Over on the TM forums, Colorado Model S owner Rod Hoffman is organizing a weekend road trip to the Black Hills, slated for May 16-18, 2014. Here's the prospectus; contact Rod directly to sign up.
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Dear Denver Area Tesla Enthusiasts,
Now that the Tesla team (and their cars Thunder and Lightning) has successfully crossed the U.S. using nothing but Super Chargers, I thought it timely to begin formal planning for our own road trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota in May! Please let me know if you will be joining our merry band of owners for a trip from May 16th – 18th. I will send a separate Outlook notice. For those not Outlook enabled, I thought an e-mail would be best to keep you up-to-date on the plans. So far we have eight owners with a keen interest. I have also posted this on the Tesla Forum – Colorado Section.
My brother-in-law and Custer Chamber of Commerce Director, David Ressler (also copied above), has been working on our behalf over the past month to get things organized on their end. Here is what we have so far:
· We will do a loosely organized start in smaller groups throughout May 16th so as to spread out charging stops. It is about 400 miles, 6 hours of driving, and approximately 7 hours with two healthy charging stops. Once I get a head/car count I will start organizing who will start when or get your preferred times of departure. We will head through Cheyenne and some may just decide to amble on individually. We want to give folks a chance to connect throughout the trip so I will post when/where people will be departing. I will also start a small data base of cell phone numbers and names for connecting on the road.
· There is spotty cell service but greatly improved from a few years ago. I have about 60% coverage for the whole route on AT&T and not sure about other carriers.
· We will target to meet 5:00 pm Friday to meet and greet at the Custer Chamber of Commerce parking lot to enjoy a complimentary bison burger cookout, weather permitting. We will pass out suggested driving routes and other local insights using Custer Chamber staff. General Custer has been known to show up upon occasion…
· David has been working with the Custer City Planner and they should have two Level 2 chargers in the Chamber parking lot before we get there. He also has organized access to six charging spots with 50A 220V service at a close-by RV/Campground (several blocks), assuming they are not filled with campers. The charging at all spots will also be complimentary. If you travel afar to the northern Hills you may need to pay for charging at other RV parks. There is also a Super Charger in Rapid City about 50 miles away but that should not be needed and it is away from the sights.
· Our base once arriving will be Custer, SD - the heart of the southern Black Hills with easy access to Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park and Wildlife Loop, Custer State Game Lodge (the summer White House for several US Presidents), Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, and a plethora of other attractions. David has arranged free passes for the big venues so this will be complimentary of the Custer Chamber of Commerce!
· We have heavily discounted rooms available in Custer but I will need a firm room count by mid-April. Please let me know if you want to be on the room list. The hotel is a 3 year old Holiday Inn Express, very comfortable and convenient in-town location. I will also need to know approximate head count per car for other meal planning.
· We have lunch set at the Custer State Game Lodge on Saturday – a beautiful historical lodge built during the WPA time and a favorite of President Calvin Coolidge.
· The Custer Chamber staff are putting together some suggested scenic drives and routing for the weekend, keeping in mind charging when needed. We should have a map of great rides for all including the famous “pigtail” bridges and stone tunnels with views of Mt. Rushmore from afar. There are drives in and around Sturgis (the famous motorcycle rally locale) but a bit quiet this time of year, Hill City, Lead, Spearfish Canyon (dances with Wolves filming location) and the gambling town of Deadwood.
· We are working on staging a photo shoot in front of Mt. Rushmore – that will be cool!
· The scenic Black Hills are fabulous and if you want to explore in advance… see this link: Home
· This is coming together nicely. If we get about 10 cars (now at 7 interested), we may be able to get a small show space by blocking off a local street and create an impromptu show to be available to field questions about our vehicles. I will wait until we get a car count before asking David to go to this effort (as it takes a fair amount of coordination with City staff to set up).
· One word of warning – although spring can be beautiful, the weather is similar to Denver and there can be snow/sleet or just sun. I do not have snow tires so we will track weather in advance to ensure we have a clear forecast.
If you have any questions, send them my way!
Rod
Phone: 303.674.0475 | Cell: 303.517.9430 | Fax: 303.679.9998
E-mail: [email protected]
~~~~~~~~~
Dear Denver Area Tesla Enthusiasts,
Now that the Tesla team (and their cars Thunder and Lightning) has successfully crossed the U.S. using nothing but Super Chargers, I thought it timely to begin formal planning for our own road trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota in May! Please let me know if you will be joining our merry band of owners for a trip from May 16th – 18th. I will send a separate Outlook notice. For those not Outlook enabled, I thought an e-mail would be best to keep you up-to-date on the plans. So far we have eight owners with a keen interest. I have also posted this on the Tesla Forum – Colorado Section.
My brother-in-law and Custer Chamber of Commerce Director, David Ressler (also copied above), has been working on our behalf over the past month to get things organized on their end. Here is what we have so far:
· We will do a loosely organized start in smaller groups throughout May 16th so as to spread out charging stops. It is about 400 miles, 6 hours of driving, and approximately 7 hours with two healthy charging stops. Once I get a head/car count I will start organizing who will start when or get your preferred times of departure. We will head through Cheyenne and some may just decide to amble on individually. We want to give folks a chance to connect throughout the trip so I will post when/where people will be departing. I will also start a small data base of cell phone numbers and names for connecting on the road.
· There is spotty cell service but greatly improved from a few years ago. I have about 60% coverage for the whole route on AT&T and not sure about other carriers.
· We will target to meet 5:00 pm Friday to meet and greet at the Custer Chamber of Commerce parking lot to enjoy a complimentary bison burger cookout, weather permitting. We will pass out suggested driving routes and other local insights using Custer Chamber staff. General Custer has been known to show up upon occasion…
· David has been working with the Custer City Planner and they should have two Level 2 chargers in the Chamber parking lot before we get there. He also has organized access to six charging spots with 50A 220V service at a close-by RV/Campground (several blocks), assuming they are not filled with campers. The charging at all spots will also be complimentary. If you travel afar to the northern Hills you may need to pay for charging at other RV parks. There is also a Super Charger in Rapid City about 50 miles away but that should not be needed and it is away from the sights.
· Our base once arriving will be Custer, SD - the heart of the southern Black Hills with easy access to Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park and Wildlife Loop, Custer State Game Lodge (the summer White House for several US Presidents), Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, and a plethora of other attractions. David has arranged free passes for the big venues so this will be complimentary of the Custer Chamber of Commerce!
· We have heavily discounted rooms available in Custer but I will need a firm room count by mid-April. Please let me know if you want to be on the room list. The hotel is a 3 year old Holiday Inn Express, very comfortable and convenient in-town location. I will also need to know approximate head count per car for other meal planning.
· We have lunch set at the Custer State Game Lodge on Saturday – a beautiful historical lodge built during the WPA time and a favorite of President Calvin Coolidge.
· The Custer Chamber staff are putting together some suggested scenic drives and routing for the weekend, keeping in mind charging when needed. We should have a map of great rides for all including the famous “pigtail” bridges and stone tunnels with views of Mt. Rushmore from afar. There are drives in and around Sturgis (the famous motorcycle rally locale) but a bit quiet this time of year, Hill City, Lead, Spearfish Canyon (dances with Wolves filming location) and the gambling town of Deadwood.
· We are working on staging a photo shoot in front of Mt. Rushmore – that will be cool!
· The scenic Black Hills are fabulous and if you want to explore in advance… see this link: Home
· This is coming together nicely. If we get about 10 cars (now at 7 interested), we may be able to get a small show space by blocking off a local street and create an impromptu show to be available to field questions about our vehicles. I will wait until we get a car count before asking David to go to this effort (as it takes a fair amount of coordination with City staff to set up).
· One word of warning – although spring can be beautiful, the weather is similar to Denver and there can be snow/sleet or just sun. I do not have snow tires so we will track weather in advance to ensure we have a clear forecast.
If you have any questions, send them my way!
Rod
Phone: 303.674.0475 | Cell: 303.517.9430 | Fax: 303.679.9998
E-mail: [email protected]
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