What’s up, Hive? I am finally, finally back in Minnesota. It took more than 30 hours for me to drive from Austin to Minneapolis. I walked through the door, unpacked my bags and collapsed. I woke up today feeling rejuvenated. Leading up to 2020, I was looking for an offramp for an unsustainable career traveling every 4 - 5 weeks. 2020 and 2021, for all the bad, were a welcomed intervention for where I was at with my career. I’m slipped back in to bad habits, and this agonizing trip home […which I’ll elaborate on] made that very evident. LA and Vegas next month, so a pattern is emerging.

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Where did things go wrong? @roadscape and I went out for breakfast. I had a stellar vegan plate and we shared a long hug before I got back in the Tesla to begin the 1,200 mile drive back home. I felt good. I’d slept good the night before and I was fully charged. Figuring out the navigation and trip planning with the car has been perplexing. Routes, times and suggested supercharger stops keep changing and I’m still not sure to optimize for efficiency and time. Nevertheless, I was in good spirits and making good time through all of Texas and some of Oklahoma.

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Near Perry, OK, I saw a massive cloud system in the distance just short of nightfall. I’d hoped to avoid the storm, but when I stopped to charge, the heavens opened up, dumping torrential rain and hail. Walking back to my car, I could see the sky lighting up again and again, and once inside, I sat helplessly as pea sized balls of ice pelted my brand new EV. I made the call to just get a hotel, finding a nearby room for $80. I slept from 10:00p.m. till 3:00a.m., hoping the storm would pass. Once back on the road, I realized it wouldn’t be that easy.

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The storm system was still very much lingering over Northern Oklahoma and Kansas, slowly tracking towards Missouri. Eventually, the rain gave way to snow as the temperatures dropped. That, combined with strong winds and constant road construction left me at a 40mph crawl on 35N with the handful of other travelers stubborn enough to brave the storm. Around 6:30a.m., I’d made it as far as Wichita, KS, then slept in a Walmart parking lot until 9:30a.m. Finally, the snow had become a steady rain, but that was much easier to face.

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If the weather wasn’t going to keep me from getting home, the charging certainly would. That was one of the steepest learning curves of this cross country trip. Colder states, such as Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri, resulting in less battery efficiency. 200 miles or less before having to charge and charging could take 40 minutes to an hour. All in all, adding 1/3 travel time to an already long, 20 hour drive. I saved a lot of money consider the current gas situation globally, but at a very expensive cost of time.