The Big Push

We left Chicago early. Our plan was to drive 950+ miles to Montpelier in two days (probably the most driving we have done between destinations). We left at the perfect time, missed Chicago morning traffic, and by the evening rush we had already passed through Cleveland, OH. Driving a little further thru Pennsylvania in the north-west town of Erie, we made our way into New York and spent the night in a motel. We cooked dinner in the room, watched some tube and fell asleep. We got another early start in the morning and made our way across the state.

Missoula, MT

We arrived in Missoula, MT after Beth, who we stayed with in Gainesville, FL, had spoke of it with a big smile as the place she’d like to live someday. She was pretty awesome, so we figured it would be a good place to check out. After finding a no frills motel in town, we booked a room for the night- then decided to stay for two nights, and then realized we should probably stay for July 4th, too.

Eugene, Oregon

Totally last minute, we wrote to couchsurfers in Eugene, OR the day we were leaving Melissa’s. On our way there, we received a phone call from one of the couchsurfers girlfriend saying his place was full, but she could host us still. We got there late, which she had generously said would be fine with her, and met up at her place. We hung out chatting for a bit with Holly and Richey, and they were rad.

Tucson, Arizona

Pulling into the driveway, we were so glad to have finally arrived for a visit with Grandma and Grandpa Bridges! They greeted us with great big hugs, and we settled in for a week at their place. During our stay, they took such good care of us and shared lots of stories and tales that kept us entertained the entire time. It was great to get to know them better, to learn about such interesting and exciting experiences they’ve had, and to see their faces light up as they brought up old and memories. The two have a great passion for life, and they never cease to inspire and move people around them with their kind and generous ways, laughter and good senses of humor, and with the never ending love and respect they have for one another.

Govinda’s of Tucson

Whenever we visit Tucson, we always make it a point to have a meal at Govinda’s Natural Foods Buffett. This time, we decided to make it our first stop since we were quite hungry from our day of driving, and it was on the way to grandma and grandpa’s. We were hoping it would be “Indian Night,” when they dedicate their whole buffet to an array of delicious Indian dishes (otherwise there would be a mix of all different vegetarian dishes). Instead of calling ahead, we decided to go right there, and to our good fortune, the sign on the door read, “Indian Night.” Needless to say, we happily filled our plates and enjoyed the food.

Silver City

We made it to Silver City from Las Cruces in no time. We were to meet up with Steph, who would be our couchsurfing host for that evening, but before our rendezvous we decided to grab a bite to eat. We had looked up a vegetarian café called Peace Meal before we arrived and made it a point to get to town before they closed at 3:00pm.

Vinh Binh

Let’s talk truck!!! We devoted chunks of time in Fort Worth searching for a pot of gold, for a sweet waste oil find. No discoveries yet, though we did learn that the chain “Pei Wei Asian Diner” has a secret dungeon where the oil is mysteriously dropped and later extracted by what sounded like a super futuristic machine, possibly the Terminator’s only source of work nowadays. I did say “I’ll be back” to the lady since the menu looked pretty good.

Gainesville – Gators, Grease, and Gift Gardens

While in Charlottesville, we met Connie’s lovely friend Jamie, and she told us that we could contact her friend Beth if we passed through Gainesville on our way to Clearwater. So we did just that, and Beth kindly agreed to have us spend a few nights at her place. Unfortunately, we never met her husband, who was away, but we were more than happy to meet their awesome dog, Murphy! Beth was a wonderful host and great company. The night we arrived, she made an amazing vegetarian dinner… YUMMM! And she also informed us that there was a volunteer opportunity the following day with FOG – Florida Gift Gardens. Florida Gift Gardens builds free raised-bed vegetable gardens for underserved and low-income Alachua County, Florida residents and the institutions that serve them, helping them become more self-sufficient and increasing their ability to provide for some of their own food needs.

Cubies!

Found these 2 cubies of oil on our way home the other night on out way home. Turn out they are about 1/4 filled with food chunks and sludge. No good, refund please.

Buckets of Grease

Saturday, while making a run to the health food store Amy and I decide to stop into the Thai restaurant in the same shopping center to see what they can offer us in grease. First we went out back to check their grease barrel and all looked good. Out of curiosity we also checked a couple of other barrels from other restaurants in the same center. There was a dumpster from a pretty popular franchise stakehouse, which will remain nameless. Oh man, gross… first off there was some kind of piece of animal carcass sitting right on top and as you open the lid there was globs of gross grille grease and other various animal parts sitting on the screen. I peered into the dumpster and there was a tan foam floating on the surface of the grease. This is exactly the type of grease we have to avoid.