Wisconsin trip, 2022

+SpiceWare · September 5, 2022

Returned yesterday from another 2 week vacation to Wisconsin. My folks were able to go this year so we took Sparky, their Model Y, as it's a bit roomier and easier for my folks to get in and out of than Talith, my Model 3.

As with last year I didn't document the trip step-by-step, but have opted to do an update on the overall experience.

Rerouted #1

Our trip begins with a visit to friends in Chicago. On the way up Sparky routed us to the expected Supercharger stops in Nacogdoches, Texarkana, then Little Rock. However, soon after we left Nacogdoches, Sparky rerouted us to Shreveport due to a Supercharger outage in Texarkana. Large storms were going through Texas on the day we started our trip, getting out of Houston was slow due to the heavy downpour, so I suspect they had a power failure. We've not experienced this rerouting before so were surprised, and very glad, to see that Tesla will automatically adjust the route as needed based on real-time events. This rerouting happened three times in total during the trip.

Original route Rerouted

New route

As with last year, Tesla's Supercharger network continues to expand and fill in the gaps. This improves the overall road trip experience. This can be seen between Little Rock, AR and Miner, MO which are the bottom-left and top-right superchargers in the map below.

2019 no Superchargers existed between the two, so the route was the orange route without the stop in Brinkley, AR. This necessitated a 100% charge, plus driving below the speed limit, to make it.

2021 route was the orange route with the stop in Brinkley, AR. 100% charge was no longer required, nor was driving below the speed limit.

2022 route was the blue route, with a charging stop in Jonesboro, AR. We REALLY liked this change as I-40 between Little Rock and Memphis is extremely heavy with semi truck traffic, which can be nerve-racking to drive in.

2022 route 2021 route (and 2019 without the stop)

Rerouted #2, though we ignored it

As we were going north on I-57 towards Chicago we were originally routed to the Supercharger in North-West Champaign. As we approached Sparky notified us it was a congested Supercharger and rerouted us to Gilman to save time. It was on the route so normally not an issue, but when we'd talked with my friends in Chicago to give them our ETA they asked if we'd like to go out for dinner at Tao. We said "sure!" then realized dad had only packed shorts, so we planned to pick him up some pants during the charging stop in Champaign since it was located in a Meijer's parking lot. We checked what was next to the Gilman Supercharger - a truck stop - so we overrode the rerouting and stopped at Champaign anyway. There was 1 Tesla ahead of us waiting for a charger, so we queued up behind them. We only had to wait 5 minutes for our turn to start charging. When we left 3 Teslas were queued up so it would definitely have been advantageous to ourselves, and others, if we hadn't needed to pick up something from Meijer.

Charging in the Dells

We usually stay at Christmas Mountain just outside of Wisconsin Dells and use it as a base from where we travel around Wisconsin. This year was no different, though because we booked late we ended up in one of the smaller cabins without a washer/dryer unit. The laundry cabin was directly across from us so we didn't have to haul our dirty clothes a long way; however, we usually plug into the cabin's dryer outlet to charge the car. The cabin had an outside 120v electrical outlet which we figured it was better than nothing; however, when we plugged in Sparky promptly complained that the grounding was faulty so it would not charge. The resort swapped out the electrical outlet, but it did not fix the problem. In the past our backup charging was the V2 Supercharger (150 kW) about 30 minutes away in Mauston. This year Tesla had opened up a new V3 Supercharger (250 kW) in town, just a few minutes away from our cabin. Not as convenient as charging at the cabin, but much more convenient than the charger at Mauston.

We tested 120v charging at my brothers and confirmed the issue was not related to the car's hardware.

X = Christmas Mountain

Rerouted #3

The route back was further west as we weren't stopping in Chicago. After charging in the south part of St. Louis we were routed to that new Supercharger in Jonesboro, AR. However, as we left St. Louis, the skies let loose with a torrential downpour. Heavy rain decreases any vehicle's range due to the water hitting the car as well as the water on road. The range decreased enough that Sparky reroute us to the Supercharger in Miner, MO. The diversion, and traveling at a slower speed due to the rain, added about an hour to the trip.

Original route Rerouted

Maps from Tesla's Find Us page.

+SpiceWare · September 6, 2022

We stayed with my friends in Chicago and went out on their boat to watch the Chicago Air and Water Show.

Clouds were very low, which delayed the start of the show.

+SpiceWare · September 7, 2022

After Chicago we went to Milwaukee to visit mom's cousin and then Green Bay to visit dad's sister.

Charging stops were at Woodman's and Festival Foods, both grocery stores.

Woodman's in Kenosha, WI

Festival in Sheboygan, WI

Superchargers at grocery stores seem like they would be a perfect fit for EV owners who don't have charging at home. Range is enough now that you could likely get by with just charging your car whenever you were buying your groceries.

Did a spot check of where I've charged in the past, and these where all at grocery stores. So Tesla apparently thinks that's a good solution as well:

🛒Edwards Food Giant (Brinkley, AR)

🛒Festival (Oshkosh, WI)
🛒Festival (Sheboygan, WI)
🛒HEB (Katy, TX)
🛒Hy-Vee (Dubuque, IA)
🛒Hy-Vee (Madison, WI)
🛒Hy-Vee (Olathe, KS)
🛒Meijer (Bolingbrook, IL)
🛒Meijer (Champaign, IL)
🛒Meijer (Evergreen Park, IL)
🛒Meijer (Howard, WI)
🛒Meijer (Rolling Meadows, IL)
🛒Woodman’s (Kenosha, WI)

+SpiceWare · September 7, 2022

At the Dells we ate at The Keg a few of times. Food was great, and they had 1919 on tap - an awesome regional root beer.

We checked out the Root Beer Museum.

where we found lots of Snoopy

a sign for a video game tie-in, would have been awesome if they had a Tapper cabinet on free-play

a small theater showing old commercials

And many other things, including pony kegs of 1919 for sale! Dad bought one and we brought it back to Texas.

+SpiceWare · September 11, 2022

Despite the many times as we've been to Wisconsin Dells, this was the first time we've been on the Ducks, amphibious trucks from World War II:

Dad & mom, mom's relatives in the back row.

Mom's relatives also suggested the Lost Canyon Tours. Was unaware of this one, it was a blast - I highly recommend it if you're ever in the Dells and looking for something to do.