Being July 4th, many things were closed, so we didn’t stick around in Walla Walla and started our way towards Boise earlier than planned. For live updates, follow us on Instagram, we’re posting stories as we go there.

Technical Details

• 258 Miles Driven
• 83.9 kWh used
• 325 Wh/mi
• Paid Charging: $17.85

So far, the total cost of paid charging for this trip is $31.85, which equates to approximately 5.8 cents per mile. For comparison, a typical gas SUV equivalent to the Model X, averages about 14-20 cents per mile. Ideally I’d like to get closer to 3-4 cents per mile, which should be achievable as we’ll have free charging at hotels later in the trip.

The Drive

After a quick breakfast at McDonald’s, because our planned breakfast spot in Walla Walla was closed for the 4th, we drove down to Athena, OR to see if we could get some free electricity at a 120kW CCS charger. This turned out to be a bust as the station was faulty and would cut out after a couple minutes, and refuse to start again.

Shortly after Pendleton there’s an overlook, which has panoramic views of the valley.

We decided to continue on the drive towards Baker City, OR, which is the cheapest Tesla Supercharger on our route to Boise. We skipped the Pendleton, and Ontario chargers in Oregon.

After getting to Boise, the front of the car was peppered in bug guts. There were a lot of flying insects when driving through farmland, and they just get splattered all over the front and the windshield.

Boise is known for great beef and potatoes, so of course we had to try it. Bittercreek Alehouse in the downtown area was the right choice. They had an excellent selection of beer with great food.

And here’s some more photos to before calling it a night. Boise lets you get surprisingly close to the fireworks at their show. Must be a red state thing.

And a timelapse of the drive:

Today is the first day of the trip. An easy 292 miles from Home to Walla Walla. For live updates, follow us on Instagram, we’re posting stories as we go there.

Technical Details

• 292 Miles Driven
• 94.65 kWh used
• 324 Wh/mi
• Paid charging: $13.33

Route and Stops

After I-90 we turned off to the Yakima Canyon Highway or WA-821. It’s very scenic, and a road that FSD handles well. I highly recommend the route. It runs along the Yakima River, and is a National Recreation Area.

A quick lunch was had at the Canyon River Grill, which is also next to Red’s fly shop. Seems to be a hotspot for fly fishing here.

We saw a wildfire on the side of highway after Prosser, WA:

Planned charging on this route is a necessity, as Walla Walla is a DCFC desert (23kW is the fastest, and it’s CCS). So either charge up, bring a CCS adapter, or choose a destination with access to charging.

We stopped for a 15 minute break at the Kennewick Supercharger, and did the rest of the charging at Amavi Winery, and Walla Walla High School.

That’s all for today. Time to hit the gym, get some rest, and head to Boise, ID tomorrow.

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve created an adventure for myself seeking out Mahjong shops in Hong Kong. The last of their kind, these shops exist to keep the memories alive of generations past.

Mahjong: The Craft That Dies with a Generation

Like many other traditional crafts in Hong Kong, Mahjong will be memory of the past. Mobile phones and games are taking over the young population. Even whole families are glued to their devices during dinner. This social game is something only the aunties and uncles will play.

Hand-engraving tiles hasn’t received the recognition it deserves. Perfected over creating hundreds of thousands of tiles, the best handmade examples look like their machine made counterparts. It’s a negative-sum game. It takes months to create a set of tiles. With how much labor that goes into each set, it’s under-appreciated. And with no reason to pass the baton, the art dies with this generation.

Nestled in a small space in the stairs of a walk-up in Jordan, I found Biu Kee Mahjong. The current owner, Cheung Shun King, took over the craft and business of creating handmade Mahjong tiles from his father, who inherited from his father. It’s a generations old family business that will end with him.

Hong Kong is changing, and its changing fast. Like the neon signs that defined it during its golden age, the sounds of shuffling tiles will be gone in another decade or two. As more and more Mahjong parlors are switching to automatic tables, it won’t be long before the heritage and cultural activities are replaced by something digital.

Biu Kee Mahjong sells a large assortment of parlor games and supplies. If you’d like to support the craft, they sell custom engraved tiles with whatever you’d like for $100 HKD / each.

Another hand-engraved Mahjong shop is be found in Hung Hom, Kam Fat Mahjong: 2 Bulkeley St.