Supercharger - Custer, SD

[IT Geek]

I would suggest that anyone going to Rally be prepared for possible cold weather. Last year I was not. I left Michigan when it was bright and sunny and 75 degrees and I got to Custer to find it hovering around 34 degrees most days. I had to finally give up and head back to Rapid City and buy myself a winter coat from the clearance section at Sears. Live and learn.

Thankfully I was coming the north route so I did not run into any bad weather. But I left Custer and headed south to Denver and up into the mountains at Estes Park (wonderful views). They had the roads closed up in the mountains and would not let us drive though. Never really encountered too much falling snow (except during the jaunt I took over to Vail, CO), but you could definitely see that a bunch of snow had just fallen.

 

[Bighorn]

Supercharger not showing on NAV yet, but it is searchable.

 

[MarcoRP]

It showed up immediately on PlugShare, lots quicker than I thought

 

[napoleonblownapa]

Note: If you will be attending the Custer Rally this year, there is something that is sort of fun to do while traveling, if you want to do it. At the very FIRST Custer Rally in 2013, SOMEONE from California (I have forgotten his name) dreamed up a way for all of us to keep track of each other while traveling IF YOU WANT. He created a GLYMPSE BANG TAG (also known as a Glympse Public Group). First you download the GLYMPSE app onto your smartphone, then go to the main menu (3 lines up at the left top of the app), down to PUBLIC TAGS, then enter this text: !soundof silence. That is the exclamation mark (!) and soundofsilence without any spaces (enter). Then go to the big G at the bottom of the app and touch SHARE. Choose how long you want to share your locations (up to 12 hours at a time), then hit SHARE. Done. Now if you look on the map, you can see where you and EVERYONE using the SOS bang tag is IN REAL TIME! If you don't want people to be able to see where you are, just turn it off.

Now, get this: You give your friends and relatives this URL:

Glympse - Default Viewer

Now, anyone with ANY web browser can see where you are and where other participants from all over are located. Tons of fun for friends and relatives to know where you are RIGHT NOW! BTW, you can call up that web page in the Tesla Model S or X web browser. If you have a Model 3, TOO BAD, no browser!

The constant updating uses some battery and data. In my experience, it is not bad, but you might want to plug in your phone while traveling and check your data usage if on a tiny data plan.

This is quite handy, because if most everyone going to the Custer Rally uses Glympse, you will be able to see what participants (if any) are at superchargers as you approach them. Sometimes you will find a travel buddy going the same way. I will try to keep sharing my location from now on until the end of the rally. I changed my "handle" to Mac & BJ. We live in Colorado Springs and will travel on May 17 (Thursday) and May 20 (Sunday). Hope to see you there. Mac (and wife, BJ)

 

[Bighorn]

It’s for real!

 

[Bighorn]

I would suggest that anyone going to Rally be prepared for possible cold weather. Last year I was not. I left Michigan when it was bright and sunny and 75 degrees and I got to Custer to find it hovering around 34 degrees most days. I had to finally give up and head back to Rapid City and buy myself a winter coat from the clearance section at Sears. Live and learn.

Thankfully I was coming the north route so I did not run into any bad weather. But I left Custer and headed south to Denver and up into the mountains at Estes Park (wonderful views). They had the roads closed up in the mountains and would not let us drive though. Never really encountered too much falling snow (except during the jaunt I took over to Vail, CO), but you could definitely see that a bunch of snow had just fallen.

Definitely be prepared for precipitation and temps in the upper 30s in the evening. Was there today--cool and overcast with rain drying on the streets, lots of fog in the hills. Tentative forecast for the rally calls for similar conditions. At least no blizzards on the horizon!

 

[Lucky_Man]

We signed up painlessly online Sunday. Pam has a new job and can't take off Friday so we'll leave when she gets off work, stay o'nite at Embassy / Loveland SC to miss the horrible Denver traffic, then start out early Saturday morning. It'll be good to see old friends and make new ones! Hoped to see better weather this year, but it looks wet again...sigh ;^)

Just installed Glympse and will be running as Lucky_Man. Anyone else using the bangtag !soundofsilence?

 

[Lucky_Man]

I signed up to go last year but did not make it. I live in Loveland (not too far) and last year my wife and I drove Friday to Cheyenne and charged up for the run to Lusk. Just outside of Cheyenne the snow was blowing so much that I could not see the road. Our Tesla X was fine, but I could just not see the road. We thought it was too dangerous and turned around back to Cheyenne and home. I think we just had bad timing. Going back to Cheyenne we saw several cars (including Tesla's) heading toward Lusk right behind a snow plow.

I think I remember seeing you and your blue X at the Cheyenne SC. We have the Titanium S. The road wasn't too bad once we got off of I-25 and onto Rt 59. We followed in the tracks of a semi all the way up to Torrington. From there, it was an easy run to Lusk. After Lusk, it was just rain.

Look forward to meeting up again.

A caution to all riding Rt 59 - there were LOTS of deer near the road South of Custer. Keep your eyes open and your hands on the wheel.

 

[sdoorex]

Nice find!

Will we be seeing you up there next weekend?

Indeed. See you there!

 

[theflyer]

I've begun to share my location on glympse. I'm headed west out of Minnesota. Not quite sure yet what my plans are for the rest of the day. Tentatively planning to go to Lusk to notch up that first 50 supercharger but I'll have to see how the day unfolds. Making good time so far.

We really should have a Twitter hashtag as well. How about #soundofsilence?

 

[Bighorn]

I've begun to share my location on glympse. I'm headed west out of Minnesota. Not quite sure yet what my plans are for the rest of the day. Tentatively planning to go to Lusk to notch up that first 50 supercharger but I'll have to see how the day unfolds. Making good time so far.

We really should have a Twitter hashtag as well. How about #soundofsilence?

Lusk can be a bit of a choke point with all the Denver folks headed north. But other years, there have been technical issues there to compound the situation.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Lusk can be a bit of a choke point with all the Denver folks headed north. But other years, there have been technical issues there to compound the situation.

It will be nice once Wheatland is open. We were hoping for it this trip but it doesn't look like it will make it in time.

 

[txakoli]

It will be nice once Wheatland is open. We were hoping for it this trip but it doesn't look like it will make it in time.

Nope, not yet. Just swung by. See my post on Wheatland thread.

 

[Graffi]

I've begun to share my location on glympse. I'm headed west out of Minnesota. Not quite sure yet what my plans are for the rest of the day. Tentatively planning to go to Lusk to notch up that first 50 supercharger but I'll have to see how the day unfolds. Making good time so far.

We really should have a Twitter hashtag as well. How about #soundofsilence?

At the rate you are moving along I-90W you will be there in no time. It is fun watching the Glympse, seeing those registered come together.

Have fun and hope to see you all next year.

 

[Tdreamer]

How many people are heading back home via Lusk on Sunday? Was thinking of heading south that’s way before heading back east Sunday.

 

[Bighorn]

How many people are heading back home via Lusk on Sunday? Was thinking of heading south that’s way before heading back east Sunday.

I count 15 cars from CO registered.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

We'll be heading back via Sidney, NE, so we won't be charging in Lusk on Sunday.

 

[PLUS EV]

I'm a no go this year guys. My Model S is at the service center. Had they finished their work today I would have considered trying to get out there, but no way I can do it now. Have fun, and I'll try to make it next year.

Also, I'm not very familiar with this Glympse app but perhaps some of us in the Superchargers Visited thread, could use it when we go on our mega-trips. It might be fun to follow along in real time. I'm sure you guys would laugh at some of my maneuvers

 

[theflyer]

I decided to stay in Custer for the night. I was going to go down today, Friday, but I awoke to a 12 volt battery needs service warning. Any advice for me? My next major stop was going to be Seattle. Roadside service says people usually have two to three weeks before the car stops working but that isn't very comforting when I'd be traveling through the middle of nowhere. Doesn't sound like Mobile support could get here to Custer until next week. I'm waiting for a call back now. Anyone go through this before? How far do you think I can push this? Can I continue to Seattle or should I divert down to Denver to get this fixed?

 

[Bighorn]

I decided to stay in Custer for the night. I was going to go down today, Friday, but I awoke to a 12 volt battery needs service warning. Any advice for me? My next major stop was going to be Seattle. Roadside service says people usually have two to three weeks before the car stops working but that isn't very comforting when I'd be traveling through the middle of nowhere. Doesn't sound like Mobile support could get here to Custer until next week. I'm waiting for a call back now. Anyone go through this before? How far do you think I can push this? Can I continue to Seattle or should I divert down to Denver to get this fixed?

Have Tesla assess by telemetry. If it's just a low voltage on the 12V, you should be fine for your trip. If it's something more, you'd be encouraged to bring it in. It may be a one-off and you don't see the message again. If you get additional messages like car may not start, then I'd be a bit more apprehensive, but you're going to be driving rural either way though probably part of a convoy to Denver after Custer.