It's always harder the first time...

No matter how many times you read the manual there's no substitute for experience. With that in mind...

Charging with a trailer for the first time (part 1)

After picking up the Tin Poodle the plan was to head to the Tesla Supercharger in North Vegas to “top off” and then head to Valley of Fire State Park. As we pulled up to the Supercharger we quickly realized there was a problem. The Supercharger was located in a parking garage. Pulling the Tin Poodle into a parking structure with low clearance was a definite no go.

We considered disconnecting the Tin Poodle and just pulling in with the Model X.  We decided against this since the area was urban and parking the Tin Poodle without the Tesla was going to be a challenge. That plus it was a “seedy” area of Vegas.

Luckily we had been to the other Supercharger in Vegas earlier in the week and knew that it was in a more conducive area for charging. Unfortunately it was 25 minutes in the wrong direction.

Lesson learned...look up Supercharger info ahead of time if you've never been to it before.

Charging with a trailer for the first time (part 2)

When we arrived at the Supercharger Plan A was to charge without unhooking. This would be the easiest, but would block four out of the ten spots. A no-no if it's crowded.

There were already several Teslas charging when we arrived, spread out over the ten chargers. Plan A was out. Plan B...unhook the trailer and charge normally.

We found a nice open area in the lot where we unhooked the trailer. I used to own a sailboat so hitching and unhitching was not a big deal. Although it had been a while and I forgot to put chocks behind the wheels of the Tin Poodle. Luckily I realized my mistake quickly and it was a “mostly flat lot” 

Lesson learned...chock before unhitching.

Charging with a trailer for the first time (part 3)

After charging we got back to the Tin Poodle and found that our nice “empty” lot was now quite full. All the parking spaces around the Tin Poodle were now occupied. In addition it looked as if someone had taken the spot right in front where we would need to hitch up!!! As we got closer we saw that the spot in front was actually open...whew!

After pulling up and re-hitching I was about to get in and drive away when I decided to do a quick walk around just to make sure everything was connected, locked, etc. Glad I did since those previously mentioned chocks were right where I had put them. If we had driven away we would have left them in the lot.

Lessons learned...unhitch trailer where no one is likely to park.  Do a walk around anytime after hitching.

Driving with the Tin Poodle for the first time

Pulling a 3000+ lb trailer with the Model X is amazingly easy. The trailer tracks well. And the Model X can easily accelerate to highway speeds while pulling the trailer.

Setting up camp...a.k.a Laurel and Hardy meet The Three Stooges....

Let me just start with saying it was not smooth!! I could write an entire post just on this. And I'm sure Nancy will.

Just imagine pulling into the desert. It's 95 degrees out. We have a car packed to the brim with supplies that need to be moved into the trailer plus three dogs.

We need to pull into the spot close to the water and electricity. Level the trailer sideways. Unhitch the trailer. Level the trailer front to back. Lower the stabilizers. Hook up the electricity. Start the AC. Hook up the water. Purge the plumbing and test. Move everything (food, clothes, cleaning supplies, dog supplies, etc) into the trailer. Hook up the car to charge. Start the water purifier. Walk the dogs. Set up the outside table. Set up the outside canopy.

Now imagine all of this while in red dusty sand. Going in and out and in and out. Having “differences of opinion” on who's doing what, who thought who was doing what but doing something else, who distracting who from doing what, etc, etc, etc.  

I'll end with everything got done, nobody got hurt, nothing got broken, nobody killed nobody, and nobody got divorced.