My husband and I just got back from a 5-day getaway in Tucson, AZ to “get away” from the cold.
While some of the days away out west were actually colder than in the Northeast, we loved our visit. Tucson is such a beautiful area rife with cactus-filled National Parks and monuments. We drove many miles from Sabino Canyon National Park to the amazing Desert Museum and then Saguaro National Park (pronounced sa-yaro –that one took me a while to say properly!).
Mt. Lemmon was also spectacular and even had snow, as we drove up 9,171 feet, the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains.
We even got up super early one morning to tour the incredible Kartchner Caverns that was 1 1/2 hours south (sooooo cool). From there, we were suggested to go further south to the small “wild west” town of Tombstone. Yes, it was like entering a movie set with cowboys on horseback and women wearing the wild west garb of long dresses and bonnets. We even “survived” a shootout!
Then we headed further south to this Wonderland of Rocks called Chiricahua National Monument with spectacular rock mountain views.
We saw even more as we logged over 650 miles we drove in our rental car.
Which brings me to the other aspect of our vacation that we never experienced before….
The rental car.
We rented a car from Audi on Demand for the first time. However, when we got to the dealership, the car we had reserved was damaged, so it was unavailable. So, they “upgraded” us to their electric car.
We were quite adamant that we did not want an electric car as we knew that we would be driving quite a bit and didn’t want to get stuck charging it our whole trip.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have a choice as there were no other cars available. And it was more challenging than we even had imagined.
So, over the course of 4 days driving over 650 miles, we:
- Charged the car at 10 charging stations
- Spent 7 1/2 hours total charging time
- Downloaded at least 5 electric car-charging apps
- Learned the differences between 6 kw charge and fast-charging stations
- Experienced a new adrenaline rusher — “Range Anxiety”
It was an interesting experience to say the least and certainly could have been a “make or break” for our vacation.
Admittedly, I’m not the best with tech and apps and definitely can lose my patience with wasting time. I may have even sounded like an angry truck-driver a few times….
Especially when we had those “electric car surprises” such as learning that the miles available did not equate to miles driven.
For example, when we drove up Mt. Lemmon, we started with about 200 miles available. After driving not even 30 miles, the range plummeted down to 100 miles available. We learned quickly that when the weather is cold, it reduces the amount of miles–sometimes substantially. So, we didn’t know if we had enough charge to drive back down the mountain!
Plus, when you drive slower, the car retains miles more efficiently as well.
So, with my husband, Mike, always being a “solutions” based guy, we chose to adapt quickly by locating charging stations with different apps and searches and driving the car in a more efficient way.
Yes, we did experience some frustration at the amount of time we had to spend charging, locating the charging stations, and just learning the nuances of driving an electric car, we always forged ahead choosing to keep looking at solutions to stay the course with our trip.
What was interesting is that the tone we chose to take really dictated our enjoyment of the vacation. If one of us lost it the entire trip (which we could have – and that “one of us” would more likely have been me!), it would have ruined our whole time out there.
But we made a conscious effort to shift our attention to the things we could control and enjoy the incredible beauty and experience on the other side of our country.
There’s always a way to flip a negative situation to a positive one. One positive for us was meeting some of the nicest people ever. Everyone was so happy to help us out and we met some incredible people in Arizona:).
In the end, it always comes down to where you choose to focus your attention. It was such a great lesson for me when I really thought about it, and I will make an effort to shift those thoughts the next time I’m about to complain about something!
What do you think? Email me back with any great stories you have of choosing to shift your focus that changed a potentially negative outcome:).
Xo,
Jill
P.S. If you have some negative emotion that you don’t love, check out what Eye Movement Integration can do for you by clicking here.
“It is our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities.”
Live well and love more,
Jill Gordon
CHHC, MHt, MNLP, MSC, CLC
Certified Holistic Health Counselor, Master Certified Clinical Hypnotist*, Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming*, Master Certified Life and Success Coach*
*Board Certified with IBCP (International Board of Coaches and Practitioners)
All material in this newsletter is provided for information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this publication. Instead readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being. The information provided has not been approved the Food & Drug Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any illness or dise
