The Electric Vehicle Roadtrip Resumes

We are back in the road heading north to Silicon Valley from Topanga Canyon just outside of Malibu. This forested canyon, with its clean air and funky vibe ,feels a million miles away from Los Angeles, even if it is still the home to celebrities and even if weekend traffic is challenging.

The late Will Geer, who played the grandfather in the Waltons came here when he was blacklisted and grew vegetables. A botanic garden and theater were inspired by him. We hit upon Topanga Days, where tie dye and Grateful Dead T- shirts still rule. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, we also visited the Getty Villa, eight miles from the inn where we were staying. The Canyon Bistro was our go-to dinner spot both nights. There was a jazz band Friday night and dead quiet Saturday evening. The heirloom caprese salad with burrata cheese was the best caprese I have ever had.

We were the first guests ever at the Tuscali Mountain Inn to take advantage of one of their two Blink chargers, installed through a grant program. When asked if she would host them, the innkeeper said yes. ” We were looking to the future.” She drives a Chevy Volt and loves it. The charger costs, but the inn will reimburse guests when you send them the Blink receipt. We were charged $9 but that was only because we fell asleep without disconnecting on the night of our arrival. I guess we
were tired.
This morning our innkeeper saw us off at 6:3o am with bagels, grapefruit , OJ and coffee.

Driving out of the canyon this morning and seeing our first Starbucks made me realize that we had gone back in time to a community that has worked hard to preserve its natural beauty. Looking out the inn’s backyard there is forest for as far as the eye can see.

The first leg of our trip home will take us to Santa Barbara, where we hope to rent bikes. There are plenty of chargers in town. We are taking U.S. Route 101 with a short jaunt on Highway 1 , then back to 101. We opted not to take Highway 1 all the way because it is nine mikes longer that Highway 101. Later in the day, we plan to take a slow back road to see if we can stretch our mileage and reduce our charging time by slowing down . We have a 200- mile day and it would be nice to make our destination before dark.