We are in a beautiful place now both physically and mentally, thanks to you and thanks to the great experiences we had on the road that helped shape our paths. Our trip may be over for the time being, but there is still so much for us to experience and learn. This is a good opportunity for us to close this chapter of our journey by ending Our Veggie (oil) Road Trip blog. We want to send much appreciation to our dedicated readers. It has been so much fun being able to share this journey with our family and friends at home, it was like having you there by our sides. It is also nice to share our knowledge, experiences, trials and tribulations with the aspiring grease travelers out there. Having spent many hours researching and reading blogs about traveling and running a vehicle on grease, we are now happy to add to that pool of knowledge.

So this will be our last entry for a while for we are where we are, here, in this beautiful place we are calling home for now. However, this does not mean the blogging stops here. We are currently in the works of setting up our new blog at: www.cabinessenceblog.wordpress.com. If we do hit the road again with “Kali” then we may perhaps resurrect this blog. For now check out our new blog and see what kind of things we have been up to settling down in rural Vermont.

Love and Blessings to you all.
Jon and Amy

What a time we have had during our first few months living in Vermont. We have seen the rise and fall, the coming and going, the arising and passing of many things. As is the way of life, the changes came and came, but these particular changes felt pretty unique and… interesting. After the late summer’s work exchange experience at “Lettuce Bee” farm, we watched the family prepare to leave in the fall for quite the adventure on their newly refurbished grease powered school bus. We began paying rent for the cabin as we watched the house become filled to the attic with 6 new housemates, most meeting one another for the very first time. And so begins the next chapter of our life in Walden, VT.

It all began with heartfelt attempts to create a harmonious space, but as the dishes piled high and the house became a stage for some personal “breakdowns” and dramas, us cabin folk did our best to try to bring the household all together. Unfortunately, things continued on a path that seemed to grow more and more beyond mending. After our visit to Philadelphia over the holidays, we discovered that the pipes in the farmhouse had been left to freeze, the place had flooded, and the cat had disappeared. We are still not clear on all of the mayhem that went down, but three of our beloved housemates decided to move on, fast. Following their departure, the water pump broke and the sinks became wickedly clogged, thus continuing our “never a dull moment” experience.

So, for the next two months, we continued to trek up the path from cabin to house for cooking, taking baths, and charging our batteries with the sun’s light, living alongside the only folks left- the young couple and the darling 4-year old boy. We did have a new housemate who had moved in like sweet maple syrup on uncle buck’s lumpy pancakes, but we only had the pleasure of having him for a couple weeks before he, too, moved out. He brought a lot of good energy to the house, which was so appreciated.

The tales from Lettuce Bee could fill many pages, but we have decided to offer the summarized version of the saga, and if we ever do get to writing the book, we will keep you posted. This whole experience has taught us a lot about what we want or at least don’t want in our future living situations. After residing amidst such drama, aggressions, unrest and deceptions, we look onward to a more peaceful, balanced environment where people show respect towards one another as well as to the living spaces. We see this as a growing experience, lessons learned, and an amazing opportunity to practice patience, peace, and unconditional love. It has also been a great time for us to work as a team and support each other through the madness of our “REAL WORLD” situation. And to think, originally our biggest concern was living off the grid thru a brutal Vermont winter…. HA! That very well may have been the best part.

We were invited over to Diana’s home one day to prepare lunch while David continued filming interviews with her. As we prepped and cooked, we were able to listen to some of her testimonials. Her story is a fascinating one, and very relevant to the times we live in. Years ago, after receiving medication for migraines, she was given another drug for nausea with a method known as an “IV push.” In the following weeks, her hand and forearm developed gangrene, and was then amputated in two stages. She eventually went to trial against the massive pharmaceutical company “Wyeth,” and the short story is- she won. I (Amy) am now inspired to learn more about the case, the legal system, and to be clear on the meaning of words such as “preemption.” (I am no lawyer, but at least I can call Gary if I have any questions!) Diana has certainly been through a lot, and continues to reinvent how she thinks of herself now as a musician. She seems to have moved on with such grace and stays close to being a part of the music she loves.

After sharing lunch together, we left feeling inspired by Diana’s determination, positive energy, and talents. Her story is not nearly over yet as she meets people like Jason “Lefty” Williams who encourage her to continue finding ways to play music. It is also so good to see David utilize his exceptional skills as he documents her stories and achievements.

Much more info is available on the web about Diana, the Supreme Court case, and Re-Bop records.

Also check out some of David’s work on his youtube page.

We kept surprisingly busy during our stay. Amy had a couple days of babysitting across town, and the family even invited us over for dinner one evening. There we had a great time talking and sharing some delicious dal, mmmm! Our friend David graced us with his company on occasion as he took breaks from working on a project in a neighboring town, and Iza and Jenne also stopped by for dinner once before engaging us in a game of “Magic”, generously guiding us play by play.

Being close to “Yoga Mountain,” we were able to see some more friendly faces at the monthly Kirtan, and Amy even made time to attend an African Dance Class- you go gyyyyyrl! Planning how we would work out our vehicle situation was such an intense daily focus, and seeing friends and going out really helped us to enjoy ourselves. I think we found a good balance.

And days before we skipped town, with some generous support, we were able to borrow a car to drive an hour or so to Greensboro Garage, a reputable car dealer, find a car quick style, and get a ride back again to pick it up the day before we were due to leave. It felt so liberating to be able to drive ourselves back home to Walden!! Hallelujah.

So continues our adventures with the mighty Goddess Kali, aka “The Beast…” We were expecting some troubles having a diesel vehicle in the cold, cold Northeast Vermont winter, but having such a mild winter so far she’s been taking the cold very well. After our Christmas visit to Philadelphia we returned to VT, and after a very warm January (temps in the 40’s) February brought the sub zero temps back. After a couple nights of -15 degrees we attempted to start her up on a cold morning to go visit our friend David as he did some filming at a local elementary school. She wanted to start; in fact, she started to turn over and start up, but immediately sputtered out. It was way too cold, and I should have had her plugged in for at least a couple of hours more to some generator power. But I (Jon) continued to try and try, I was determined, in fact I tried for 3 days. I plugged her in, used Diesel 911, I put steaming water underneath the engine, and even hot coals to try and warm her up. I cranked and cranked, the battery was dying so we tried jumping her back to life… Nothing worked and finally I turned the key and… nothing. I killed the starter. I should have known better.

This all happened days before we had to leave to go housesit in Montpelier. Luckily our good friend Iza, hooked us up with a ride. We have been very fortunate to have met some great people during our time here in VT. While in Montpelier, we were able to borrow a car from the family that Amy babysits for to go look for a more reliable winter vehicle. After finding a car, our good friend David took us to pick it up. Again, feeling a bit homesick for all the support that comes from the place you’ve lived for so long, how nice to know that even in VT we have some good friends to lend a hand when needed.

So we now have a new member of our family. Appropriately enough for Vermont, she’s a Subaru and we named her Bess or Suggs. Subaru is the official Vermont vehicle, they even say there are more Subaru’s than people in VT, oh wait, or is it cows… oh well… Anyway, being newly inducted Vermont residents it seemed it was necessary to have an all wheel drive gasoline vehicle.

As for Kali, she’s being taken care of as I type this post. She’ll have a new starter, a Vermont inspection and be back on the road and back on the grease in hopefully no time.

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