Road Trip up the California and Oregon Coast (Driving)

 So, after planning my trip, it was finally time to take off for Oregon.  After dropping the dog off at my sister’s, I headed to Napa Valley by way of the Western Railway Museum (which was closed, sadly) to the EVGo chargers in Saint Helena.  I plugged in there and enjoyed a small sampling of wines while charging.  I continued to Geyserville to connect with US-101 North and headed for a motel near the Chandelier Tree for my first night. 

Driving through the Chandelier Tree

The next morning, I headed to “the store” and grabbed a muffin and juice to enjoy while charging at the Shell Recharge station.  (It wouldn’t work with the phone app I installed and had to use my credit card to charge.)  After charging, I headed into the Chandelier Tree grounds and squeezed through the tree (had to fold in my mirrors).  The next charge stop was in Eureka to use Electrify America and was about a ¼-mile walk from In-n-Out Burgers for lunch.  Continuing up the coast I stopped in Crescent City to charge at a ChargePoint station.  While walking about, I discovered a Rivian charging station there too.  That would take me to Coos Bay in Oregon where I would spend the night.  There was a DC-fast charger and a level-2 charger in the lot adjacent to the hotel – I opted to use the level-2 charger since I would be around long enough.

One of Oregon's many elaborate bridges

On the third day, the drive to Newport, OR was only 100 miles, which was well within the range of my car and required no charging stops.  I did stop to photograph some of the remarkable bridges that cross the various bays and inlets.  I arrived in Newport in time for a late lunch of fresh seafood (yum).  The next morning, I charged at an EVCS fast charger a short walk away from a delicious pancake house before heading off to Cristom Vineyards in Willamette Valley.  I was able to charge just long enough at the winery to make it back to the hotel, but a friend in Salem reached out to me to meet for lunch, so I needed a quick 15 minute top-off at ChargePoint before leaving Salem.  Back in Newport I charged at the same charger while walking around the business district.

The drive back home would take one day less.  I stopped again in Coos Bay and checked out the farmer’s market while charging.  Then I headed for Crescent City to charge at the same spot.  I ended that night in Eureka and stayed at a hotel across from the same Electrify America chargers I had used before.  Up to this point, all of the charging had gone smoothly.

Marshlands in Eureka steps away from the hotel

The last morning, I left Eureka and stopped in Willits to charge at a ChargePoint station.  This distance did not leave me a comfortable margin to continue to the next city, so I was forced to charge here.  Unfortunately, a message on the charger said that PG&E had limited the power to the charger to only 25KW (less than half of normal).  I plugged in and walked around for half an hour but did not make much progress on my charge.  I decided to end my session and continue to the next city, now that I had added over 30 miles of range.  I stopped next in Ukiah at an Electrify America station and had a very successful charge.  My last charging stop was in the city of Napa at another Electrify America station where I also ate lunch.  Then I picked up my dog and headed home.

Overall, I had a good (or better) charging experience at each of the EV chargers I visited, with the lone exception of the chargers in Legget and Willits, CA.  Although these chargers are in low traffic areas, they serve an important need for EV drivers crossing the state.  Degrading their power delivery or failing to work with the charging app to start a session causes stressful moments on a trip that should be relaxing.  But I would gladly make the trip again if I had the free time to do so.