Tesla Model S - Monument Valley
Monument Valley West Mitten Model S
Monday, August 8, 2016
Days Charging at
Destination   Supercharger
0 1
Monument Valley
The fame of Monument Valley, repeatedly used as the backdrop for movies set in the Old West, should go without saying. I was very excited to finally visit it for myself.

TimeEventRange Remaining
8:40 amDeparted Tuba City261
9:58 amArrived Monument Valley152
Range/Distance ratio: 1.09
Conditions: Slow

The route there was scenic, and I strictly obeyed the speed limits so that I could conserve charge. This leg of travel has no Supercharger until we reach our hotel in Blanding, Utah.

Tuba City Monument Valley

Monument Valley

When we arrived the view was absolutely breathtaking. The enormity of the place was hard to comprehend, with giant, unique, and intimidating landmarks, each capable of defining a skyline, together speaking a visual chorus.

Monument Valley Drive We were very lucky with the weather. If it rains the risk of getting stuck the 17-mile drive through the valley is too great for ordinary passenger cars. Instead a storm hit two days earlier, and the next storm hit two days later, so our visit was blessed with beautiful puffy clouds and relatively cool weather, reaching 90°F only at noon.

Horses Thunderbird Mesa Model S

It's like I was driving into a Western . . . with a 21st-century all-electric car!

TimeEventRange Remaining
10:19 amBegin Valley Drive151
12:30 pmEnd Valley Drive127
Range/Distance ratio: 1.85
Conditions: Very slow, up to 95°F

Rain God Mesa
View from east of Rain God Mesa

Monument Valley Cube
The Cube

Driving through this special place was amazing. The rock formations jutting out of these plains expressed themselves with such detail when viewed up close.

And the car handled it just fine. I had to avoid or straddle some potholes here and there, but otherwise it was like any other dirt road, far better than fire roads I know other Model S' go.

Horse Paddock Model S
When we found the horses my daughter insisted on a stop. Definitely checked off that box on Interstate Bingo.

Rain God Mesa Model S
Do you see the face in Rain God Mesa? Do you see the face inside the car?

Three Sisters Mesa Model S
Three Sisters of Monument Valley

Merrick Mittens Mesa Model S
The view from Artist's Point

After noon the kids began to get hungry so it was time to exit the drive. I had a "Navajo burger", which used Navajo bread instead of a bun.

That isn't a picture hanging in the dining room where we ate; that's the real thing through a window. So awesome!

After leaving the inspiration for Ornament Valley, did we find
Cadillac Range?
Cadillac Range?
    Monument Valley Blanding

Lunch with a view of Monument Valley

Blanding, Utah
After lunch at The View, and a bit of gift shopping, we headed out. My daughter fell asleep so I skipped a visit to Goosenecks State Park.

TimeEventRange Remaining
2:11 pmDepart Monument Valley126
3:36 pmArrive Blanding Supercharger41
Range/Distance ratio: 1.12
Conditions: 91°F

When we arrived at the Blanding Supercharger, we took a bathroom break, then toured the Dinosaur Museum, where my son had a blast, until it closed at 5 pm.

Finally we headed to the nearest motel, the Four Corners Inn, to check in. We found dinner down the way.

Blanding Supercharger

Like in Kingman, I used this Supercharger as a Destination Charger. I had no problem with this because there were no other Tesla's around.

Interestingly I did meet and have a great conversation with a Model S owner from Portugal at this Supercharger. I told him we had a great time driving my electric car through Monument Valley today. How often can you say that?

Cost to Charge: $0

Dean E. Dauger holds a Ph. D. in physics from UCLA, where his group created the first Mac cluster in 1998. Dr. Dauger is the award-winning author in multiple American Institute of Physics' Software Contests and co-authored the original, award-winning Kai's Power Tools image-processing package for Adobe Photoshop. After founding his company, Dauger Research, Inc., its debut product, Pooch, derived from Dr. Dauger's experience using clusters for his physics research, was soon awarded as "most innovative" by IEEE Cluster and continues to revolutionize parallel computing and clusters worldwide with its patented technology.



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