[2022 EV Roadtrip – Post #2]

Friday, July 29. Around 6:00pm Central Time

Now Playing:  Comedy Bang Bang podcast

Two stops down, upwards of ten more to go?  Maybe less, maybe more, I like the surprise of not knowing how many we have left.  

This is the First Stop

Our first stop was a flash in a pan – fifteen minutes at the I-70 Diner, in Flagler, CO.   The establishment looked like a stretched-out airstream with windows (super cool), and Frank had been looking forward to the stop, but lo and behold, the diner doesn’t live here no more.  Diner is closed.  But there was a cool pink car on a pole in which Carmella stated, “Yeah, it probably needs worked on” as we passed and admired it.

Flagler, CO also had a sign behind the diner that outlined all businesses present in the town.  Quite impressive to have a legend for your town, I somehow forgot to take a picture of this to share with you.

We played Frogger and crossed the dusty road to the gas station, where we did a quick restroom stop and picked up some drinks.  Carmella snagged a fruity drink equivalent to a Squeeze-It, and it had Spiderman for a lid. 

Another absent-minded moment was Frank and I both forgetting to make a bottle for Colettie, so the two-hour drive after was full of squeaking and singing and screaming for crackers and anything else you might want.  Girl has an opinion.  

Electric Kettle

We made it through the earful and parked it at a Walmart in Cody, Kansas.   We bust out our brand-new electric kettle that we plug in to the back of the car while charging.  I fumble with hot water, two bottles, formula, bottled water, and the wind.  Thank goodness we didn’t have a party with formula confetti, the wind gusts were kind to us.  We manage to make two warm and delicious bottles for the Coconut, hand it over to her, and she proceeds to not want the bottle.  Only wants to play with Snoop Dogg, the sloth stuffed animal who likes to party.  

A swift family trip into Walmart later, and we are ready to rock. Fantastic stop as the bathrooms were in the front of the store unlike all other Walmarts we encountered on our last road trip.

One thing I forgot to mention – as we parked the car, we were approached by an elderly gentleman who was driving a rusted yet retro pickup truck from the 90s.  He spoke with Frank, and I missed most of the conversation, but he was curious about the EV situation, which was refreshing.  I enjoy when people ask questions about it, because it means they are making an attempt to understand our perspective.  Sure, he had opinions about the EV scene, mostly fake news, but who is counting.  I hope he walked away with a better view of electric cars.  That truck might not make it much longer, and you never know, this run-in could have changed his viewpoint in a positive way.  The other thing he quoted though…”These wind turbines aren’t going to last.  They built them all over here, expecting to save the environment, and they are just going to be broken down and dead in 30 years.”  Touche, my good friend.  Touche.

The fear of electric vehicles is prevalent throughout the country, and I am here to tell you there is nothing to be afraid of.  Ask questions, ask me anything.  I would love to help your curiosities along.  

That stop was around 30 minutes of pure enjoyment.  Done. Done. On to the next one. My butt does not hurt in these seats, the girls are recharged for another leg, and we got the squeaky one to go to sleep.  The other one is coloring on her iPad, because yes, I am not about to entertain my child for 24 hours on manual-mode.  Sometimes you’ve got to get a distraction.  How else would I write this blog?