San Diego to San Luis Obispo: Red LEAF Road Trip 2012

[Randy]

Here are some info and photos from our second day of the journey. We traveled from the Marriott courtyard in Oxnard to the Lamplighter Inn (Comfort Inn) in San Luis Obispo, a distance of 163 miles...

We got the car packed up in Oxnard with 100% charge from the night before and headed up CA-101 to Goleta (which is a few miles north of SB). The trip is 44 miles. We held the speed down as we could on the freeway, and arrived in Goleta with 5 bars and an energy efficiency of 4.8 miles/kwh.

We found the Rabobank charging station at 5956 Calle Real and plugged in...It is a Clipper Creek 70 amp-capable unit with a Tesla label on it. All the Rabobank locations are free to use. We stayed a total of 2.5 hours, did some shopping and walked around. There are a lot of stores/restaurants on Calle Real and the time went by; there's even a bowling alley nearby...We were able to charge back up to 9 bars during that time, and it was time to hit the road...

Here are some photos of our Goleta stop...

 

[Randy]

After leaving Goleta, we put the LEAF back on the 101, and headed north up to Solvang. It is a 38 mile leg, but part of it is uphill. As before, we held the speed down and motored in the right lane. Passed the rest stop where the road heads north and eventually took the turnoff for Solvang. The town is a few miles inland from the freeway, and we rolled on in. There are three public parking lots (parking is free) that have Coulomb/Chargepoint charging stations with Dual L2 J1772 connections. They charge $1.25 per hour, so you need to have a "pre-loaded" Chargepoint card or a credit card. We arrived with 4 bars and settled in at the charging station at 1745 Mission Ave.

There's lots to see in Solvang, and we had lunch there at the Big Bopper hamburger stand. Wandered around the shops, and spent a lot of time in the Valley Hardware store in town (it's surprisingly well-stocked).

We stayed for just over two hours and got charged back up to 8 bars. As we were heading out of town, I called fellow Central Coast LEAFer Brian and we made arrangements to stop by his house in Orcutt for a visit and a little more charge.

We said goodbye to Solvang and got back on the 101 northbound and headed for Brian's...

 

[Randy]

It was 30 miles to Brian's house in Orcutt, just south of Santa Maria. We made it there with no problem and rolled in with 3 bars and 4.3 miles/kwh on the nav screen for that leg.

We visited with Brian for awhile, went out in his Blue LEAF to get some ice cream, and talked shop about our LEAFs. Brian was gracious enough to share his AV charging station with us, and we were able to put 3 more bars on our car before we left...

It was a great visit, and Brian was able to clue us in about what to expect about charging up north in SLO. We headed out and up to Santa Maria for a short boost before going up to San Luis Obispo...

 

[Randy]

It was just a few miles to Rabobank in Santa Maria, and we stopped to figure out where the station was for our return trip, as well to add a small amount of charge for the trip to SLO. They had the usual Clipper Creek 70 amp-capable unit...

We rolled right up, found the station, and plugged in for 30 minutes. Then it was time to get back on the 101 and head up to San Luis Obispo; specifically the new Target store that has a whole bunch of charging stations...

 

[Randy]

We arrived at Target after driving 33 miles on the 101, and pulled in with 2 bars.

They have a very nice setup in the parking lot with many Clipper Creek units that are spread out enough that complete ICE'ing should be very difficult. The cords reach several parking places as well..

We bought a few things, and headed up to the hotel to check in...

 

[Randy]

After checking in at the hotel, we thought we'd go downtown to get something to eat and check out the Marsh St. Parking Garage. They have 3 Clipper Creek charging stations inside the garage, and it is free to park for the first hour and then 75 cents for each hour (charing comes free with the parking fees).

In addition, there is 1 unit just outside of the parking structure that has a 9am-6pm parking meter. It is $1.50 hour during those hours and then free outside of those hours...

We had some great dinner at the Firestone Grill and grabbed a charge at the same time, can't beat that!

Back to the hotel to get some rest...

 

[Randy]

Of course, being the true EV'er that I am, the first thing I did was to scope out the hotel parking lot for L1 possibilities. I found a GFCI receptacle by the sprinkler timer box, and parked there.

The next morning, I asked the hotel manager if I could plug in for some L1 charge. I told him how much energy it would take per hour...I offered to pay to use it, but he said it was no problem and to go ahead...

We've actually been charging a lot downtown and at Target, so I've only used it about 6 hours total to top off...

But it's great that we have the option there as a backup just in case...

 

[Randy]

Today we made a trip to Paso Robles via Atascadero on the 101. It was no sweat, and we stopped at the Rabobank in Atascadero to check out the charging station and grab a few electrons. We stayed about 30 minutes, grabbed a bar, and headed to Paso Robles.

We had a few stops and things to do there, and then went to Bubba's Big Bad BBQ for lunch....

 

[Randy]

A few photos from our lunch at Bubbas BBQ in Paso Robles. They have two "jail cell" tables, and Brandon always wants to sit in one of them. He's sure to tell everyone that he knows the cells are "fake", but is still fascinated by them. He rode the bull, as I posted above, and we headed back down to SLO.

Tomorrow we're planning to go over to the coast and visit Morro Bay and a couple of other places...

The "world famous" Farmer's market in SLO is Thursday night and then it's back on the road to home on Friday morning....

It's been a lot of fun so far, with more to come. No issues with charging, equipment being out of order, or taken when we really need it...Smooth sailing....

 

[ttweed]

Great report, Randy! It's good to see that you're able to achieve your road trip goals without inordinate hassles over the Leaf's range limitations, despite the immature state of the charging infrastructure. Just a few more well-placed L3 stations along the SD-SLO-SF route would make it a piece of cake, though, eh?

TT

 

[stanley]

ditto, dittoo Randy,I enjoy reading your reports

 

[Randy]

Had a great time at the SLO Farmers Market last night and charged up to 100%. We left SLO this morning and drove south down to Santa Maria. We're spending a little time here and will be hitting the road for Goleta later this morning...More photos to follow...

 

[Randy]

Charging at Rabobank in Goleta just north of Santa Barbara....A beautiful sunny day...

 

[Randy]

Currently at the Botanic Garden in Santa Barbara at the new Blink station...One more 40 mile leg to go for today...

 

[Randy]

Made it to the Marriott courtyard hotel in Oxnard with a couple of bars left and checked in...That would be about 150 miles spread over 3 legs today...

The car is slurping up some L2 charge from their Clipper Creek EVSE...Brandon is hungry for an In-n-Out burger this evening, so that's where we're going to be heading...

A great day and a fun drive down the 101...

 

[Caracalover]

Looks like a great bonding experience for you and your son. Rekindle the route 66 way of life, and America may find it still has a soul.

 

[Randy]

Left earlier this morning and we're now in Malibu...Wish we could be with the other LEAFers at Poway, but we'll make it next time...We'll be leaving shortly and heading down to Cypress for another DC FC!!! Looking like another beautiful Socal day....

 

[Randy]

At Cypress, sucking up a DC FC at Mitsubishi (many thanks to the nice folks there). Thd guard also let us use the reztroom, which was also a welcome treat...We' re having a great time......

 

[Randy]

We stopped for a bit at the Newport Beach Tesla store to stretch a bit and just made it down to the Oceanside Transit Center...Tbe Blinks were recently installed, and no signs are up yet...Consequently, all 7 of the units are iced. Undaunted, I was able to squeeze into the motorcycle parking and hook up to the 7th unit...We only need a little boost and we should have enough to get home...Yee-haw.....

 

[TonyWilliams]

Did you leave nasty grams on the ICE-mobiles? You crossed paths with our Poway pilgrims returning to the north, via Cypress and the watering hole 95 miles away.