A Song of Wind, ICE, An Active Shooter, and More
Act 1...Wind
Holy f#*#*g s### ! Driving through Kansas was like driving through a hurricane. Except no rain.
The first clue on how bad the wind was going to be was at midnight when the howling of the wind woke us both up. By the time we checked out, it had picked up so hard, that the car doors would slam open or closed if you weren't careful.
Driving was ridiculous. The wind alternated between a dead headwind to a dead crosswind. The car was being buffeted back and forth as the semi's next to us were having the same thing happen.
Luckily with autosteer/autopilot engaged the car stayed centered in the lane. I only had to drive manually when vehicles in the next lane would dive toward us.
Steering wasn't the only problem. The headwind made a serious dent on range. As you can see from this picture even though I was driving at 73 mph the winds made the "gas mileage" equivalent to driving 100 mph! Range was reduced 40-50% because of the wind.
For both handling and range improvements I ended up drafting semi's as much as possible.
Act 2...ICEHoles!
ICE is an acronym for Internal Combustion Engine. In other words a regular gas car. An ICEHole is someone who parks an ICE car right in front of a charger, blocking the charger for someone who relies on it.
Imagine if all the gas pumps were blocked by electric cars and the drivers went into a restaurant for lunch! That's why ICEHole sounds like #sshole...
Act 3...Active Shooter
So what's worse than arriving at a charger and having all the chargers blocked? Arriving at a charger and getting this message from your daughter:
"There's an active shooter in our building we've been evacuated"
The shooter was reported on the floor below her. Thankfully after evacuating the building and a SWAT floor by floor search, no shooter was found. Apparently a false alarm.
Bonus Act...Dog Zen
Can't end on that so here's a moment of Dog Zen while we were charging. Oh...and that sound in the background...it's the wind...
When we travelled in Colorado, Kansas, and the Texas Panhandle in 2016, I was amazed at the number of wind turbines generating electricity. As you experienced, it is a great area for wind power. I did enjoy the corn, sorghum, and sunflower fields in Kansas and our favorite state park for camping was there as well. Thanks for the updates!
ReplyDeleteI am banking on it being a tailwind heading back.
DeleteWhich state park in KS?
Lake Scott State Park - not that far off I-70 in Scott City (between Oakley and Garden City) off US-83. Some of the sites have 50 amp service, most 30 amps. Great hiking there, a lake that is quite nice, and a fascinating historical site of a colonial era (1600's) pueblo. We enjoyed it; it is quiet and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Delete