Pike's Peak

Day one got a late start, around noon.  Charged at Bellmead, then at Cisco and Childress.  Overnighted at an attractively priced Childress motel.

Day two, charged in Amarillo, Clayton NM, Trinidad Co, and overnighted in a sleazy and overpriced Pueblo CO Motel 6.  $100.

Day three drove to Monument and charged at a new 250kw SuperCharger.  There is a SuperCharger in downtown Colorado Springs but I avoided it because it is in congested downtown and in a fee parking garage.  That charge in Monument allowed me to go back to Colorado Springs, up and down the mountain and then back to Trinidad.  In Trinidad, I noticed a Colorado legal marijuana store next door to the SuperCharger.  The building had been repurposed since previous Trinidad visits. I toured the very nice town of Raton NM and had a mid afternoon meal.  Then charged in Las Vegas NM.  Overnighted in a pricey Hilton two blocks from a McDonald's destination charger in Roswell NM.  Even at $160, the Hilton was a far better value than the Pueblo Motel 6.

Day four drove ~40 miles and checked out the new Artesia NM destination charge station at McDonalds.  Then,  through Pecos to Coynosa and bought some cantaloupe and got some dynamite green chili burritos for the road.  I finished them well before reaching the Ft Stockton SuperCharger.  Then, bypassing Ozona, charged again at Junction.  Then, home about 9-10 pm.  Road weariness is great for sound sleeping.

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/7PH4gJxRmDh1a2em9uelbo   

All images accessed through the above link can be made to show much more detail than the embedded images below.  Also, some comments associated with individual photos can be viewed via the above album link.  Viewers can add comments but I may not immediately notice.  I will likely more promptly notice comments made to this blog post.

On the way to Pike's Peak, I did not go over Raton Pass.  Instead, I took a route about 20 miles to the east.  The route of an old private toll road.  Photo #2 is of the toll gate and gate house.

Photo #10 shows iconic USGS benchmark placed at the Pike's Peak summit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survey_marker

Photos #13 and 14 show microwave dishes well hidden under view points.

#16 shows peak terminal of newly opened "Cog Wheel Railroad" from Manitou Springs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikes_Peak_Cog_Railway

First operated in the 1890s.  I wish I had read the article BEFORE my trip! I would have considered going also to Manitou Springs.  Even though the area is VERY pricey.

Photos #19 & 20 are of Roswell destination charge station.

I first thought that the banged up Kia was an ICE parked maliciously to block a charge spot.  Closer examination revealed that it is an EV and was charging through a J1772xTesla adapter.  Something he paid $200-$300 for to allow charging at Tesla destination charge stations.  Aside from being generally banged up, it was missing doors on both sides.  My kind of car.   Apparently from Ruidosa.  Sadly, I did not have an opportunity to chat with the driver.  The charge station gave me my full 48 amps and would likely give 80 amps to those cars that can accept.

Test charging at McDonalds in Artesia, only about 40 miles south of Roswell:

The visible pylon has a Tesla Wall Connector plus a Clipper Creek ~60 amp J1772.  To the right is a second pylon with two Clipper Creeks.  Both pylons visible below.   There are no hotels near that McDonalds; else, it could make an attractive overnight stop in order to get a full charge as I did in Roswell.

I'll speak a little here of future touristing possibilities.  And impossibilities.

I've briefly passed through a number of small towns I found enticing.  Worthy of future visits. 

1) Raton and Trinidad are paired, one on each side of Raton Pass.  Seemingly both old railroad towns  Both have many old and obviously loved buildings.  I was surprised to find that Raton has an old rail station repurposed as an AmTrack station.  Of course, Raton is saddled with the slightly embarrassing but mostly ignored name of "Rat".

2) Roswell has quite a few attractions.  The military academy seems to keep the town at least fairly prosperous.  History includes being site of a WWII German prisoner of war camp.  Also, Robert Goddard conducted early rocketry research in the area before WWII.  Both left tracks to be explored by tourists.   I imagine the military academy has an interesting history to be explored.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard

There is a lot of extraterrestrial alien silliness that should be ignored.

3) Walsenburg CO is another smallish but very nice town that exhibits much citizen pride.

4) Route 66.  I noticed mention of 

https://www.electricroute66.com/

in my travels.  I have had enjoyable visits to many small towns that are intent on preserving their Route 66 history.  A not exhaustive list: Shamrock and Adrian in Texas.  In New Mexico: Tucumcari, Santa Rosa, Grants, Gallup.  Arizona: Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, Seligman, Kingman.  Kingman has a couple of really great museums.  Oatman is on a section of Route 66 that goes over Sitgreaves Pass is now little used.

A bit on negativity.  Much of the Colorado IH25 corridor should be avoided.  From south of Pueblo to near Cheyenne WY.  It is much like the Texas IH35 corridor from south of San Antonio to near the Oklahoma border.  South of Pueblo all the way down to north of Santa Fe is pretty nice road.  Passing through the El Paso Texas area should be avoided though much of IH10 all the way to California is ok.   The route through the Phoenix area seems to be a poster child for working freeway design.

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