We did a bit of a road trip to try to exorcise some of our range anxiety with our electric car. We purchased a 2020 Hyundai Ioniq 3 months ago and have really not gone any farther than Vancouver and back so far. We love the car not just for the fuel savings and the reduction in our carbon footprint but because it is quiet and comfortable and accelerates pretty impressively when we feel like showing off. Still, we felt the need to test its range a bit more.
We have the range to do the Aldergrove to Hope to Harrison and home route but we wanted to check out the on-the-road charging options which we haven't done so far. Of course, there are apps and maps which show where the chargers are and availability and so on but it's not like topping up your gas tank in 5 minutes so we decided to pretend that we needed to charge. In Hope, we used the BCH fast charger (it is only 25kW so they call it a mini fast charger) which has a time limit of 40 minutes and it gave us about 90 km of range for less than $5. There seem to be lots of chargers around but when they are being used, you can be waiting for a while. We were able to pull up and charge right away but less than 5 minutes later some folks sadly drove by in their EV, realizing that we would be there a while.
We didn't have trouble filling our 40 minute charging period with a little walk around Hope and a nice coffee and breakfasty snack from Blue Moose. From there we took a leisurely drive back on Highway 7 to Agassiz and then Harrison.
Harrison provides a bit more of a charging challenge. It is fine if you are staying at the big hotel and paying $25 a night for parking (they have 4 chargers) or drive a Tesla (there are a couple more of those around) but for the simple folk not driving Tesla's nothing was available. No matter. We didn't need it but it did emphasize the need for EV drivers to plan ahead. One thing we did plan ahead for was tacos.
I find tourist town eateries suspect at the best of times but at least Taco Rio was not on the beach.
Also, surprisingly, TR had Beef Short Rib Birria Quesa Tacos on their menu. They were a little pricey compared to what we've had at $8 each or 3 for $23. I'm not sure if that is a function of tourist town pricing or the fact that they are the only birria tacos for at least 100 km (I don't know if that is actually true) or maybe just that they are made with short ribs. At any rate, they were OK but not life-changing. The broth was a bit further on the bitter side than we would prefer. There was lots of cheese and the melty factor was high but the short rib itself could have been more tender and flavourful despite being a pricier cut of meat than usually gets used. I always assume that everything could be better with salt but I'm not sure if that would work here.
Everything else was good as well. We had a Shrimp Rice Bowl which had a generous amount of tasty deep-fried shrimp in addition to an interesting group of accompaniments to the rice. We never turn our noses up at edamame and enjoyed the pineapple salsa. The tortilla chips were a bit suspect, either from a bag or less than super fresh.
Next up was a Baja Fish Taco and it was pretty good. Nice crispy deep-fried cod and some refreshing pico and cabbage. 
Finally, we tried the Churros complete with the Dulce de Leche Sauce and these were great! When are churros not great, I know, but we really enjoyed them. They arrived hot and generously covered in the cinnamon sugar mix. The caramel was rich and sweet. Full marks for these things.
We enjoyed sitting outside in the shade surrounded by tropical plants which really feel like Mexico might feel. We found the staff to be friendly and enthusiastic! So the food was fair to good but not amazing but I doubt you can do any better in Harrison without dropping a bundle. I'm no expert on Harrison Hot Springs but again, tourist town...
Food 3 out of 5
Comfort 4 out of 5
Service 4 out of 5
Value 3 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment