Cold and tired, I arrived at my Prince George hotel, Coast Inn of the North, in the black of early morning. This hotel is known as a destination charging location because they have installed a Tesla charging unit in their parking garage and make the electricity available to patrons at no extra cost. In this hotel, the charging unit is next to a generic charging unit and gives the Tesla a great parking spot. I plugged in, knowing that I’d have a full charge overnight. Iceman and I took the essentials up the elevator and I soon fell fast asleep.

The beauty of destination charging stations is that you lose no time while off the supercharger network. You sleep then continue your trip with a full battery. Also, I have yet to find a hotel that does not accommodate dogs.

In reviewing the previous night’s drive, I realized that my range had been affected by the cold, by the need for the defrosting, and by the ups and downs and constant turning of the road. Looking at the dual issues of cold temps affecting battery performance and cruising at night in deer country, daytime driving makes more sense than night runs. I spent a second night at Inn of the North while provisioning for the next legs of the trip and planning my strategy.