One step closer to sustainable transportation!
Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. Let me bring y'all up to speed... First of all, and most exciting, WE FOUND A DIESEL VW BUS! As much as I hate E-bay, it seems that it was the only place we were finding diesel westfalias with low mileage. So we found on e-bay and actually won the bid last night! It's in Atlanta, which is much farther than we were hoping for, but luckily my lovely aunt Susan was able to go check out the bus since she lives in the area. It's beautiful, has low miles, and it's a diesel with an absolutely immaculate interior and a pretty close to perfect body.
So, Seneca is flying down to Atlanta today so he can drive it back up here before we leave for vacation next week, and hopefully all goes well and we can drive it on our road trip. I'm SO EXCITED that we finally found a bus. After months of looking and disappointment, our greasecar dream is materializing! The diesels are rare and kinda spendy, but it's much easier to start with a diesel (and cheaper, we found out) than to get a gas one, convert it to diesel, then convert it to grease. So we're halfway there. Diesels can run on a bio-diesel/diesel mix without any modification, so Sen found several gas stations along the trip that sell 20% bio-diesel fuel, and this is probably what we'll do until we have the money for the grease kit. Sen and his brother (who is a mechanic) are going to do the grease conversion and then we can use waste vegetable oil (filtered first) and bio-diesel to run it! Woohoo! No more oil!
So other than searching and finding our bus, we've been keeping busy and enjoying the summer. We went to a barter fair/gathering near Trout Lake, WA last weekend. It was called the Llama Reunion (a group of friends called the Llama tribe hosted it) and it was fantabulous! There's lots of pictures on my flickr page of the trip. It was quite the drive, but well worth it. The location was beautiful, we camped in a field of daisies with Mt. Adams hovering above us. It was a small barter fair, but the crowd was great and we met some cool people. I also sold lots of soap and duct tape wallets, which is always nice!
We're planning our summer trek and I'm getting very excited, especially now that we have a camper bus to take the trip in! We are leaving next Wednesday (hopefully!) and heading to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for the Rainbow Family Gathering. This is a magical annual event, a gathering of all kinds of "rainbows" from all over the country. We've only been to one before, two years ago, and it changed my life. It's a mix of all things counter-culture, and it operates a bit like a commune. Everyone helps out (volunteering at kitchens, cleaning up the camps, digging pit toilets, etc.) and no money is exchanged at all. The food is all vegetarian (mostly vegan actually) and freely distributed to everyone. We all eat together in a big meadow, there are lots of opportunities for hiking, there are themed camps (I want to stay in Yoga camp this year!) and each one has a kitchen. There are workshops and classes on anything from herbalism to yoga, meditation to alternative medicine... it should be awesome! My first Gathering is what convinced me that I could go vegetarian, and I haven't eaten meat since. It's an empowering experience and a look at a completely alternative way of life.
After the Gathering we are heading to Eugene, Oregon for the Oregon Country Fair. It's a bit like a giant barter fair, with all kinds of activities, vendors, and camping nearby. We've never been but it looks like fun. After that we hope to check out Eugene for a bit, maybe go to the beach, and then come home. We're considering moving to Eugene so if there's time we might look for places to live and check out some of the non-profits & environmental organizations that Seneca is interested in working for. Then it's back up to Idaho and back to the daily grind.... a two-week vacation (I'm not bringing my computer, kinda scary, huh!) is MUCH needed right about now. I've been working more than full-time with my job and freelance projects combined, so a break is just what I need to refresh and relax.
So needless to say I will be out of commission for two weeks (June 28-July 11), so please hold off on the e-mails & such until I get home. I will definitely post pictures and stories of our journey when I get back. Now, back to work... :)
Labels: activism, green living, volksvegan grease bus
