When my friend Jonathan, aka JDH, told me he was embarking on a cross-country journey with his dog, in a Tesla, I thought he was crazy.  I mean, really, how can you do a cross-country trip in an electric car? I know I’m not the only one who’s ever thought this and that’s exactly what he was trying to prove – you can!

The plan was to visit as many National Parks as possible, camp, and keep it green.  He named his journey A Power Trip, started an Instagram page and a YouTube channel, because we may be Generation X, but we know what’s up, and he promised to document their journey.  I think we could all use a positive story about a guy and his dog on a road trip in their gas less car these days.

This road trip was serving another purpose as well, which is one of personal enlightenment.  One where he’s trying to disconnect, give up control and just enjoy the journey.  Sounds familiar…  Maybe Jonathan is onto something.  I wonder if my cat would be as willing to join me on a road trip across the country?  Probably not, plus I’m too high maintenance for long term camping and most hotels don’t like cats.  Which is why I spent the last year traveling to and fro via aircraft alone.

The final piece of the journey is to knock some bucket list items off the bucket list because JDH is a huge movie buff, and there are a lot of filming locations across this great country of ours.  I was happy to help him not knock one off his list, but add one to it.  I knew something he didn’t and I was pretty proud of it!

Jonathan and Indy, aka Indiana after Indiana Jones, set off on Memorial Day weekend and headed up the California coast.  They camped when possible, and stayed in hotels when not – like when the weather was bad, or they just needed a rest.

They worked their way into Oregon where they visited the last standing Blockbuster in Bend, and the place where The Goonies was filmed in Astoria. They then went to Seattle, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.  Hello Yellowstone National Park!  Along the way, they stopped at Tesla Supercharger Stations where they got the car charged up for the next portion of the journey.

They made their way through the state of Wyoming where they stopped in Cody and onto Devil’s Tower. Jonathan has dreamed of visiting Devil’s Tower and watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind while there.  He did it. After Devil’s Tower, they made their way to South Dakota and Mount Rushmore.

When Jonathan got the Tesla, and told them his plans, he was specifically told he could go to any state except North Dakota.  North Dakota is the only state in the nation that doesn’t have a single Tesla charging station.  Needless to say, he avoided North Dakota.

Unfortunately, the trip was not without its hardships as Indy got sick in South Dakota.  She’s 12 years old and was given the all clear by her vet to participate in the road trip, but life happens.  They were headed to Colorado next, so Jonathan asked if I knew a good vet.  I sent him to my sister’s vet, Broomfield Meadows Animal Hospital, where Indy was diagnosed with a UTI, given some meds and once again cleared to continue on the trip.  Thanks, Jim!

I met Jonathan and Indy the next day, where he told me she was doing great.  And then I met the car. The car was pretty impressive, and I have to say it’s quite a feat what Jonathan has set out to do.  We talked about road trips we had as kids, because if you grew up in the 70’s and 80’s most likely your road trips consisted of a station wagon and a seat at the back of the car which faced the wrong way so you were staring at the car driving behind you.

This was definitely not that, and since it was a modern road trip, I had a lot of questions about how it worked and was there enough juice to get us through the day?  Since we decided to go all the way through Rocky Mountain National Park, I was a little skeptical about the charge.  We decided to hit a charging station in Estes Park which happened to be a Tesla Supercharger and it happened to be at The Stanley Hotel.

Jonathan didn’t know that The Stanley was the place were Stephen King wrote The Shining.  It was also where they filmed Dumb and Dumber.  It was also where I got married…

The Stanley has a beautiful Tesla Supercharger Station and there were several other Tesla drivers there. In fact, Jonathan said it was the busiest Supercharger station they had encountered on his trip.  He also now has a new bucket list item that includes, whiskey, fire, a ghost tour and a viewing of The Shining while staying in the hotel.  That should be easy as they have it showing on a loop on one of the TV channels.  Here’s Johnny…

After the car got a little more juice, we headed into Rocky Mountain National Park where we were quickly pulled over by an intimidating and aggressive police officer who was taken aback by the fact that there was a dog in the vehicle.  She’s a little intimidating herself.  Apparently, JDH was speeding.  Once the officer checked everything out, he returned, and was quite pleasant as he asked several questions about the car and let us go with a warning.

The rest of the day went well and the car stayed charged, so no worries there.  I was starting to drink the “you can drive a Tesla cross country” Kool-Aid. Jonathan even showed me his favorite Tesla feature while on a windy mountain road – the self-driving feature. Not my favorite.  I’m not ready to drink that Kool-Aid just yet.  Remember, I have a hard time letting go of control.

After Colorado, the adventure continued through Nebraska, Kansas {a visit to the Wizard of Oz Museum,} Missouri {a visit to the Gateway Arch} and Illinois where they spent the day in Chicago doing what else?  Having a John Hughes fest!  They are now peacefully relaxing near a lake in Virginia and Indy is enjoying her time not spent in the car.  And I suspect, so is Jonathan…

Safe Travels for the rest of your journey!

**If you’d like to follow along on their journey, follow A Power Trip on Instagram and subscribe to the A Power Trip YouTube channel!