X and Airstream Bambi - the new adventures 2017

[JimVandegriff]

It is that time of year again - Illijana and I are preparing for traveling this summer with our Model X 90D towing our 22 ft Airstream Bambi trailer around the US. Here are a couple of pics from today of the trailer and the X. We just had some grading work done on our yard, and some base rock laid down to level the area where we park the trailer when it is not in use, and to create a roadway to get the X to the back section of our house. We plan to build a ramp there to make it easier to get into the house as we get older.

Our first adventure this year begins on April 28th when we take out our rig for a trip up the Oregon Coast to visit our daughter and her family in St. Helens, Oregon (near Portland) and return through Corvallis and then again to the coast for the trip south to our home in far northern coastal California.
The trip includes a stop at the Crescent City, CA supercharger, another stop at the Bandon, OR supercharger, and camping at the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park the first night.
Second day finds us at the Lincoln City, OR supercharger, then on to the Camp Kiwanda RV resort in Pacific City.
Third day brings us to the Seaside supercharger and then to the Ft. Stevens State Park.
Monday, May 1st has travel to the Bayport RV park in St. Helens, OR where we will stay for a week or so. The rest of the trip has yet to be planned.
I will be posting data on wh/m, travel speeds, etc, as well as pics right here.
We are also planning a 4 month cross country trip for later in the summer. I love pulling the Airstream with our Tesla, and getting to meet people and talking about our Tesla X. I hope you will enjoy the ride. If anyone has specific requests for data please let me know and I'll see what we can do.

 

[efusco]

Took a look at the distances and I think you've planned well. Short enough jaunts that even with that trailer you should be in pretty good shape to reach each planned charging location. Have a great trip.

 

[hollywood]

Supercharging can be tough I would imagine. Is it easy to disconnect the trailer to pull into a charging spot?

 

[JimVandegriff]

Supercharging can be tough I would imagine. Is it easy to disconnect the trailer to pull into a charging spot?

Each supercharger is different. Some have easy access for X's with trailers (Seaside, OR for example), while others require you to unhitch and rehitch. It isn't that hard, but can be time consuming primarily because of the anti-sway bars and type of hitch we have. Some places allow us to pull across several chargers while leaving others open for other Tesla drivers while we charge. "You never know what you're gonna get." The folks who did the Tesla X Canada trips posted a video about how easy it was for them to hitch and unhitch when charging, so again it is going to be different for each rig setup. We will post pics from the chargers as we go along.

 

[Solarman004]

Jim, I've always enjoyed your trip reports. Safe travels and have a great time!

As we did our Colorado to Seattle trip last month, through 13 Supercharges, I had trailer towing (and your previous reports) in the back of my mind for future planning with our MX. Unfortunately, not one of the Superchargers we stopped at in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon or Washington had any trailer-friendly pull-through slots. However, they all had ample, open parking to unhitch a trailer.

 

[boaterva]

Looking forward to the trip report, as we live vicariously until we actually get an X and also plan where to road trip in the future (trailer-less, but still interesting!).

Not to hijack this thread, but does anyone know of a pattern to the 'some SC's have a pull-through stall' syndrome? Does it depend on geography (the parking lot), location (PNW, New England, Europe, etc.), data of building)? Maybe this belongs in the Charging forum....

I wonder if we have/need a SC historian!

 

[vandacca]

Looking forward to the trip report, as we live vicariously until we actually get an X and also plan where to road trip in the future (trailer-less, but still interesting!).

Not to hijack this thread, but does anyone know of a pattern to the 'some SC's have a pull-through stall' syndrome? Does it depend on geography (the parking lot), location (PNW, New England, Europe, etc.), data of building)? Maybe this belongs in the Charging forum....

I wonder if we have/need a SC historian!

@ohmman started such a thread here.

 

[boaterva]

@ohmman started such a thread here.

Excellent, thanks much!

 

[JimVandegriff]

We spent some time today preparing for our upcoming trip. This involved some Airstream interior work, making beds, storing pots, pans, and provisions, cleaning vent fans, and arranging spaces for our clothes. We also started loading the Tesla with chairs, and tried to keep the trailer tongue weight in mind. Here are a few pics of the interior of the Airstream and the process.

Illijana sorting linens:

Kitchen cabinets:

Storage under the seating area/second bed.

Closet above and view forward. We use a mattress topper on the second bed (seen in photo).

 

[K-MTG]

Awesome! Did I just see an outlet on the 2nd pic? How are they powered?? Inverter from the X?

 

[JimVandegriff]

Awesome! Did I just see an outlet on the 2nd pic? How are they powered?? Inverter from the X?

There are outlets throughout the Airstream (as well as usb charging slots). These run off the batteries on the Airstream which are charged either by the 2 100w solar panels on the roof, or by "shore" power when the trailer is plugged in at a campground. It is a very well designed unit.

 

[Solarman004]

No wasted space...this looks like a comfortable and well-engineered trailer.
By the way, I know the almonds and cashews were staged for picture #2...where's the 5 lb bag of Peanut M&Ms mandatory for every road trip? ☺

 

[JimVandegriff]

Car washed, tires pumped up to 46 psi, trailer loaded, and we are all hitched up - ready to go camping tomorrow! First stop - Crescent City, CA supercharger, then Bandon, OR supercharger, then camping at Umpqua Lighthouse state park. Can't wait.

 

[Gwgan]

Please detail your hitch gear. Will it take long to undo/redo if you need to at chargers?

 

[JimVandegriff]

Please detail your hitch gear. Will it take long to undo/redo if you need to at chargers?

We have an Equalizer hitch anti-sway system. It looks more complicated than it is to unhitch. I'd say it takes between 5 to 10 minutes at most (usually closer to 5 minutes) to take apart and another 5 minutes to re-hitch after charging. That is, of course, why we like those pull through sites at the superchargers so we can skip those steps.

 

[qadaemon]

Please detail your hitch gear. Will it take long to undo/redo if you need to at chargers?

I'm sure Jim will reply as well (edit: he even beat me ), but the only difference between an average 1/2 ton setup I see is the 7-pin adapter to get the led tail lights on the airstream to work. The weight distribution hitch is a pain the first couple times, but overall I'm no slower with the X than I was with a truck.

 

[JimVandegriff]

We are cheerfully ensconced in the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park near Reedsport on the Oregon coast after a long day of driving (into a stiff head and crosswind). Energy stats reflected this headwind - First leg, home to Crescent City supercharger, 54 miles at 634 wh/m, second leg, Crescent City to Bandon, Oregon supercharger 113.3 miles (would have been 109 if we hadn't missed the supercharger turnoff due to a nav lady misdirection on the spoken narration), 665 wh/m (had 8% of battery left). Third leg 45.7 miles to the lighthouse campground at 666 wh/m. Totals 213.3 miles at 658 wh/m. Wind was pretty stiff and gusty. I'm hoping the numbers for energy usage drop some.
Here are a few pics -- in Crescent City we had to block 4 chargers to charge without unhooking. National park staff across the street say that they see one or two Teslas a day at the chargers.
The Bandon supercharger has the best design I've ever seen for trailers. All the sites are pull through.
Our campground - we were just able to plug into the 50 amp circuit (dialed down to 27 amps in the car because we also plug in our Airstream on the 30 amp circuit) because the location of the electrical box made the cord stretch.
Tomorrow we head for Lincoln City, and then camp in Pacific City.

 

[NeverFollow]

Wow! I'm a little bit jealous....

BTW, why don't you got a silver MX?

Also do you have a rear camera on the back of your trailer?

BTW, I would recommend the scenic Historic Columbia River Highway road on the east of Portland but my be you already went there.

 

[JimVandegriff]

Wow! I'm a little bit jealous....

BTW, why don't you got a silver MX?

Also do you have a rear camera on the back of your trailer?

BTW, I would recommend the scenic Historic Columbia River Highway road on the east of Portland but my be you already went there.

We originally tried to get a rear camera installed,NeverFollow, but the tech at Airstream did not want to mess with the new to him Tesla tech. We went with the rear view extended mirrors and those work really well. Last fall we made the trip up the Columbia east of Portland and loved it!
One note from last night that is amusing: I awoke in the middle of the night to a red glow outside the front bedroom window. The Tesla's taillight was glowing. I got up and had to move the key fob a few feet away from the window to get the taillight off. Pretty funny.

 

[boaterva]

Have to include this excellent Faraday bag... so, no more wondering if the car is talking at night!
Amazon.com : Signal Tactics Key Fob Faraday Bag - Military-grade auto theft and anti-hacking security bag! Shield your key fob from duplication and the auto "relay hack" with this signal shielding faraday bag! : Camera & Photo