Holiday Party

Tonight was the annual holiday party in Athens which promised delicious food and welcome fellowship with old friends.

As always, Santa showed up to shower the children with toys.

Opening presents and taking pictures

For Xmas Craig bought me a new camera and knowing that I have great difficulty delaying gratification he gave me my present early so I could document our trip north.

Radio Show

Received a phone call today from my Dad and Linda. Seems they were listening to a local talk show which was discussing alternative fuels and a gentleman called in reporting that people who drive grease mobiles smell badly because their cars are stinky. Since we've driven our converted vehicle to Ohio several times, Linda called the radio station and told the listeners that she knew someone who owned a grease mobile and there was no odor associated with the automobile or driver. Someone at the radio station - I'm not sure whether it was a DJ or manager - engaged Linda in a lengthier conversation and said they would enjoy witnessing the grease mobile in person so she told them we would be visiting sometime in December. As a missionary for grease I'm always willing to expose others to our experience and told them I'd be more than happy to show the car to the interested radio employee and even give her a ride if she wasn't too afraid of being stinky.

Funnels and Bulbs

As we're coming out of Walgreens we noticed a woman writing down the website on our back window. We engaged her in conversation for a few minutes and found out she's a member of the local Sierra Club in Athens and happens to know one of our local friends. We now keep a store of extra business cards in the glove box for interactions like these so we can easily direct people to pertinent resources.

In the process of packing the car we forgot to bring a funnel so we stopped at a local Auto store to purchase one. Seems that funnels are somewhat rare items at least in this particular store and there were none available large enough for our purposes. While at the same store, Craig located a bulb to replace the one that burnt out over our license plate. Once we were back at Dad's place, Craig cut the top off of a gallon jug to use as a homemade funnel and replaced the light bulb. What a handy guy!

Here's a picture of my brother's cows - MOOOOO!

Another Trip to Connett Hill

Had lunch with my good friend Ruth who was amazed by our grease mobile. I brought some pictures of my mom's for Ruth that chronicled their high school trip to New York in 1957. I treasured the opportunity to sit back and listen as Ruth and Dorothy reminisced, retelling various stories and sharing memories.


For lunch we ate at Rocky's Boot Factory Grill in Nelsonville. It reminds me of a smaller, more Appalachian version of Cabela's. While were were walking around the store perusing the various merchandise we discovered the following item




















Now I know what to get my brother for Xmas this year!!!

An Inconvenience?

On our way back home we stopped by our friend's birthday party where we showed off the grease mobile. During a discussion with one of the party guests I mentioned how we brought extra fuel with us on our trip to Ohio enabling us to drive the entire 530 miles without purchasing gasoline, and he responded that he wouldn't want to endure such an inconvenience. Obviously, perceptions vary from one individual to the next and what I regard as minor - along the lines of remembering to pack my hair dryer - others view as a nuisance. The last time we visited my family in Ohio it cost us $100 in fuel so I'm more than willing to carry a few 5 gallon containers in the back of the wagon.

Ohio

Showed the car off to my dad who pointed out that we'll need to purchase new tires in a few months. I think he was somewhat impressed although it's hard to tell with him. My dad's a creature of habit and routine so the concept of collecting fuel from restaurants and carrying extra oil in the back of the car isn't the least bit appealing but he understands the financial benefits we're experiencing. On our way to lunch, we drove so my brother, Stacy, and his partner, Tracey, could experience travel in the grease mobile. Stacy drives a diesel truck so he's curious about the process but doesn't appear ready to commit any time in the near future. Of course he probably commutes less than 10 miles to work each day.

Going to Ohio

We're headed to Southeastern Ohio this weekend to visit my family on top of ol' Connett Hill. Round trip it's 530 miles which I'm determined to travel while burning WVO. Since we've never made a trip of this length in the grease mobile, I thought it wise to purchase some additional oil from GoodOil so there was less chance of us running empty. After contacting one of the owners, I drove by their garage where I purchased 15 gallons of filtered WVO for $22.50 - or $1.50 a gallon. In addition to our luggage, we plan to load the car with 10 or 15 extra gallons of oil and our large funnel so we can refuel at my dad's house. Fortunately with the wagon we have plenty of space for all our gear.