1/21 THE DRIVE BEGINS 17390 Starting with 1/2 tank of Diesel and 3/4 tank VegOil

SO happy to be on the road. Anton and Federica's ranch was lovely, but I was anxious to hear the hum of wheels.

17647 4:16 pm Added 2.5 gal. till gauge reads 1/2
17825 Added 2 gallons of VegOil till gauge reads almost 1/4

First night in Elko, NV. A dead mouse on the bed at the Motel 6 earned me a much better room. Lugged all the oil inside hoping to warm it and pour it in the morning. Not such a great idea as it turns out. It was a slow process in the cold. Also, I forgot to put the VegOil cap back on, like a knucklehead. I discovered that after the tank sucked a bunch of air and shut my engine down. I thumb-pumped like a maniac and apologized profusely to the car at the same time. Lesson learned.

1/22 Wells, NV 17928 Poured in 16 gal. of Vegoil and 11.07 gal. of Diesel for $21.03 Ouch
4:41 pm 18236 (1984) poured rest of VegOil in tank 10 gal. bringing the total to about 15 gallons in tank.

Thanks for the grease donation! to "Dora," the chef at the Holiday Inn in UT.

30 miles before the CO border, after dark, the 18-wheeler in front of me suddenly lost a tire. I drove over half of it with a thud. Seconds later, I heard the familiar sound, "bedang-dang-dang" of my front hubcap bounding into the sage brush. After checking for damage, I searched with a flashlight for the hubcap, but no dice. Regretfully I drove away, looking like someone had given my poor car a black eye. I felt thankful that it hadn't been worse, and that I had thought to get new tires in CA.

One of two nights in Montrose, CO

1/23 Surprise visit with my music buddy Gary Entsminger. Thanks for the omelet, Gary!

Spent 2 hours watching the sun set (after an unseasonably warm day), and filtering 30 gallons of WVO courtesy of Grassolean in Montrose, CO, for which co-founder Ken Hodges would only accept 50¢ a gallon.

Poured in new batch. some old, some brand new VegOil

1/24 178515 VegOil reads at 1/2 tank to start, Diesel at 3/4
18745 (7069) Added 2.5 gal. of VegOil

Met with the buoyant CU Biodiesel student group. Thanks especially to Paul Glasgow and John Bush for hosting and providing the campus Thanksgiving turkey dinner WVO.

1/25 9:12 am 18856 (8179) Starting out with 3/4 tank VegOil, and about 6 gallons Diesel

Great visit with my half sister Wendy who I haven't seen in...15 years? Oh my. She's had two kids since then! So good to catch up, but too short.

11:51 am 18908 Added 9.42 gallons Diesel for $17.72 Ouch
1:24 pm Added 2.5 gallons VegOil till gauge read 3/4
5:37 pm 19166 (1284) Added 10 gallons VegOil putting the gauge at a little more than 3/4.

Stayed over at Salina KS.

1/26 11:26 am19512 (4747) Added 5 gallons of VegOil. Took 25 minutes in warm and windy weather to pour it in. Gauge now reads 1/2.

Excellent fun visit with Charlie Anderson, his family, and his Greasel crew out in Drury, MO. They are really out in the middle of nowhere, as promised. Their standard quote for directions is, "if you don't feel lost, you haven't gone far enough."

I love this pattern of long periods of driving punctuated with happy visits - but after a day or two of no conversation, I'm pretty wired and very chatty.

1/27 19847 (8090) Drury, MO Leaving Greasel with 24 gallons of premium VegOil in the tank.

In Arkansas, loud noise, sudden high temp, engine shut off, all in less than 30 seconds.Engine seized. OH NO! CALL AAA!

Story continued on the Challenges page...

The 55 gallons of VegOil from Anton's stockpile took me all the way to Colorado. Anton seen here filling 5 gallon containers for travel.

Anton's VegOil supply is stored in drums. He's wearing the faux HazMat suit to keep his good pants from getting oily.

Across UT, CO, and later in OH, there was early morning freezing fog that iced up the front of the car pretty thoroughly. I was lucky that was the worst weather I saw the whole trip.

Incidentally, all of the photos so far were taken with other people's cameras. This is a sample of what my camera has shot ever since my flight to CA. I believe it is taking pictures of auras.

This particular photo is Federica eating toast.