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.

The Beast Rides On

When it rains, it pours. Before getting to Clearwater, we had been having some issues with loosing coolant in the truck. We replaced a gasket that perhaps caused the leak, but still the “low coolant” light came on again… and again… and … again. We also noticed the car was surging (hesitating) while we were running the veggie oil so we figured it was time to change the fuel filter. We had to continue the rest of the trip down on diesel. boo
When we got to Clearwater, we asked around for a mechanic, and finally just decided to take it into a Midas. Before taking it in, we changed the filter and decided to test it out on our way to Midas. So, we click over to grease… and… we stall out in the middle of the road. Luckily, we were able to get over to the right lane and click on the hazards. CRAP!

The Beast Needs Grease

Ironocally when we arrived in Athens, our host Abby had been working on this great drawling of Kali and her roomate John was writing a report on her… Anyway, the black beast has been running pretty well. We seemed to be loosing a little coolant somewhere so a rather easy DIY gasket placement in the thermostat housing seemed to do the trick (thanks Kearin for spotting that for us). We have been running on grease from Philadelphia to Charlottesville to Asheville, Athens and about halfway to the meditation center in Jesup, GA. Unfortunately in Asheville, Blue Ridge Bio-Diesel has the waste veggie oil market monopolized, so no luck collecting there, and only a few gallons discovered in Athens. Luckily diesel prices seemed to have dropped to about 2.25 a gallon down here. I think our best luck is going to be in more populated suburban areas and hopefully we can stock up in Florida.

Our Vehicle

Hello, Hello.  I suppose I can start this thing now that we have a vehicle.  If you keep following this blog, you will  see how we convert this thing to run on waste vegetable oil and then you will join us on our cross country trip.  So please stay tuned, much more is to come.  For now here are a few more photos of our 1995 Chevrolet Suburban.