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Black Hills Tesla Rally

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stevezzzz

R;SigS;P85D;SigX;S90D;XP100D;3LR;YLR
Nov 13, 2009
6,100
124
Colorado
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]
 
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Aw, come on, Liz G: you only live once and the Black Hills are spectacular. If you take I-70 again and need a charge to get to the Supercharger in Cheyenne, I've got a spare 14-50 on the north side of Denver metro.
 
Darn. Can't make the Black Hills dates. April and May are jammed around the farm. Later in the summer we want to go up to Hill City, SD. Found a nice looking cabin resort, called and they are 1) dog friendly, and 2) have a 110v on the porch! What about Mt. Evans ? Another summit ?
 
argh!!!! Black Hills (or as I fondly call it, the big face place) is on my list of places to see as the SC network gets built out. I wish this could happen in conjunction with the cross country rally out to TMC Connect in Cali which I am hoping to do.

If anything, I hope events like these become regular or annual events... so maybe not this time, but next time!
 
Ten Model S--eight from the Front Range of CO, two from the Sheridan, WY area--converged on Custer SD this weekend for the first Black hills Tesla Rally. Organizer Rod Hoffman and Black Hills CofC director Dave Ressler put on a spectacular event that included installing four new 14-50 outlets in the Chamber's parking lot (615 Washington, Custer) and a beautiful ride through Custer State Park and the Mount Rushmore area. At the Rocket Motel, the owner even installed a 14-50 in his parking lot the very day we arrived! Everywhere we went the cars were the center of attention and every local resident we spoke to was welcoming to a fault, and thanked us for bringing our cars to Custer.

Most of the photos and video I shot are still locked in the camera, but I was able to download a couple of stills from my quadcopter showing the assembled cars in front of the State Game Lodge and the Crazy Horse Memorial. Can't wait to see the footage of nine Teslas in trail behind us on the Needles Highway...
 

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Wow, thanks for posting. I never really thought about how useful a quadcopter would be -- I saw your first pic before I read the text and thought "that was lucky there was a tall building they had access to right next to the staging area", BUT NO! So we are heading through the area this summer -- instead of a place in Rapid City, would you recommend any particular hotel/motel in Custer?
 
Why not stay at the Rocket and help repay the owner for putting in destination charging?

I agree completely! Also, remember that if you are spending the night, it takes very little extra time to park your car and plug in. Usually, destination Charging takes only a little more than ZERO time.

The Rocket Motel - an American roadside classic, AAA-Rated family motel in Custer, South Dakota!



Sorry that I missed the trip. Looks like you all had a great time! Hope to join you next year.
 
Thanks for the pixs and tips. We are heading to Chicago from Las Vegas in mid June and planning to follow the available Supercharger route thru the Black Hills. Will definitely plan an overnight in Custer.

Also consider an overnight in Pagosa Springs; either way works well; if you want to do this, let me know and I can give you better, detailed advice on charge levels. See 4 Corners EV Charging

I have installed 70A J1772 Plugs at Incredible Pagosa Vacation Rentals | unique & exceptional properties serving downtown Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where you can have a good overnight charge, and walk to dinner and the hot springs. From there, there is another 70A J at Wood's High Mountain Distillery in Salida on your way to Silverthorne or Lone Tree. Call ahead to verify both places, and Wood's is closed on Sunday.

Have fun!
 
Also consider an overnight in Pagosa Springs; either way works well; if you want to do this, let me know and I can give you better, detailed advice on charge levels. See 4 Corners EV Charging

I have installed 70A J1772 Plugs at Incredible Pagosa Vacation Rentals | unique & exceptional properties serving downtown Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where you can have a good overnight charge, and walk to dinner and the hot springs. From there, there is another 70A J at Wood's High Mountain Distillery in Salida on your way to Silverthorne or Lone Tree. Call ahead to verify both places, and Wood's is closed on Sunday.

Have fun!

Thanks, Cottonwood ................looking forward to meeting you and exploring your southern Colorado route to Denver. Probably not in June, but perhaps in the fall on the way to C-Springs for some Air Force football.