofa and fell fast asleep.

The next morning I departed Austin’s house with a full charge and rode 74mi down to Augusta -- but not before stopping at a Waffle House for a steak and eggs breakfast!

I arrived at the Kroger in Augusta at 10am and started my charge then headed over to the Great Clips to get a haircut. With the sides of my head shaved, and some water procured from the Kroger, I set off for Dublin - where I’d be eating lunch.

I got to Dublin just before 2pm. This Georgia Power ChargePoint charging station is located at a Burger King, which meant it was ChaKing Chicken Sandwich time. I do like their chicken sandwiches. After eating and charging, it was off to Tifton.

In Tifton I completely repacked all my bags and moved the big bag to the tank. This made things a lot easier on me, especially since I’d taken most of the heavy stuff out of my backpack so that my back would stop hurting. After laying out in the grassy field (this station is actually in a hotel parking lot), I headed off to Valdosta -- the last needed charge stop before the rendezvous with Rick and Sabrina.

Valdosta was a trouble stop -- it took two or three attempts to get the charger to work, and the bike was very hot and reduced its charging speed to a max of 9kW. After getting enough juice to make it the home stretch, it was off to Lake city!

I arrived at Lake City sometime after 10pm, Rick and Sabrina showed up with their van and trailer about 10:30pm. We loaded my bike up then pulled across the street to a motel to rest for the night. What a good sleep that was!

Thursday we drove from Florida to Texas. I don’t remember where we stopped to sleep, but I remember we made it to Texas. The next morning we headed out early and arrive at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin sometime in the 10am hour.

Now the confusion starts. We had to take COVID tests and get our badges, and the tests had to come back before the events started on Saturday or we wouldn’t be allowed in the paddock. It took several calls and driving around the exceptionally large race track before we finally found Stefano and Chris Paz from Energica who escorted us to the place to get our COVID tests and badges. 

Chris and Stefano had brought a bike from the local dealer, and another customer’s bike to the paddock already. We unloaded our bikes and left them for the event the next day. We went to our hotel and decompressed for a bit while we wanted for Livia (Energica CEO) and Giampiero’s (Energica CTO) plane to land. Once they touched down, we all coordinated meeting up for dinner at Cooper’s Old Time BBQ.

It’s not every day you get to eat dinner with the CEO of a motorcycle company, and Livia is the sweetest person on earth. It was so much fun to talk with her about life, motorcycles, electrification, and the differences between Italian riders and American riders -- notably the difference in listening to music or podcasts while riding. I also found out that it was Livia who insisted the Energica bikes have a reverse function -- a key feature that made me want one.

Livia and  Giampiero were naturally exhausted and ready to retire for the night after our delicious BBQ dinner. We all said our goodbyes and headed back to our respective hotels for some shut eye.

The next morning we headed to the track around 10am. Today was the big day where our bikes were going do their parade lap. Now, there was even more confusion about who was riding the bikes. Up until we got to the track on Saturday, we thought that we were going to be the riders. But once we arrived on scene, we were given some forms to sign and told that celebrities will be riding our bikes around the track. Well, that’s cool. Who are they?

There were several European influencers - they gravitated to my bike for reasons unknown (one guy said it was the most upright and familiar riding position to him), and they proceeded to do wheelies and all sorts of stunts. Livia could tell we were all a tad concerned, especially since one of the shorter guys nearly dropped my bike not once but twice -- both times people standing next to him grabbing it to prevent it from going down. Livia assured us that if anything happened to our bikes that she’d make it right. These were not all the celebrities, we were then told that a former MotoGP winner (Kevin Schwantz) and a movie star were going to be taking part in the parade lap.

Some time later, Livia walked up to me and took my hands. She told me that Mr. Orlando Bloom (yes, Legolas from Lord of the Rings) has chosen to ride my motorcycle. Now, earlier I’d joked that the movie star would choose my bike because it was the only blue bike -- all the others were some combination of grey, black, and red. Well Livia tells me “Mr. Bloom is a bit superstitious and will not ride a red bike, and your bike is the only on that’s not red.” She again assured me should anything happen, they’d make things right. I was never a huge Lord of the Rings fan, but I knew he was in that franchise. I really didn’t know anything else he had been in, so I started Googling and it turns out he’s quite the avid rider.

At some point we moved closer to the track to watch the race. Then the race paused and people came out with helmets and told us it was time to move. We threw on our helmets -- mine was far too small for my head -- and jumped on our bikes and followed a golf cart around the paddock and onto the track. Mr. Bloom was front of the pack, so I rolled right up to the front to hand my bike off to him.

Mr. Bloom is a very, very soft spoken and sweet guy. He asked me if the bike was set to medium regen, and I said yes -- and asked if he’d ridden one of these before and he said “once or twice” and I could see the smirk on his face despite the helmet. He clearly knew the bike controls because he left in Traction Control Level 6 and came back in Traction Control Level 2. My battery had lost 20% of its state of charge and estimated I could go 29 miles on 69%.

Mr. Bloom took my bike around for an additional lap -- something that I don’t think he was supposed to do, but he was having way too much fun. After he came off the track, a swarm of media and cameras rushed him. We were told to stay behind the film crew until we were told otherwise, so that’s what I did. During this interview process all the riders signed the motorcycles.

We did not know that they were going to do this, and not everyone was thrilled to know that their bikes were going to get Sharpie autographs. But I was thrilled to have Orlando Bloom’s signature!

Chris Paz said he’d send me a new center insert so I could preserve the original signature, which was super cool of him. After the event, we went to an after party at the local Powersports dealer that carries Energica. It was a complete mad house there. I don’t know that anyone else from our group made it to the event, and we had parked the Van in such a spot that we had to wait for everyone to leave before we could go. Honestly, things are a blur this far out from when it happened that I don’t even remember what we ate for dinner.

Sunday was the official race, but our passes didn’t allow us into the paddock. We were allowed restricted access to a viewing area, and the event provided a catered lunch for us. After lunch, Rick said we should go find a sports bar where we can watch the race and drink beer. So we (he, me, Sabrina) all loaded up into the Sprinter van and headed out to find a watering hole. We found one, but we had trouble watching the race. Eventually we wandered back to the track to load up our bikes and later we had dinner with Livia and crew. Rick and Sabrina wanted to call it an early night since we had to get on the road the next day, but I wanted to stay out a little longer. I had them drop me off at a gay bar that happened to be hosting a Karaoke night. I ended up singing Little Red Rodeo before taking an Uber back to the hotel, and drinking a lot of pineapple something something holy shit I’m drunk goodness.

Monday was a marathon drive back east. I forget where we stopped for the night, but I remember we had Hibachi for dinner. Tuesday we finished driving back to Orlando, unloaded the bikes, and I did some errands before packing up my stuff and calling it a night.

Early -- like 5am -- the next day I woke up and saddled up to head north to Jacksonville for work. I stopped and charged at a Harley dealer in Ormond Beach, and topped off at the Harley dealer outside Jacksonville. I arrived and attempted to check into my hotel, but I was too early. My boss let me store my stuff in his room, and we piled into the rental to head to our job site. I told all the stories here, and more, to my boss and coworker. Oh, and before I forget here is an official MotoGP video of Orlando Bloom’s ride (and you can see me in it in a couple spots). I can’t embed the video because Dorna Sports prevents it -- boo. I also was interviewed and you can see that interview at 5:47 in the video below.

Carolina Beach

Carvers Creek

Chimney Rock

Cliffs of the Neuse

Crowders Mountain

Dismal Swamp

Elk Knob

Eno River

Falls Lake

Fort Fisher

Fort Macon

Goose Creek

Gorges

Grandfather Mountain

Hammocks Beach

Hanging Rock

Haw River

Jockey’s Ridge

Jones Lake

Jordan Lake

Kerr Lake

Lake James

Lake Norman

Lake Waccamaw

Lumber River

Mayo River

Medoc Mountain

Merchants Millpond

Morrow Mountain

Mount Jefferson

Mount Mitchell

New River

Occoneechee Mountain

Pettigrew

Pilot Mountain

Raven Rock

Rendezvous Mountain Singletary Lake

South Mountains

Stone Mountain

Weymouth Woods

William B. Umstead

My 94-year old grandfather was a World War II veteran, retired Greyhound mechanic, father of 5, grandfather of 4, great-grandfather to 6, and a widower since 1990. Always quick to share a story, he was known for his famous cracklin cornbread and drinking cold coffee. He loved his cats, turnip greens, and hearing about his sons hunting trips.

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

It was my first day back at work after coming home from the Southern GA campground (which was not the pleasant 4th of July we'd hoped for given a camper unrelated to our clan died in the wee hours of July 4). My dad called me and told me Grandpa was back in the hospital with an infected toe. This is the second time he's been admitted to the hospital, the first time was the last week of June for high potassium -- he was discharged the Friday we left to go camping. My dad sounded concerned and said he'd have an update tomorrow.

Thursday, July 7, 2022

My dad called and said that the infection was in his bones. They may have to amputate the left leg below the knee. He said if I could, I needed to come say goodbye to him because he likely wouldn't survive the surgery. I frantically re-packed my bags with the expectation to stay two weeks in the Memphis area. He was hospitalized in Oxford, MS - a good 1.5 hour drive away from Memphis - so I was going to have to drive to/from the hospital to see him. As I am loading the car I realize the rear tires are showing a cord. They need to be replaced immediately. My husband places the order thru his work and says I'll need to go get them from the distributer at 9am Friday and his work will put them on for me. I move around my work cases to other team members and lay down for a fitful nights sleep.

Friday, July 8, 2022

I went to the gym at 7 and did some lifting to help calm me down. I had no less than four meetings via Zoom to attend or host. I also have a strained relationship with my family, and I'm one to fret - so this wasn't going to be an easy day to keep my emotions in check. After the gym I went to the tire distributer and picked up the tires, then beelined to my husband's BMW dealership to have them installed. Our friend who is a service writer greeted me with a hug and said they'd get it worked in as soon as possible. He asked if I wanted to have the shuttle take me home, and I was OK to sit in the waiting area but my husband came around the corner and said to take his car home. So I did, and I was reminded how much I can't stand the lowering springs impact on the already harsh suspension of an electric Smart car.

About an hour or so later they called me and said the Audi was ready. I drove the Smart back up and plugged it into the public charger outside the dealership. Our friend the service advisor brought my car around and gave me another hug and told me to text him when I made it. I said I would, jumped in the car, and headed west. My first stop was the Electrify America in Statesville, NC which took me around 2.5 hours with traffic.

I managed to time it so that my first three meetings started right as I got in the car and during my charge at the Statesville station. The car finished charging before the meeting ended, and I had ample time to run into the McDonald's for a bathroom break and a burger since the next meeting wouldn't be for an hour. As I left the McDonalds, it began to rain. This would add a solid half hour delay in reaching the Asheville charger, but thankfully I was only there 10 minutes. My next long charge would be in Kodak, TN - which the rain added another half hour delay prior to arrival. The rain did let up just enough for me to plug in without getting wet.

Saturday, July 9, 2022

My next stop would be Cookeville, which is the half-way point give or take and where I go back in time as I enter the Central Time Zone. From there I stopped in Franklin (as Nashville was one solid red line on the map due to traffic), and then Jackson - which is where the rain finally stopped. I rolled into the Electrify America in Memphis just after 2am and made it to my friends house around 3:20am. I don't remember unpacking the car, I just crawled into bed and crashed hard. But it was short lived, I was back up by 8am to get back on the road to visit Papaw in the Rehab center of Oxford, Mississippi.

Sleep was deep but short. I was meeting my uncle David, his wife, my Aunt Louise, and her daughter Shannon at the rehab center at 11. Since I woke up so early, I drove down to Southaven Mississippi's Harley dealer and used the low-speed 24kW DC ChargePoint station there. It's off-network, but it works. I charged to around 90% and headed down to Oxford's McDonalds. The McDonald's has a 10kW Level 2 Blink station, I charged at it while I had breakfast for about 45 minutes before the family let me know they were close by. I drove the 2 miles to the rehab center and snagged one of the last two parking spaces -- the other taken by my family moments after I arrived. I haven't seen my aunt or her daughter in over 10 years, so there were hugs and light conversation about fostering dogs and foster failures (where you start fostering and then adopt the dog) as we made our way inside. We all masked up, washed our hands, entered our information into the computer and were given the 4-digit code to unlock all the doors of the facility. My other uncle, Barry, made it up about an hour after we got there.

We wandered down the hallway and found him laying in bed in his room. I suppose you should know that he'd been in the VA Home for about a year and in the first two weeks he fell and broke his hip. He has largely been bed or chair bound ever since that surgery. Boy did he light up when I walked in the room. As I'd find out later, this was one of his sharper days. He knew who everyone was, and his stories were coherent. We fed him lunch, and stayed with him as he slept and we told stories of our memories with him. We stayed up there 5 or 6 hours, and I hadn't eaten since I got to the McDonald's. Everyone decided to go to Olympic Steak and Pizza in Arlington, TN for dinner. Uncle David's wife rode with me, while David took Louise back to her house to let her dog out.

The ride to the restaurant was over an hour away, and we talked a lot about my relationship with my family along the way. It was really cathartic, in some ways, but it also made me feel like I'd missed out on so much too. Uncle Barry beat us to the restaurant and got a table, and shortly after we arrived David and Louise arrived -- Shannon needed to go home to tend to her own pets so she skipped dinner. The conversation was lighthearted, with everyone asking about my husband and my job and thankfully avoided topics like politics or vaccinations. After dinner we all hugged and said we'd see each other next week. I headed back to Wolfchase where I charged my car from 22-100% and then drove back to Midtown to hang out with my friends I was staying with. I was going to be spending a lot of time at Wolfchase, as I couldn’t even Level 1 charge the Audi at my friend’s home and the closest Level 2 was more than a mile away and always in use it seemed.

Sunday, July 10, 2022

I took my eldest cousin, Kristen, to see grandpa today. She’s not speaking with her dad (Uncle David) right now, and because she’s had so many not-at-fault accidents on the highway, she won’t drive long distances. I started the day out at the Whole Foods, hoping to top off my car and have breakfast. Their charger was powered off, I had to ask the lady at the front desk to throw the breaker for it. She did, and it powered up and I was able to charge at 6kW just fine. As I was getting plugged in, a retired police officer stopped and started talking to me about the car. He said his wife just got a Q7 and if they’d know these were a thing they’d have really considered it. After this conversation, I popped into the store to find a very sad breakfast buffet. I paid way too much for way too mediocre food, but I really wasn’t in the mood to eat so it was fine. After I ate I left and picked up my cousin from her apartment near Memphis State University (now called University of Memphis, but it’ll always be Memphis State to me). I told her we were going to stop at a Walmart in Collierville so we could get grandpa some deodorant and snacks.

We stopped at the walmart and we did get him deodorant, a table lamp, and some food -- mostly heat and eat “soup at hand” stuff, but I wanted him to try something new so I picked up some hummus (he hated it, but was really polite about not liking it). Grandpa was in good spirits today, his memory was better than the day before. He told Kristen that her sister was coming to see him and she’d been by a few days before. While we were there the nurse came in with his actual lunch, so we took turns feeding him. After lunch and watching some TV, Kristen and I decided we should go get our own lunch and head back to Memphis.

We ate at McAlister’s Deli -- which started in Oxford, MS -- and we had a pretty involved conversation about all the topics I don’t like: guns, government regulation, and conspiracies. At one point during the conversation I thought a guy in camo a few booths away was going to say something. I’ve never felt like I fit into this part of the world, not since I was a little child. Moments like this only reinforced that feeling. After lunch, we took the non-highway route back to her apartment and I dropped her off. She thanked me for taking her to see grandpa in my “fancy space car. “ I gave her a hug and I headed back out to Germantown to charge the car, again. 

I used to work at the Best Buy that is in the parking lot next to where the Electrify America DC fast chargers are located. It was nostalgic to sit in a parking spot I used to park my Ford Taurus to eat lunch when I didn’t want to be in the breakroom some 20 years prior. Only two of the four stations at this location worked 100% of the time. One was always down, one worked some days with a phone tap and others it said available but didn’t recognize your phone or respond to a start request from the mobile app. Nobody else was at the charger this day, and my 40 minutes flew by. I stopped by Exlines Pizza and got myself “the best pizza in town,” then went back to my friend Jeremy’s home and settled in, preparing for the week ahead.

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

My grandpa had said that he wanted a slugburger -- a wartime era soy and hamburger or pork mixed burger that is a staple to northern Mississippi -- from the White Trolley in Corinth, Mississippi (where his sister lived). I decided that today I was going to work remotely from his room and get him that slugburger. So I left midtown Memphis and drove to Wolfchase Commons in Germantown to charge, then drove 90-miles to the White Trolley in Corinth, Mississippi for his burgers, drove 90 miles back to the chargers at Wolfchase, and finally drove down to Oxford to see him.

He never at the burgers. When I got into the patient area, his nurse stopped me in the hall and said “he’s in rare form today.” The lady in the room across from him closed her door, he’d apparently been yelling at her all morning. What I witnessed in the room this day broke me. He was having hallucinations, asking me if I’d seen the little grey kitten with the striped tail. He was holding a full on conversation with my grandmother who died over 30 years ago. He kept trying to stand up -- which he cannot -- and I had to sooth him back into his bed. I didn’t get much work done, I tried to do a troubleshooting session and one of the engineers didn’t show up and the one who did told me that he was going to pray for me and that (based on what he overheard as I was trying to clam grandpa down during our meeting) I should spend as much time with my grandpa as I could.

When I left I sat in the car and cried for a while. Finally I started the car and drove back up to Wolfchase to charge. There was a Rivian truck charging when I got there, but the other station was open for me to use. After charging I went to my friend’s house and went to bed, crying myself to sleep.

Saturday, July 16, 2022

It was Saturday, which meant “the family” (sans my parents who visited him M-F and took Sat and Sun off - in part because of tensions within the family about my parents care decisions, but I won’t go there) was going to visit him again. This time my younger cousin Stephanie, her husband and their three kids would be coming. I haven’t seen Steph in quite a while and was really looking forward to giving her a hug and seeing her youngest child for the first time.

They got there late, they live in Arkansas and had a lot of traffic on the way in. When they arrived, they brought Krystal burgers and my grandpa happily ate as many as Steph would feed him. Grandpa loved his grand kids and he loved his great grand kids even more -- when he could remember them. Dementia is cruel, erasing the youngest great-grands from his memory first. It was hard when he couldn’t recognize his adult kids, it was harder to see him not fully remember who is great-grandson was.

After our visit, we all went back to the restaurant we ate at the week prior. I asked if anyone wanted to ride with me to the restaurant, and Steph’s two girls yelled “WE DO” as they bolted for my Audi. I’d not spent a lot of time with these two since my mom had her hysterectomy in 2014 and I took FMLA to help care for her since dad was still working and messed up the days off for the surgery. The younger daughter fell asleep in the back of the car before we got off the highway that leads into Oxford, but the eldest sat up front with me and talked the entire hour-plus drive to the restaurant. I didn’t mind, she reminded me a lot of myself and I enjoyed listening to someone who had such enthusiasm and joy in their voice. After we ate at the restaurant, we all said our good-byes and I once again headed back to Wolfchase to recharge my Audi.

Sunday, July 17, 2022

I called an old High School friend and she said to come pick her up and we’d wander the city and talk. We ended up stopping by our old high school, which is now a church, and they let us wander around the place. We actually snuck into the closed-off portion of the place, what used to be the high school wing, via the unlocked door on the upper level of bleachers. The tenant before the Church was a college, and they’d done some big renovations to what were once good sized class rooms. It was incredibly nostalgic, and hard to believe it was the same place we spent more than half our school life in.

Afterward, we went shopping at the discount and outlet stores that were open. After several hours, we stopped at McAlister’s near her house for dinner. When we got to her house, I then got into a several-hours-long conversation with her husband about EVs, tech in general, and their camping adventures. I needed this day, it recharged my soul -- and I reflected on how thankful I was to still have friends in a city I’d not lived in for over 20 years as I recharged the car back at Wolfchase before heading to my friend’s for the night.

Monday, July 18, 2022

This would be the last time that I’d see my grandfather alive. I woke up early and headed to Oxford. Today the family was meeting with the doctors/nurses to discuss the long-term plan for Grandpa. I got there early enough to fully charge the battery from 59% to 100%. This was the first time I’d seen my dad this entire trip, but he and my mother had been on the phone a fair amount. Wounds weren’t healed, but we had a mutual situation to contend with. While waiting for the staff to arrive, I got an earful about “I wish I could fly, but they require you to be vaccinated and you can’t make me.” I decided right then and there that I’d had enough of my family and was going to go home on Wednesday.

The nurses finally met with us and basically said that they were going to try and give him a heavy antibiotic treatment to try and kill the bacteria infection in the bone of his toe. They stressed that if they didn’t see any response to the treatment within two weeks that they advised we set up hospice. We left the hospital going our separate ways and I called my mother-in-law for a shoulder to process this heavy information. We talked the hour or so it took to get to the charging station, where I charged up and then picked up another Exlines pizza and headed to my friend Ann’s house for dinner. 

Ann is a dear and beloved family friend who I’ve known since seemingly forever. Her son and my Uncle (on my mom’s side) were best friends and went to school together. Ann and my Grandma (mom’s side) were close friends for a long time. Ann was like another mother to me, and I always make a point to see her if I can when I visit the city. Ann let me plug the car into her garage outlet (120v), so the car could top off a little bit while we hung out. I got her caught up on the drama of work, grandpa, my family, and life in general while we munched on the best pizza in town and polished off a bottle of wine. Again, this was much needed comfort during a tumultuous time.

Tuesday, July 18, 2022

While handling my work related meetings and situations, I kept looking at Petfinder in hopes I’d find a Siamese cat that could take the place of my beloved blind Flame Point Siamese who passed away in March. I got lucky, there was a Siamese cat in Senatobia, Mississippi. I called and the cat was still available, so I jumped in the car and went down there. I was told the cat was female and declawed, but the cat I met was male and fully clawed. Given the 45 minute drive, and the fact that the lady was like “the fact he’s a boy doesn’t change your interest does it?” I felt like if I didn’t take him, he’d be euthanized. So I adopted him.

Digger the cat would turn out to be one of my bigger regrets during this trip, but I didn’t know that he was going to mark territory despite being neutered because our ancient Lilac-point Siamese chases him out of “her rooms.” I digress, I did clear it with my friends that I could board a cat at their house for the day, and they agreed. I let Digger out of his carrier and he hid under their king sized bed in the spare room. I left him be to settle and my friends took me to the Midtown Concourse for drinks.

Wednesday, July 19, 2022

The Museum of Science and History (formerly the Pink Palace Museum) was hosting a show called “Rise UP” about the Stonewall riots and LGBTQ rights. I called a friend of mine who lives in Chattanooga and he said he’d love to see it, but he could only make the trip on Wednesday. So he drove in to town (Tuesday night actually, he stayed at an Airstream on Airbnb not far from where my friends house is), and we went to the exhibit.

The exhibit also had an incomplete history of LGBTQ Memphis -- which brought me to tears. They had shirts from MAGY (Memphis Area Gay Youth), and habits from the local order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, along with a complete list of defunct Gay Bars from years gone by. 

I couldn’t tell you how long we spent in the museum. We had to stop and I needed to sit to dry my eyes. For the first time in my life I saw my culture’s history on display in a positive light. I watched as parents - heterosexual parents - walk their children through the exhibit and explain things to them. Not even my friend from Chattanooga could keep his eyes dry during the tour.

After thoroughly crying and releasing a ton of endorphins, we hit up the gift shop where I bought a ton of stuff and had a very fun interaction with a Millennial and GenZ worker about AOL Instant Messenger.

Once we left the museum, I went back to my friend’s home to pack up my stuff as I was following my Chattanooga friend back to his house for the night before I drove the rest of the way home on Thursday. Digger the cat was not about to go back in his carrier. I spent the better part of 45 minutes pulling apart the bed and chasing him around the room before I finally managed to catch him (and get scratched to high hell) and get him in the carrier. My friend’s girlfriend told me that she almost came in the room to check on me given the commotion but said she didn’t because the last thing any of us needed was to lose the cat in another part of the house. After hugging everyone goodbye, we headed east towards Chattanooga.

My Chattanoogan friend drives a Chevy Bolt, so both of us had to stop and charge to get to his house. We stopped in Jackson, TN and then in Franklin TN and finally in Manchester before getting to his home. The stop in Franklin was at Nissan North America’s Headquarters, where we saw a Nissan Ariya SUV sitting at one of their charging stations. I didn’t add a lot of charge here, but this stop was mainly for the Bolt. I topped off to 95% in Manchester, arriving in Chattanooga with 66%.

My friend had to back the car down his extremely steep driveway. I’ve taken my Enegica motorcycle up and down this driveway several times over the years, but I just couldn’t seem to get the Audi down it... or back out of it. I had Tyler do that for me both times.

Thursday, July 20, 2022

I worked until 4pm and then packed up and headed the rest of the way home via Atlanta -- I did not have it in me to contend with the mountains and rain. I got home at 11pm and went straight to bed.

Wedsday, July 27, 2022

My dad called me and said that the doctors have advised that we transition grandpa into hospice. They said that he is in such bad shape they can’t move him from his bed or it will kill him. Any hope we had of hospice at home was dashed, he was going to take his last breath at the hospital. I was told that I needed to get ready to come back for the funeral -- they estimated 48 hours before he would be gone.

Thursday, July 28, 2022

I’d taken the Audi back to the dealer to have the rear cupholder replaced (out of pocket since they told me, only after they ordered the part, that the CPO warranty didn’t cover it). This was an in-and-out service, but they did was and vacuum the car for me. When they brought it up, I locked the car and then tried to unlock it with the remote so I could pick my driver profile and get the seats and mirrors set back to my settings. The car wouldn’t unlock. The battery in the keyfob had died once again. The service advisor replaced the battery on the spot -- making me take the key out of the rubber cover I keep it in -- and a new battery was put in. Once I got in the car, I noticed that the front arm rest was broken. This was salt in the wound for me emotionally. They got it fixed up quickly, and I headed home waiting for the inevitable news.

Friday, July 29, 2022

Before my dad called to tell me grandpa had passed, I started getting bombarded with pictures in text messages from everyone in the family. That’s when I knew he’d passed, and the call from dad confirmed it. Dad said that his older brother was driving down on Saturday from Iowa because he was about to have dental surgery when my dad called him. I was then informed that I was responsible for making the memorial slideshow/video that would play during the funeral and that everyone was going to send me pictures. There was no “do you mind,” this was an assignment and I was not thrilled with it.

Then came the argument in the group text about when the funeral would be. Many wanted to do it Sunday, and I refused. I had pushed off a tattoo session for over a month now, and I was going to get inked on Saturday and we would show up to Memphis sometime Sunday. They agreed Monday, then Tuesday, then Monday was set in stone. I dug out the old MacBook and began to use iMovie to make a slide show of the photos everyone sent me.

Saturday, July 30, 2022

I drove my Smart car (Gopher) to my tattoo appointment. Kelli worked quickly as she knew we needed to hit the road as soon as this was over. I really don’t like traveling with fresh ink, but I didn’t have much choice. 

We were on the road by 2:30pm. We planned to drive until we got to the Cookeville TN area and then we’d get a hotel for the night. During my 3,700-mile motorcycle trip, I stayed at the La Quinta in Cookeville and we’d intended to stay there... except they had no vacancy. John found another hotel with a Level 2 charger near by, and we stayed there for the night. The ChargePoint charger was unable to connect to the network, but it worked with a tap of my phone and didn’t bill us for the charge.

Sunday, July 31, 2022

Before we went to bed I attempted to burn the slideshow to a DVD for the funeral home and the disc burner I had wasn’t working anymore. It was easily a decade or more old, so I placed a pick up order at the Walmart next door for a brand new DVD burner. We picked up the burner and some breakfast, then headed on towards Memphis while I burned DVDs in widescreen and 4:3 aspect ratios.

We stopped by the funeral home and dropped off the DVD. The guy said he’d call me if he had any problems with it -- thankfully he did not. After charging the car at Wolfchase, we stopped by my friend Michael’s home to pick up the floral arrangement his wife had made for us. She makes the most beautiful arrangements, and it made the car smell so nice.

After we got the flowers, we headed to the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. Why are we staying here? Well, my husband’s family has a Wildlife trust fund, and the hotel stay for this trip was being covered by the trust. We had arranged to meet with the Memphis Zoo on Tuesday to discuss funding part of their reptile cryogenics program - it was the highlight of the trip that I looked forward to since the Museum of Science and History wasn’t open on Monday or Tuesday so I couldn’t take my husband to see the Stonewall exhibit. My husband ordered the Jack Daniels package, which included a keep-sake cookbook.

After unpacking, we cashed in on the free charcuterie board and had a drink before my mom called and asked if we’d bring the flowers down to them and visit with my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins from Iowa. So we drove down to their home in Byhalia, Mississippi and hung out for a few hours eating leftovers and sharing stories of years gone by. This was the first time anyone other than my parents had met my husband, and I’m happy that it went over much better than I expected. Around 11pm we headed back to the hotel for the night and to prepare for the big day tomorrow.

Monday, August 1, 2022

We woke up before 7am and were on the road by 7:30am to Corinth for the funeral. The memorial/viewing was to be held at the funeral home there, then we would drive to Pickwick, TN to bury him next to my granny. We stopped by Casey Jones Village in Jackson, TN for breakfast -- and I cried the entire way there. Casey Jones Village place holds a special place in my heart, it was one of my favorite places to visit as a child. Unfortunately, some things don’t age well: the breakfast was terrible, but not overpriced. The menu was extremely simple and nothing like I remember. The general store itself seemed to be less than half the size of what I remembered. They did have Level 2 chargers, which was a bonus, but we still ended up at the Walmart down the street to fully charge the car.

After leaving Jackson we made it to the funeral home. I was not exactly nervous about the state of charge and the driving I knew we had to do, but I would have felt better if we could have added some more range to the car while we spent half the day at the funeral home. 

The service was great, lots and lots of great stories were told and all the flowers were beautiful. Everyone, and I mean everyone, met my husband. My mother, surprisingly, had no problem calling him “Chris’s husband,” where my sweet Aunt would stammer and say “Chris’s spouse” finally. Nobody made a scene about it. I got a lot of compliments on the video I made, and the staff at the funeral home thanked me for making a DVD that played.

We all loaded up into our cars and rode in procession from Corinth to Pickwick, about 25 miles, at a very slow pace. I was able to use my regen paddles to add a little bit of range back to the car. The grave side Military service was short and sweet, which was thankful given it was a very hot August day. Afterward, most everyone headed back to my parent’s home for dinner. John and I said we needed to go charge the car (since we had no way to do it at their house -- despite my dad being a welder, he doesn’t have a single 240v outlet we could plug into anywhere on the property). 

The drive back to Wolfchase in Germantown was... stressful. There was a really, really strong headwind and I watched a 25 mile buffer drop to 10 miles in a short span of time. I ticked “avoid highways” on the nav system and that got us away from the highway with the headwind and we wound our way around western TN passing by the area my mom’s mother lived at for many years. We got on 64 (Summer Ave) and we hit turtle mode about two lights before the shopping center with the chargers. There was one other car at the charger, and we plugged in. I called my cousin and asked if her sister would stop and let me copy the video she took of the grave side service, but they were pressed for time and couldn’t. Ultimately I got that video from her via a shared Google Drive link and made a memorial DVD that I mailed out to all the surviving family.

We did not make it back to my parents house, instead we got dinner at the hotel (with a really cute chocolate duck dessert) and went to bed. It was a long, emotional day and I was ready to rest.

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

After a leisurely breakfast at the Peabody Hotel, my husband and I arrived at the Memphis Zoo around 11am and met with the head of the cryogenics department. They fed us a really great deli lunch while going over their program and its history in a PowerPoint. Afterward, we got a very cool tour of the zoo and saw the cryogenic lab. 

The Zoo is working to restore the natural population of the Louisiana Pine Snake. We got to see the “snake factory” where they captive breed these snakes to release into the wild. I don’t like snakes, but their passion made me love these creatures and respect their place in the ecosystem.

After our visit at the zoo, we went back to the hotel in time to see the Peabody Ducks leave the fountain and march to the elevator to head back up to their roof-top roost for the night. I’m from Memphis and I’d only ever seen this once before. My husband attempted to get me the Duck Master package, which is where you get to lead the ducks, but both slots were already sold out for Tuesday.

Finally, after seeing the ducks do their march, we picked up my friends I’d been staying with and took them with us to dinner with the head of the crogenics program at the Memphis Zoo at the Coastal Fish Company located inside Shelby Farms. We had a wonderful dinner, talked about the Zoo’s work and non-work stuff, and just had a good time. One of my favorite parts of meeting potential grantees is the dinner (and, yes, the trust decided to fund their work).

We dropped my friends back at their house after dinner and returned to the Peabody to enjoy our last night in the South’s Grand Hotel. The Peabody has charging stations, but only the Valet can access -- my husband rode with him to ensure he plugged the car in correctly and left instructions on having to unlock the car and press the release button in the charge port before you can unplug the car.

We left at 9:30am after having one last breakfast at the hotel and stopped in Jackson for our first charge. My beloved husband drove the entire way home, since I’d been doing all the driving up to this point. I managed to sleep a little in the car, waking up at charging stops. There were no hiccups or issues charging on our way home, and we arrived home just after midnight.

Final Thoughts