Hey Everyone!

Our article in the SLO New Times came out today. Here's the link:
http://www.newtimes-slo.com/index.php?p=showarticle&id=2894

Also, be sure to tune into Dave Congalton's KVEC 920 Talk Show at 6pm on tomorrow, friday, because we'll be on the air! You can listen online at: http://www.920kvec.com/main.html just click on the listen live link.

Lastly, be sure to come to our Institute for Discovery presentation at Cuesta College on Saturday Nov 17th. Here's the link for more information:
http://www.institutefordiscovery.org/lectureseries.html

Also, watch for us on KSBY, because we may have a TV interview before the radio show on Friday! We'll keep you updated.

Thanks for your support!

The Veggie Girls

In Des Moines we had an interview with the Altoona Herald and today the article came out.
Here's the link to view our article:

http://www.altoonaherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070821/ALTOONA01/708210422/1144/ALTOONA

Go check it out!

Today we made it to Poughkeepsie!!

We had a rough start in Rochester this morning, when, as we rolled out of the driveway, we realized we were not getting any power to the accelerator, and none of the gages were registering. Frustrated and perturbed, we located the nearest Ford dealership, and called AAA to tow us there. When AAA arrived, with a 21 foot bed that our truck barely fit on, we made our way to the Webster Ford, about seven miles away. We had already played out a few different scenerios: because it was Saturday, if Ford needed to order a new part, we could potentially be stuck there until Tuesday! Fortunately, after a few harrowing hours, a diagnostic test revealed that a fuse was loose. The mechanics at the dealership fixed the problem, and we were on our way as quickly as possible.



We arrived in Poughkeepsie on vegetable oil, triumphant, relieved, and exhausted.




It has been an incredible trip, and we would like to thank everyone who has helped us get this far. We could not have made it without your support, and we appreciate all the encouragement that has helped make our journey that much more meaningful.

Thank you! We are so happy to be here!

~the Veggie Girls
Aubrey, Jenny, Alyssa, Rachel, Caitlyn, and Audrey

Today we drove from Cleveland, Ohio, to Rochester, New York.

We woke up this morning, packed up the car, said our goodbyes, and were on the open road once more, this time headed toward Niagara Falls.




First we went on the Cave of the Winds tour. After buying tickets, putting on our giant yellow ponchos and waterproof sandals, we followed the red wooden bridges that lead right up the very base of the falls. As we were driving into the upper parking lot on the Buffalo side, we could just glimpse the mist flowing up and over the falls, forming a giant cloud of moisture. Now, as we came closer, we became even more overcome with appreciation: standing suspended on a platform just inches from the madly splashing rapids, we were truly awed. Looking up at the surreal spectacle above and around us, Rachel summed up our mutual feelings in one phrase, “You rock, Mother Nature.”






We decided to walk across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada, and we were lucky we did-- the cars were bumper to bumper across the bridge, and we could have easily been stuck in traffic if we had driven. The Canadian side of the falls is full of tourist attractions—there were haunted houses, and wax museums, and pizzerias every 400 ft. However, the view of the falls from across the boarder was spectacular, and the area was fun to explore for a couple of hours before walking back to the United States.




Once we got back to the truck, we continued on our way to Rochester where we were welcomed with taco salad by our gracious hosts. The weather finally cooled down and we felt a little chilly for the first time in a while. A few of the more brave souls took a dip in the pool, but the others stayed inside the warm house. After a while, we retired to our rooms after a long day.

YAY! We made it to New York!

Day 13, August 16, 2007

Today we spent the day in Cleveland, Ohio.

We love Uncle Max— and we particularly love his absolutely delicious Belgian waffles! We slept in a bit today, in honor of Alyssa’s 19th birthday, and spent the day relaxing and exploring Cleveland. After brunch, we walked around the nearby Shaker Lake with Sheila, our hosts’ Australian Sheppard mix. Shaker Lake is surrounded by a trail that weaves through the lush forest of vines and saplings, and our walk left us refreshed. The weather was beautiful, and thankfully not as humid as it had been earlier in our trip.

In the afternoon, we went into Cleveland to the historic Great Lakes Brewing Company, where we met with Jeff West, the manager of the company. He generously gave us the grand tour of the premises, shared a few fascinating historical bits about the bar, and described the methods their company uses to remain as environmentally sustainable as possible. As a business, they are exceptionally environmentally conscious. Great Lakes Brewery runs a shuttle from the brewery to the Cleveland Indians baseball games, powered by waste vegetable oil collected from the fryers in their restaurant.




In addition, the waste vegetable oil powers their delivery truck. We were excited to see a system used commercially that was both economical, environmental, and effective. They also recycle several of their waste products from the production of beer back into their community, and buy their vegetables and other food products locally. Great Lakes sponsors other environmental education programs in the area, including the Burning River Foundation, to help make Cleveland a clean and environmentally friendly place. We were very impressed with their incredible generosity, environmentally sustainable mission, and excellent food. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the brewery, giving it a review of 6 forks up. After our tour, wonderful meal, and a set of full stomachs we picked up some souvenirs in the gift shop!





Back at Max and Regina’s home, Max made us all some of his amazing strawberry shortcake, which we enjoyed immensely, and decided was the perfect ending to a relaxing day.

Today we traveled from Aurora, Illinois to Cleveland, Ohio.

Before leaving Aurora, Nancy gave us lots of yummy snacks for the road, and then she sent us off with the famous Lucas Family good-bye.

Arriving in the city mid-morning we were lucky enough to find room in a garage directly under Millennium Park. However, parking our gigantic truck was another story. We received help from a few Parking Security Officers who directed us into the reserved parking section for extra large vehicles. Without their help, it may have proved impossible. Once Aubrey succeeded in parking the truck, we explained our trip to the helpful Security Officers who were extremely interested in how we ran our truck on waste vegetable oil. Their enthusiasm and curiosity made us happy!





Once above ground, we walked through Millennium Park. We saw the "Chicago Bean," a large bean-shaped, highly-polished metal sculpture, in which our reflections were mirrored multiple times in succession, making for interesting photo-opts.






Then we continued through the park to see the Fountain of Faces. We waded in the water around them and watched as the faces "spit" water on the children playing in the water. We continued our trek around Chicago for a couple hours, walking up and down Michigan Ave.

We departed Chicago in the afternoon, headed towards Cleveland. At one rest stop along the way, a man approached us asking what the truck was about. It felt good to have a complete strangers take interest in our trip. As we hit South Bend, Indiana, the roads became congested with traffic and we were stuck among numerous truckers. Setting us back over an hour, in addition to the time change, we arrived in Cleveland Heights much later than predicted. When we finally arrived, we were met with delicious home-made pizza with mushrooms. Once finished, Regina and Max gave us a tour of their classic home and Max's gorgeous woodwork additions. It's been a long day, and we're so happy to be in Cleveland!

Today we traveled from Des Moines, Iowa, to Aurora, Illinois.

Today we woke up to the mouth-watering scent of waffles, and then sat down to a wonderful breakfast cooked to perfection our lovely host Kirby. After a flurry of packing and repacking, we set out on our next task: washing the Veg Mobile. An accumulation of debris seemed to be taking up the already limited space in the bed of the truck, not to mention the vegetable oil and grease that were slowly starting to encrust everything we touched. So, after breakfast, we braved the already intense humidity, and started the car wash. Two hours, three buckets of soapy water, and a bottle of Windex later, our car, tanks, and coolers looked remarkably cleaner (we, however, could not claim the same). After a quick sojourn in air-conditioned bliss, we headed to our next stop: The Altoona Herald office.

We had been in some contact with Herald writer and photographer Adam, and we were looking forward to finally meeting him and discussing our system. The Herald office greeted us warmly and enthusiastically, and we were excited to be able to explain our trip and journey so far to such an interested audience. We were anxious to reach Chicago, so after a few quick photographs, we said our goodbyes and were on our way.





When we finally arrived in Aurora, a beautiful town about and hour outside Chicago, we met our hosts and had a lovely dinner and dessert. Afterward, we went to Naperville, a college town a few minutes away, where we strolled along the river, learned a bit about the area and bell tower, admired the preening ducks, and thoroughly enjoyed the balmy evening. After a long day in the truck, if felt great to stretch our legs, and we particularly enjoyed the dandelion fountain and the sea creature sculptures decorating the streets. We returned home to comfortable beds, and fell asleep.

Day 10, August 13, 2007

Today we traveled from Topeka, Kansas to Des Moines, Iowa

WE LOVE KANSAS!!! Besides the humidity, we had a great experience in Kansas. We woke up, showered, and began the day with a wonderful breakfast. As we prepared to depart from Topeka we received a call from Toby, who we had contacted about getting oil in Kansas. We got his number from fillup4free.com, a website that provides as network for people who run their vehicles on waste vegetable oil. He said he'd meet us in Topeka because he knew of clean oil sources there, and this way we wouldn't have to travel to him. While we were waiting for Toby to arrive, we went in search of much needed 60 amp fuses, looking for a stereo store we decided on Best Buy and to work from there. Of course we pull into the Best Buy parking lot at 9am and there was not a single car in the parking lot. Luckily we noticed a sign saying AutoSound; it sounded perfect, so we went over and sure enough they carried 60 amp fuses. Everyone who worked at AutoSound was extremely kind and excited to hear about our truck powered by vegetable oil. Aubrey surprised them by immediately rolling under the truck and put in our brand new fuse. One of the looked at us with mild bemusement, saying, "She's a girl...and she just rolled under the truck?" We promptly informed them that we've been the ones fixing the truck, and we were most definetly unafraid to get dirty. Once the process of our system was fully explained it was time for a photo-opt with Mark and his crew from AutoSound.



Shortly after leaving AutoSound, we began a quest to find an Auto Electrician to take a look at the installation of the pump; in the process of searching Toby called and informed us he'd be by soon, so we halted our search and returned home to meet Toby. Once Toby arrived we explained our system and how our pump was failing to work, probably due to a lack of electrical connection.

Immediately he discovered the source of our problem (a bad ground connection and a non-functional hotwire), and after double checking everything we were once again successfully able to filter the oil from our 40 gallon storage tank to our 91 gallon tank. We finished filtering our oil from Denver and said our last goodbyes to our wonderful hosts; then we met up with Toby who was "dumpster diving".



During this time Toby went over to Dillon's, a shopping market with a deli; deli's are good to keep in mind because they tend to fry lots of food. Toby and Nathan had began filtering oil for us which was fantastic because he had a large system on his own truck that filtered the oil faster and stored more oil (more than 120 gallons). We were then able to filter the oil straight from his truck to our 91 gallon tank as we simultaneously filtered oil into our storage tank, using our 12 volt battery pick-up system.






While we were filling up our tanks with a total of 130 gallons of oil, Toby gave us helpful tips about using waste vegetable oil. He advised us to wipe down all our supplies rather than wrapping them in bags as we had previously because the oily bags make an even bigger mess. He also mentioned that over time and through experience you learn to keep everything clean. To keep the equipment clean it's good to suck air through the pump powered by the 12 volt battery before cleaning up and putting it away because the air pressure rids the initial transfer hose of any extra oil. A tiny bit of oil can get everywhere, causing a large mess. Simple green is really good for removing the oil of the truck and equipment, which should be done soon after transferring oil because the longer its left to sit the more difficult it is to remove. Because there is a great need for cleaning, its best to have plenty of towels to wipe up all oil spills. Other advice he gave was in cold climates it's best to collect oil at 40 degrees Fahrenheit and store it for the winter. At 40 degrees, only the purest oil is at the top of the barrels. His advice was absolutely wonderful, and we felt very fortunate that we met Toby who was able to help us out. He and Nathan was extremely kind, and in addition to helping us fix our pump, they were able to give us useful advice. They were was very knowledgeable about using waste vegetable oil as fuel, and we later discovered they had a lot of experience, because Toby's household runs three cars on WVO.



SUCCESS!!!


By the time we departed the capital of Kansas, a great weight had been lifted from our shoulders. Finally we had a working pump, and 2 full tanks of clean oil. Although the humidity was much different than the climate we are used to, the people were wonderful and extremely helpful.

Finally we were on the road to Iowa, many of us emotionally drained from the excitement of successfully retrieving oil. We stopped in Missouri for a lovely lunch at McCorkey's Eatery and Pub and after filling up we continued our trek to Des Moines.

Once we arrived in Des Moines we immediately ran into traffic heading towards one of the 1000 places to visit before you die (according to the book), the Iowa State Fair. We were all excited as we arrived at Kirby's house, Jenny's friend from college, a beautiful, sun-kissed blond, and Des Moines native. After getting all situated we ventured into the humidifyed heat following Kirby and her friend Natalie, our official tour guides of the Iowa State Fair.






At the fair we saw many creatures: adorable piglets, baby goats, sheep, and calves, and also walked around the booths while eating a giant bucket of cookies and finding free temporary tattoos. Then we went to check out the butter sculptures which were life size and detailed.





One of the butter sculptures was of Harry Potter and Hedwig.

We watched Vocal Trash preform, a group that sings and plays trash cans at instruments. Then we went and saw all the other animals, including the world's largest pig which weighed over 1200 lbs. and the world's largest bull which weighed over 3000 lbs. We were all extremely sad to see these animals so large that they couldn't move well if at all. Afterwards we went home and had a lovely dinner at Kirby's house, and we were excited to be out of the humidity and back in an air conditioned building. After dinner we hung out and played games like Apples to Apples until we all passed out.



Audrey, Rachel, Caitlyn, Alyssa, Aubrey, Jenny, Kirby, Natalie

Day 9, August 12, 2007

Today we traveled from Boulder, CO to Topeka, Kansas.

Since we were unable to install our new pump last night we decided we needed to begin the day early to give us time to install our pump before our extremely long drive to Topeka, Kansas. We began the installation process in front of our friend’s house, and with some help from Andrew, we successfully dismantled the broken pump. However, we quickly realized parts from the old pump were not interchangeable with our new pump so we needed a few new pieces.




Before making another run to Home Depot, we decided to go to breakfast with our friends before saying our goodbyes. One of them worked at The Egg and I, a great breakfast restaurant in Colorado, so we went to go visit him and have breakfast simultaneously. Shockingly enough, everyone had eggs (of varying styles). YUM! After a delightful breakfast and saying goodbye to our new friends, we headed to our new favorite store, Home Depot. Once we found the correct 3/4"x18" pipe, 3/4" to 3/8" adapters, and 2" connection piece, that fit our new pump, we went to find shade so we could hide from the beating sun while installing the pump. In attempt to be efficient with our time, we parked close to an internet cafe and shopping center so that some of us could run errands while the others installed the pump.

Finally the installation was complete: our new pump was properly threaded into our 40 gallon tank, our second 5 micron filter was connected, the housing of the box was grounded, our hotwire was unwrapped, and all looked good: but when as we tested it, our 60 amp fuse blew. We decided to head to Kansas and wait until the morning to find an auto electrician. After five failed attempts to find biodiesel in Boulder, we headed East running on diesel because we had no other options. At one point, when we were forced to stop at a gas station, stuck between all the Semi trucks filling up, we became overcome with more misery. Paying $3.09 to pollute with diesel when we had put so much energy into alternative options was horrible. As we passed through Kansas, the astonishingly flat landscape and perfectly symmetrical cornfields somewhat lightened our mood, but we remained rather down. We did see an advertisement for seeing the world’s largest prairie dog and a live five legged steer, but we did not stop. We trucked our way through Kansas; Jenny did a wonderful job driving through one of the longest legs of the trip on her second day. A combination of the distance, pump failure, and the time change caused us to arrive at our destination very late. Our hosts were incredibly kind, thoughtful and welcoming: a relief after a very long day. Exhausted, we went to bed almost immediately.

Day 8, August 11, 2007

Today we traveled from Denver to Boulder, CO

After waking up and having a lovely brunch with Alyssa’s family, three of us headed out to collect the remaining oil from the Japanese restaurant. We successfully pumped the rest of the usable oil into our storage tank, for a total of 35 gallons of oil obtained solely from Denver.

After packing, loading, and rearranging our precious cargo, everything was set – except for our pump. We decided to try our luck with our pump once more by tapping the motor with a flashlight; we could hear the brushes whirling inside, but no oil was being filtered and transferred to our 91 gallon tank. To test that it wasn’t a filter problem, we removed the 5 micron filter between the tanks and held a bag in place of the filter. Here was the final test: if the pump was working, it would spray oil into the bag, but if it was the pump that was broken, nothing would happen. We covered up the hole where the filter had previously been with a garbage bag…turned the key…heard the brushes rotating… and BOOM…nothing happened. Frustrated, we finally reached our conclusion: we would not be able to transfer oil without installing a new pump.

Back at Alyssa’s sister’s house, we said our goodbyes (we wanted to take Alyssa’s adorable nephews with us!) and headed off to the airport to pick up our sixth wonderful member, Jenny.




We finally located the correct terminal, moved all our stuff around, and crammed her in. We are so glad she is with us- our group feels complete now. Once we picked her up, we headed off to Boulder, stopping for lunch at Costco. Because we were running low on WVO, we checked the price of straight vegetable oil 35lbs. containers, and quickly came to the conclusion that it was simply unfeasibly economically to buy the vegetable oil: the price per gallon came out to just over $4. Disappointed, but not as hungry, we continued our trek. With help from Greg, we located Murdoch’s, a farm supply store in Longmont that sold a similar model pump, which we bought for about $250. After attempting to get it set up in the parking lot, we decided to head to a friends house in Boulder to try and fix it there. Next stop Home Depot, where we picked up a pair of channel locks and some Teflon tape. By the time we removed the broken pump, the sun was just setting over the mountains, and we were tired, hungry, and ready to take the night off. We had a great time with our friends in Boulder, filled up on delicious cheeseburgers, and spent the night relaxing.