Tesla Model S - Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Days Charging at
Destination   Supercharger
0 1
Hoover Dam Lodge
From the displays inside Hoover Dam Lodge clearly sells itself as a jumping off point for lots of local adventures like water sports in Lake Mead, helicopter rides, mountain biking, and rock climbing.

Our own adventure can now really begin. We had breakfast at the Lodge, loaded our bags back into the car, checked out, and drive to Hoover Dam.

After breakfast, I collected the car and the kids and packed all our luggage back into the car.

TimeEventRange Remaining
8:37 amDeparted Hoover Dam Lodge242
8:56 amArrived Hoover Dam237
Range/Distance: Too short to measure
Conditions: Short, 106°F

Hoover Dam Lodge
Hoover Dam We parked in the Visitor's Center at Hoover Dam and bought tickets for the next available Powerplant Tour. We didn't have time for the 1-hour Dam Tour because the first available tour started after 11:30 am, which would shift our lunch in Kingman and arrival at the hotel far too late.

Being my childrens' first time to Hoover Dam, they wouldn't really know the difference between the tours. On the tour we viewed a video about the construction of this Dam then took the elevator down 530 feet to first see one of the penstock pipes currently carrying 90,000 gallons of water per second. Then we walked to see a series of powerplant generators converting the energy in the water as it drains from Lake Mead further downstream the Colorado River. This is renewable energy providing thousands of megawatts of electrical power to multiple states.

Hoover Dam generators

After taking the elevator back up, my children had fun exploring the exhibits in the Visitors Center. Outside we took in the immensity of the facilities and took pictures of ourselves with the dam as we walked from the various viewpoints and outside the Center.

After we left the Center, I drove us to the Arizona side of the Dam to take pictures, including the top picture on this page.

Kingman
TimeEventRange Remaining
11:40 amDeparted Hoover Dam227
12:53 pmArrived Kingman Supercharger90
Range/Distance ratio: 1.8
Conditions: Fast, 106°F

We felt like we knew Kingman, Arizona, by heart after visiting here so many times in the last two years. It was neat to see two Model 3s this far out on the trip, and it was the first time I've seen the Kingman Supercharger full. After we plugged in, we had a great lunch at the Calico's Restaurant.

Cost to Charge: $0

Kingman Supercharger

Kingman still has the Locomotive Park just down the street, where a full-sized locomotive, tender, and caboose are on display for the public to explore. So we went to recreate the same picture again, although this time we were in a rush because of the 111°F heat!

Locomotive Park 2016 through 2018
Visiting Kingman's Locomotive Park two years ago in summer, six months ago in winter, and on this trip in summer.

Flagstaff, Arizona
TimeEventRange Remaining
2:10 pmDeparted Kingman Supercharger232
2:24 pmDeparted Railroad Park230
4:34 pmArrived Flagstaff Supercharger42
Range/Distance ratio: 1.25
Conditions: Modest uphill, 111°F

We took a much-needed bathroom break at the Marriott. This Supercharger was nearly empty except for one ICEd stall. It had quite a few more stalls than it did two years ago. Bathroom Anxiety

Flagstaff Supercharger
After we were settled I was trying to determine how hungry my kids were, since it was now an acceptable time to have dinner and I knew from our last visit here two years ago this area has plenty of places to eat.

No, was their answer, the children wanted to check into the hotel next, so we left.

Cost to Charge: $0

La Posada Hotel
TimeEventRange Remaining
5:02 pmDeparted Flagstaff127
5:55 pmArrived La Posada Hotel67
Range/Distance ratio: 0.966
Conditions: Modest downhill, 100°F

La Posada Hotel is a very unique site whose deep character can only be understood by actually visiting it. When I originally booked it, I didn't expect it to be so profound. Beautifully manicured grounds surround architecture designed by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, which house not only the hotel rooms but halls full of provocative art worthy of any museum of modern art. We could've spent days here.

Cost to Charge: $0

La Posada Hotel Charging

La Posada Study

After we checked in, we had an exquisite dinner at the Turquoise Room, enjoyed the live music near the lobby, showered, then slept for the night. Meanwhile the car was outside charging.

Not just the hotel, but even our room was filled with books and places to sit, clearly meant to invite guests to take a quiet day to oneself to discover something intellectual, abstract, and peaceful.

This hotel is place to stop and contemplate life and the universe and weigh the values we hold. Built about a century ago, it attracted celebrities like John Wayne and Betty Grable, Presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, and scientists like Albert Einstein. Each room is associated with one of these famous figures.

The kids and I enjoyed our visit to this special place.

La Posada Einstein Room

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.



Back to home

Thanks for having a look!



Copyright © 2018 Dean Dauger.
Made on a Mac