Our Electrifying Downriver Summer Getaway

We reached our limit of family time this summer. We needed a break.

There just were a lot of events on Catherine’s side of the family already this summer. First, Catherine’s mother Char died in late May. After the funeral, there was a nephew’s wedding shower and wedding, with an anniversary party sandwiched in between.

That’s a lot of family in such a short time and on just one side. In the midst of this our ailing cat died. We needed to get away, even for just a few days. With no cat to worry about anymore, it was easier.

I told people we were driving south along the Mississippi River for a few days to see how other river towns are doing, and to get more experience charging my electric car (EV) on the road. If people asked me where we were going, I hesitated at first but finally just told everyone we’re going to Dubuque.

That elicited a lot of stares. Dubuque? As in Iowa? Whatever for? What’s down there? I anticipated that so was prepared with a comeback.

“We’re going to Dubuque because it’s a place we never visited before. We’ve driven through it but never looked around,” I said. It just looked far enough away that no one could find us there, is what I really thought. I told some people we were going to take a side trip to Galena, Illinois. That seemed to satisfy them. But we’ve been to Galena so didn’t go there.

Tripoint of States

Dubuque is a unique city, located on the Mississippi River right where three states meet (Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin). It even has two high bridges over the river, one to each of the other states.

Just up the river is Lock and Dam 11 where we watched a tow work its way through a lock from Eagle Point Park on a bluff overlooking the dam. Aptly named, an eagle floated mere feet above us. The park is huge and at a higher elevation than Red Wing’s Memorial Park.

It’s retaining its river heritage while trying to grow other industry away from the river. Sounds like every city along the river. I found myself comparing Dubuque with Red Wing. Lots of old and new. But the population of Dubuque is about 3.5 times larger than Red Wing.

Red Wing has some steep streets. But in Dubuque, one was so steep that a banker in the 1800s built a tram from his house on the bluff above town to the downtown area so he could get to work quicker than with horse and buggy. It still operates and we rode it to catch the great view overlooking the city.

The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium is a must-see if you love the river. The many red brick buildings in town (and in every town we passed along the river) retained much of their original look and character.

Great Expectations

I expected to learn more about my EV on this trip. In that regard, I was not disappointed. Both Catherine and I are pleased with each of our EVs. They provide a ride unlike any car we’ve ever driven. They are, in a word, fun.

But that doesn’t mean they don’t have their own issues. I expected to learn more about my car on this trip. In that regard, I was not disappointed. The car performed well but there were some surprises.

The limited charging network in America is the main problem I see. While there are an increasing number of charging stations, they are often not where you need them. And some are not maintained like a busy gas station would be. I charged in Prairie du Chien at a Tesla charger using an adapter I had bought. The fast chargers were located right next to a Casey’s gas station. How convenient. We charged from 40-80% in 20 minutes, more than enough to get to Dubuque.

A bonus was that our hotel offered free charging. It had three chargers. One designed for my car and two old-style Tesla chargers. They were all slow. But so what? I was at my destination and could let it charge for hours to 100%. The latch on the one for my car was broken so it wouldn’t stay in place. Using yet another adapter, I got a Tesla charger to work.

I’m not surprised by this. At least I had success charging. But it can take some work routing your trip so you have access to chargers when you need them. You don’t want to drive out of your way to get to them. And then sometimes find them broken.

So, I remind myself that it’s an adventure, something akin to the struggle with gas -powered cars early on. There will be rapid improvements to EVs and there will be standards so you don’t need adapters. They’ll have greater range, charging will be much quicker and there will be enough chargers available to get you anywhere.

Even to Dubuque.