Ulmo
Active Member
I go nowhere near Gilroy on my customary routes, however pass right by Casa de SuperCharger nearly every single time. I would pay good money to avoid Gilroy if I could even when I do go past it, but since I usually don't, you suggesting that I go to it as an often one hour trip out of my way (half an hour in the middle of the night if I don't fall asleep driving) is rather insulting.Seems like a strange location with Gilroy and Gustine so close on this east/west road.
This is my route: Aptos, Watsonville, 129 or San Juan Rd, 156 (or similar), San Luis Reservoir. Also, I sometimes do this: Moss Landing or Marina (but often not near Seaside SC or Monterey SC), San Juan Bautista (156), San Luis Reservoir. For various reasons (floods, traffic, where I'm at, etc.) I'll take various closeby routes around those routes. But very rarely will I use 152 proper from Watsonville to Gilory for obvious reasons. That means at the closest point I'm about 14 miles away from Gilroy SuperCharger, and most of that area is extremely heavily trafficked, so I can end up in high traffic delays of up to an hour just by taking that bypass. That SC has almost no amenities, is often clogged, is stinky, uncomfortable, and lonely. I avoided it back when I had my Model S, and only twice did I have to make the detour over there.
Santa Nella (Gustine) SuperCharger was my go-to ever since they opened it, and I would take the 5 minute walk with brisk cold often stinky wind past a seedy looking hotel through some unlit bushes with hobos past two shadowy truck parking lots and very close to a dumpster at some low-market fast food drive through that was usually closed, and then go to Loves, a truck stop place with showers, chips, and jerky. The drive through Santa Nella would take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes one-way, and plus that again going back. The good side of this place is that if you leave over the freeway and take a left where In&Out is, that road will bypass Highway Robbery The Bathrooms (aka Los Banos), and one can then cut back to 152 after getting past Los Banos. Otherwise, I get straight on I-5 and hurry south from there, going where ever I want, or I take the other road down to 152 and launch West. This location seems better for those already going to (or coming from) all the way up by Windmill Hill via 580 (or, for heaven's sake, the Stockton-Manteca-Tracy triangle area (yuck)), or further (Sac, etc.).
Very rarely I take a more coastal route, in which case, I have to consider stopping in North Salinas (at Across-The-Street-From-Northridge Shopping Center Salinas SuperCharger on North Main Street) which is commonly a 15 minute drive out of my way each way (similar problem to Gilroy SC but not nearly as bad), or the Chademo at Nob Hill in Salinas. Back when I had my Model S 60D, leaving from Nob Hill Chademo I'd barely make it to Atascadero SC. Sometimes I'd cut over to I-5 and reach the first SuperCharger on I-5 ever built (I forget its name offhand), which is quite a nice drive (with I-5 being a letdown).
As you can see, Casa de SuperCharger will be the only on-route SuperCharger for me on most of my routes South, by a wide margin. I happen not to like the Casa De Strip, but it's a minor complaint considering it has amenities far outstripping Gilroy SC and probably often better than Santa Nella (Gustine) SC by a wide margin.
Another benefit of Casa de SuperCharger is that often there is an accident on the 152 climb from there to peak, often caused by a broken down truck or some other idiot who decided to text, and that road gets closed cold for two hours (with no viable detours available). Instead of waiting with the environmental systems running in dangerous stop and go traffic with no parking, you can pull over to Casa de and be charging. To successfully do this, you have to use traffic map or otherwise notice the traffic stop (dried used blood red on Google Maps) before you get to the Casa de Offramp. Historical note: when my father was alive, 152 was one lane each direction with no division between the sides. Casa De was an annoyance since they wanted you to slow down and pull over for something. The bypass made that area a lot less money, but now there's so much more bloody traffic, they probably have almost as much visitors. There used to be way more stores and places there than there are now. We never stopped there since it wasn't our kind of place.