Tesla Road Trip

April 27, 2015

It is day thirteen of our road trip.  The trip started with us headed to Salisbury and Ocean City, Maryland for the Reach the Beach Tesla event.  After that it has been seeing some of the places I lived and loved.  Then came the decision to just see how travelling with the Tesla Superchargers worked out.  Besides seeing Lu Beth in Greensboro, North Caroling it has been get up in the morning and  see which way the charger route takes us.  Everyday has been an adventure to places we have never been and may not of thought of going. What fun we are having.

Lucky has really been a trooper.  A different hotel every night, off-schedule with food and naps, and so many different sights and places has not seemed to bother him.  Between the Tesla and the cute little dog we have gotten lots of attention and smiles.  I think he loves the coast.  He can really whine when the sea gulls fly around him.  What a dog!

For me it has been great fun to tour some of the cities that I and others have had a tendency to fly by on the interstate.  Looking up the history of each place has been extremely interesting for us and I hope for everyone who reads this blog. Guess we are having a history lesson as we pile on the miles but it is also supposed to introduce some of these places to you, as readers, to maybe get off the interstate more often.  We are even getting braver and venturing off and taking backroads to the next charger - even if Gertrude doesn't like it.

This morning we woke up in Macon, Ga. and decided to go to Auburn, Al without going out of the way to Atlanta to charge since we figured we could make it.  Just a few miles from Macon we went through a little town famous for vidalia onions and came upon the Blue Bird bus company manufacturing plant.  Hundreds of new school buses filled the parking lot but they also make all the huge motor homes you see on the highway.  Interesting and a good number of jobs for the people of the area.

On to the beautiful town of Auburn, Al. Everyone has heard of Auburn due to their football team and our vet in Wynnewood graduated from there.  Lots of history in this town of 58,582 people that is one of the top ten places in the US to live.

Originally the home of Creek Indians it was opened for settlement in 1839.  During the mid-1840's several schools opened - separate ones for boys and girls - caused a rapid influx of families from the planter class of people, In 1858 of the 1000 residents - 500 were students.  Auburn College was founded in 1859 for all males.  But during the Civil War the town emptied and all the schools were closed as well as the businesses.  After the war there was a prolonged depression.  It wasn't until 1910 that the population reached its antebellum level.

Fortunes reversed again with the collapse of cotton prices in the early 1920's - then the Great Depression.  The colleges closed again.  It was not until WWII that the economy improved when Auburn's campus turned into an armed forces training ground.  Then after the war Auburn was flooded with soldiers returning to school on the G.I. Bill.  Reports in the 1980's and 1990's ranked Auburn's schools among the top in the state and the nation.  This brought a 65% increase in the city's population.  Today Auburn is a beautiful city with a very interesting history.

Hopped back on the interstate and rolled down the road past Montgomery and on to Greenville to the Supercharger.  All along the highway there are very tall pine trees. We noticed that their is evidently a lot of logging that goes on in this area.  Nice thing is that where the trees have been cut down new ones have been planted.  This part of Alabama has beautiful rolling hills, trees everywhere and lots of deep, wide rivers.  Quite impressive.

From Greenville it was on to Mobile, Al.  Didn't really ever think about Mobile but as I have studied the history it is really interesting.  We checked into our free hotel room at the La Quinta that we have earned by staying at their hotels for ten nights.  Not a bad deal and a very nice hotel chain.

Tomorrow morning - weather permitting we will go explore Mobile and the sea port. Lucky will enjoy watching the birds.