Follow the Adventure

September 12th, 2006
Location: Missoula, MT
Day 62

-         We leave Missoula behind on our way to Great Falls on Route 200.

-         It seems the grassland doesn’t give up to the road willingly, letting the barren strip feel as the intruder it is. Is the tireless fencing outlining along the road to out the cattle or to keep the road out from the prairie? The ranches with horses and cattle, speckled with wood and wire fencing take turns with creeks, pines, birch trees. Fishermen with their rods slung over their shoulders, vests holding paraphernalia, happily walking along the bank of the road.

-         The creeks are running low, it’s the end of the summer, last winter’s runoff long gone. The beds are exposed, leaving the rounded river stones to bleach in the sun.

-         Log houses with swing sets out front, more horses rubbing noses over the fence with the neighbor horses. Beaver Creek, Spring Creek, Alice Creek, Cadotte Creek…Flat Creek, Sun River, Mill Coulee Creek, Muddy Creek,

-         As the trees come closer to the road we see signs for chain up areas. We’ve learned that means mountainous terrain ahead…we also know Elbee doesn’t especially like that. Slowly rising, we crawl up the Rockies on Vegetable oil…Roger’s Pass and Continental Divide. We are somewhere around 5000 feet high…the roads are clinging onto the mountain sides glued to their every curve…zigzagging between precipitous drop on the right and rocky wall on the left…Speed limit 25m…Helena National Forest

-         We just passed a “Record Cold Spot”

-         And then in a flash the mountains come to an end and Great Plains of grass stretch over the roving hills, wooden posts connected by wire lining the road. Finally a classic ranch fence appears, made only with wooden beams, a huge wooden gate in the center, two tree trunks holding up a third overhead…some of them are so sloppy they look they giant Pi symbols…

-         We arrive in Great Falls around 8 at night. 3 guys and their families waiting for the veggie bus.

-         Two sets of kids, all Julia’s age and younger, are curious to see who lives in the bus. Jeff, the contact from Frybrid, seems very nice and they all are excited to see the project. One of the other guys, both of whom are named John, has come down to see the installation. The other John works for Jeff, who has a machine shop with a huge hall. Our bus would have fit into his workspace without any problems. This guy has an anvil and does all his blacksmithing. He makes his own tools. One wall in his shop was lined with antique looking blacksmithing tools, long black pliers and such…he says the shop has been around since the late 1800 and I believe it.

-         Everybody jumps to action once the men have gotten their initial men-talk out of the way. What is it with guys standing around in half circles displaying their feathers…

-         The barrels are waiting for us and so all we have to is hook up the suction hose…

-         Heather, girl friend of one of the Johns, and her kids come in to look at the bus. I know that people are so curious about how someone can live in this thing and simply what I looks like…

-         Jeff’s wife comes in for a minute also and says ‘hello’. Generally everybody is excited and very friendly. Heather talks about getting together in the morning with the children. She seems really nice and somewhat more polished than I would have guessed from what little I know of Montana. Turns out she is from Portland. J

-         The kids are so  friendly! they played with them all as if they knew each other…maybe that’s just how kids are…

-         We are parked overnight on Jeff’s property, lots of cars and stuff everywhere…

-         I was hoping for something quainter but it wasn’t to be I guess…

-         At least Hwy. 15 going by isn’t the busiest Hwy. you can imagine.

We started the day in Missoula, MT.  Elbee was starting to get thirsty, and I was not yet very skilled at the art of Dumpster diving.  Sure, I had done it a few times, but I did not feel like I was completely comfortable with the acquisition and proper judgment of quality yet. It was going to get dark, and the last thing you want to do is suck grease in the dark.  I was becoming a bit nervous I would have to buy diesel to keep going  to Through the forum, I contacted "Tigman", who says he has some WVO to give me.  I wonder what a Tigman is, and why he is called that.  I figure he likes tigers or something.  I call him and my ignorance becomes apparent that he is a master welder. TIG welder. Duh.  We pull up into Great Falls right around dusk, to what appears to be a crowd of people waiting at Tigman's shop.  Apparently, he is a big WVO buff, and has a lot of people in the area interested in it to.  I guess he had called them up and said, "Wanna come to my shop and meet a dude from RI crazier than me?"  Tigman, John and Heather, John and a gaggle of kids were all there to fill us up with some of the most wonderful waste oil I had seen.

It turns out that Tigman's oil gets us over 1,000 miles.. thanks again Tigman!!

	Some arts and crafts the kids did.  Anke had two full cabinets filled with arts and crafts supplies.  Paper, markers, pens, funny scissors that make wavy shapes, glue, sparkles, plastic eye balls! Every day, twice, the box came down and the kids started doing their crafts.
	Here is Tigman, in the turquise and oil shirt.  He is with John and a whole lot of really clean waste vegetable oil.  These guys were great!  So into it and helpful. Those three barrels and more made it into Elbee.
	John and John are all smiles as they get to play with large quantities of waste vegetable oil.
	While we filled up, the kids all played in their bedroom and in the building.  Kids are so funny.  They just all started hanging out as if they were old friends.  I suspect it is because they all have crazy WVO parents
	Oops!  The WVO tanks are designed so that if they accidentally get over filled, the oil will drain gracefully through a tube running through the bottom of the bus.  I had never tested this before because, quite frankly, that's a lot of vegetable oil to have in one place.  In our lubrication jubilation, we overfilled the mighty tank, and soy juice raneth over.