Electric Route 66

After our initial visit to Goffs in The Blue Spirit late last year, the Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association began to investigate the possibility of adding EV charging to their wonderful schoolhouse museum and historic property. They added a 120-volt outlet for EV use in January, which I mentioned in a previous post . And now, they have added a Tesla Destination Charger! The Blue Spirit at the Goffs Schoolhouse. We returned to Goffs on April 27 to test out their new charger, and we also met up with some roadie friends. It was fun to demonstrate charging for our non-EV owning friends and afterward we headed into Needles for a dinner get-together. I may never get tired of this image - an EV charging underneath a windmill! Since there is not a lot of power infrastructure in Goffs, the new charger is running from a 30 amp circuit and can output 24 amps at 240 volts, which equates to about 20 miles of charge per hour in a Tesla. For now, owners of other EVs can...

Drive Electric Earth Day is a nationwide series of events from the same folks that organize National Drive Electric Week each September. Earth Day is April 22, and over 180 local electric vehicle events are happening during April, often to coincide with other Earth Day events. Attendees can learn about electric cars from EV owners and car dealers, and in some cases even test drive cars! Head over to the Drive Electric Earth Day web site to check out the full list. They are happening all across the country so there may be one near you! I just wanted to highlight a few of them here for the Route 66 roadie community: Tulsa, Oklahoma The Tulsa event is happening as part of Tulsa's Earth Day Festival , on April 20th at Guthrie Green, just a few blocks from the original Route 66 as it passed through downtown Tulsa. Electric vehicles will be just one part of an event with art, music, food, educational booths, speakers and more. Skokie, Illinois Near Chicago, about 20 minutes from...

On March 16th, we took The Blue Spirit down to Kingman, Arizona for the first Chillin' On Beale of 2019. Chillin' on Beale Street is a monthly cruise-in car show & block party that takes place in downtown Kingman from the spring to the fall. We had planned to attend the final event of 2018 last October, but our plans fell through. This year's first event was on March 16th and was the first CoB that we have attended. It was great fun! En Route: Santa Claus, Arizona On the way down highway US 93 to Kingman from Las Vegas, we made a short stop at an abandoned roadside attraction known as Santa Claus, Arizona. The settlement was begun in 1937 by a real estate agent whose intent was to develop a Christmas-themed resort town. The Santa Claus Inn restaurant was very popular, and other buildings were added with a fairy tale theme, such as Cinderella's doll house and the house of the third little pig. Though the real estate development never got off the ground, the res...

I hope everyone had a good St. Patrick's Day! We spent the day at home, but that gave me a chance to write about our March 10 foray into the Mojave Desert, a day trip to visit nearby tourist destinations and encourage development of EV infrastructure. Cool Springs, Arizona Located west of Kingman on Route 66, Cool Springs was opened in the 1920s and was once a service station, store and tourist cabins for overnight stays. This section of Route 66 was bypassed by a new alignment in the 1950s, and in the 1960s Cool Springs closed when a fire reduced it to ruin. Just a few stone walls and pillars remained when it was briefly reconstructed for the 1992 film "Universal Soldier", but only as a set piece to be blown up for the movie. In 2001 the property was sold to a new owner with plans to rebuild Cool Springs, and in 2005 the doors opened again, attracting Route 66 travelers from all over the world. It has also been reproduced in Cars Land at Disney's California Adv...

As I noted back in January, the weekend of February 2-3 featured several destinations for us and The Blue Spirit, and we were happy to get out on the road to support Route 66 communities. Car Show, Golden Valley We got going from Las Vegas pretty early in the morning in order to make it to our first stop, a benefit car show at Great American Pizza in Golden Valley, AZ. We were not able to stay for the whole thing due to the event in Needles, but we had a good time while we were there and the turnout was good, even though it was rainy and cold! Just a few of the classics at the car show. There was good turnout, especially from Mustangs! I washed the car the day before, but the weather on the way was not cooperative so we arrived just as dirty as before I had washed it! It was great to hang out at our first car show, and also meet up with friends who live nearby. There were some amazing rat rods and classic cars, and a good representation of modern cars, such as a whole r...