Part 1 Part 2 Filtering Part 3 Part 4
I am the eldest of three siblings in my family, so it is my responsibility to help guide them as we all experience the adventure of life. One of my gifts to each of them is a road trip for their 18th birthday and graduation from high school. I let my brother choose one region of the country to explore, so we visited the Pacific Northwest during the summer of 1999. I did not give my sister a choice, but rather told her that we would be touring the Canadian Rockies with the ultimate goal of visiting our friends in Alaska. And to top it all off, we would try to make the entire trip running exclusively on Used Veggie Oil!
Leah, my sister, will be attending the University of Oregon next year. Our trip is composed of several stages:
1)Drive to Eugene, Oregon to find an apartment for Leah. She will be attending school part time (she is many credits ahead thanks to joint enrollment at Kennesaw University), living, and working. After a year she'll have residency status and will attend school full time.
2)Mosey up through the Canadian Rockies, hopefully all the way to Alaska. We have friends who are caretaking a house in Denali, so we plan on seeing them before making the return trip to Eugene.
3)Mom and Oren will drive Leah's veggie wagon to Oregon to meet us. They'll leave her car there, and I will drive the three of us home, leaving Leah to begin her next adventure...
There was much to be done before we could leave. Our mode of transport is my grey 1984 Mercedes 
station wagon, of which many of the parts were original and in need of replacement. My little brother, Oren, converts diesel vehicles to run on veggie oil, and he is also a Mercedes mechanic. (How convenient!!) He worked for three days and nights (literally) to get 
my car ready. The list of repairs include replacing the right rear control arm (holds on the right rear wheel), replacing the front stearing system, replacing the upper and lower cooler lines, repairing the cooler bypass hose, and replacing the right front shock. I replaced the front and rear brake pads, the front calipers, the front and rear brake lines, and attacked some of the rust (this was previously a northern car). I helped Oren with what I could, Leah gave the windshield washer fluid a final top-off, and finally, we were ready to go!
The car is packed in two layers. The floor of the wagon, with the seats folded flat, 
holds 60 gallons of veggie oil (12 five gallon containers). There are two layers of cardboard above the oil, on which all our stuff is packed. Let the adventure begin!
Veggie Voyage, Part 1
Leah and I left Marietta on Wednesday afternoon, May 31. Of course, we got stuck in traffic, even though it was only 1:30 in the afternoon. We headed up I-75 to Chattanoonga, then up to Nashville and on to 
Saint Louis. Our first scheduled veggie pick-up was to be in Denver, so we picked up I-70 and went west. I called our veggie connection once we reached Kansas, only to find that he had been so busy converting cars to run on grease that he was unable to get us what we needed. Oh no! What we we to do? We were almost out of grease and still had a long way to go before reaching our next pick-up in Portland, Oregon.
We started scanning the billboards for hotels that advertised free
wireless internet. Now, in the middle of Kansas, free wireless is not a comon site. We were in luck, and onto the internet we jumped. After some searching and a few phone calls, we found who we were looking for. Denver Biodiesel to the rescue!
For those of you not familiar with the various veggie oil based alternative fuels, here's a quick lesson.
SVO or WVO (Straight or Waste Veggie Oil) is what we use. This requires some modification to your vehicle, including a separate fuel tank, heating elements (to heat and thin the oil), and lines, switches, and filters added to the engine. You collect used oil from restaurants or other sources, settle and filter it, and then put it in your veggie oil fuel tank. You start your car using diesel fuel, drive until your car heats up, and then switch to veggie. Then, just before you turn your car off, you switch back to diesel to flush all the oil out of your lines.
Biodiesel does not require any modifications to your car. You go through the same collection and filtering process of used veggie oil, but then add ethanol and lye to the oil to separate the glycerine. Glycerine is what makes the oil thick, so when you remove it, you don't need to heat the oil before using it in your car. There are different ratings of biodiesel: B100 is 100% biodiesel, B20 is 20% biodiesel and 80% diesel, you get the picture.
Though it is often possible to find free oil, there are still taxes involved. If you are making your own fuel, it is your responsibility to pay the appropriate road taxes on the amount of fuel you produce and use. If you are distributing the oil, it is also your responsibility to pay the appropriate taxes. If you are buying the oil from a distributor, the taxes should already be included in the price you are charged for the grease. Biodiesel is considered a fuel source; SVO and WVO are not, so the legislation is still unspecific.
So, Denver Biodiesel is a co-op that collects oil from area sources to make biodiesel for sale to the community. They were able to sell us WVO that they had on hand before they processed it. Leah and I made it from Atlanta to Oregon for only $64.00 in fuel costs. Thank you Denver Biodiesel! I'll see you on my return trip to Atlanta!
Presently, it's Friday afternoon and we are driving on route 20 headed across Oregon towards Eugene. The landscape is amazing! We've come up from Denver to Wyoming and across to Utah. From there we headed north to Idaho and on to Oregon. We're planning on finding a camping spot just east of Eugene for the night. We haven't gotten out of the car since leaving Atlanta, driving day and night to get here. Our family is filled with road trip experts 
and are accustomed to sleeping and driving in shifts. Leah and I have made quite a team so far, and we're only at the beginning!
We'll hopefully find an apartment in the next couple days. We'll then hit the road for Vancouver for our last scheduled veggie stop before venturing into the Canadian Rockies. No plans have been made, no routes have been set, we'll just see where the road takes us...
Snow capped peaks in Idaho.
On the road in Utah
Route 20 Headed Across Oregon towards Eugene
More coming soon!
Veggie Voyage, Part 2
This continent is amazing! Leah and I are in the Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, and it is so beautiful. Lakes and rivers that are turquiose in color. Green, green fields and trees surrounded by snow-capped mountains, usually with clouds resting on them.
Since the last entry, we have been to Eugene, Leah found a cute apartment, we went to Portland for a day, we got stuck in the snow in Washington while trying to go around Mt Ranier, we continued to Vancouver, Canada, we headed east along the southern part of British Columbia and Alberta, just north of the United States border (over Washington, Idaho and Montana), we visited Calgary, and now we're in Banff. But Leah tells it so much better in the article she submitted to the Pickens County Progress. They have been
publishing photos and a narrative of our adventures to help raise awareness of the wonders of alternative fuel, as well as giving a glimpse of this wonderful continent.
After being on the road since May 31, my sister Vered Kleinberger, and I, Leah, have traveled over quite a bit of land. Our journey began by leaving Marietta, GA, the only city I have ever lived in, and driving for two days straight to my new neighborhood in Eugene, Oregon. I will be attending the University of Oregon next fall, and out-of-state tuition is, in my opinion, excessively expensive. Therefore, I plan to establish myself as an Oregon State resident. In order to do this, I must declare myself financially independent, take less than 9 credits of classes at the University, and have proof of paying taxes.
The first thing on my list was to find an apartment. After calling almost every single real estate company or landowner that my sister and I could find by driving around Eugene all day on Saturday, I finally signed off on a place on Monday. Tuesday I got my Georgia driver’s license changed to an Oregon one, and we set on our way to Canada!
Our first stop was to Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada. A very nice guy and fellow veggie 
powered driver, James, kindly showed us around town all day. Early the next morning, we were off again, heading down the breathtakingly gorgeous and windy highway 3. Everything was so green, there was rushing water around every turn, and the trees and mountains were so big that I could not help feeling tiny. We camped in a small railroad town, Yahk, and continued to Calgary the next morning. The road to Calgary, highway 22, was a magnificent drive as well, with open pastures surrounded by distant, tall mountains. We arrived in Calgary, refueled, and journeyed to make camp in the Rocky Mountains, which are so big and beautiful that I would not believe it unless I saw them for myself.
For those of you who do not know, my sister’s car is powered by vegetable oil as well as diesel. There is a second tank in the trunk, some filters and hoses in the hood, some switches, a second gas gage and temperature gage on the dash, and there you have it, ecologically friendly and renewable fuel! There were only four stops we had to make to pick up some filtered vegetable oil between when we arrived to Eugene and where we are in Canada today. First we bought 80 gallons in Portland from a nice guy named Larry. He had an incredible filling setup. Then we filled up 20 more gallons from an organization called Enviofuel in Corvallis, OR. They provide products and services to people whose cars run off of vegetable oil.
After we hit the road to Canada, we met up with James bought another 40 gallons from his beautifully filtered supply. Yesterday, Saturday, we received another 40 gallons from a friendly man, Blaine, who recycled veggie oil for restaurants in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We still get more than 20 miles to the gallon on my sister’s Mercedes 300 TD, even with its very heavy almost 80 gallons of vegetable oil storage space. We are very thankful to all of our fuel providers who have helped make this adventure possible.
The Photos
Leah in front of the library with Mr. Eugene.
One of the many beautiful lakes in Oregon.
Mount Hood from Washington.
Stuck in the snow in Washington trying to get to Mt. Ranier.
We never made it, at least not yet.
The Columbia River Gorge looking at Oregon from Washington.
An amazing river in Canada, just west of Vancouver.
Mountains along route 3 in southern British Columbia.
Ferry to cross a lake on route 3, just west of Nelson.
Route 22 south of Calgary.
Highway 1 headed towards Banff National Park.
Banff National Park
Of course, I have many more pictures of places we've been, but they're still in my camera. Hopefully they'll be posted in a couple days.
So, Leah and I continue our adventures. From Banff, we'll head north through Jasper National Park, north and west across Canada, hopefully to be in Denali within the week to visit our friends, Barak and Kim. We'll see where the road lakes us... Have a wonderful week!
The Filtering Process
I also wrote an artilce for this week's Pickens County Progress about the filtering process. So here it is:
My sister and I are on our way across and around the continent powered by used vegetable oil. One of the most common questions we receive is “Can you stop at a restaurant and pump oil directly into your tank?” Well, you can, but I wouldn’t recommend it. We collect oil from area restaurants, but then settle and filter it several times. The fuel filter on the car is 10 microns (very tiny, like the size of a particle of flour) so we filter it to 5 microns.
In Georgia, we have a filtering station in my mom’s garage in Marietta. We collect the oil in 5 gallon plastic containers and let it sit for a week. We then pump the clean oil off the top into a 55 gallon plastic drum leaving the ‘sludge’ behind. The oil sits in the plastic drum for another week, and then we pump it out through a 5 micron filter. My brother, Oren, then takes the sludge and ‘cooks’ it. He heats it to the boiling point of water to dewater it (water in the fuel is bad) and to cook the solid particles to the bottom. When it cools to 100 degrees, he pumps it through a 5 micron filter. This way, there’s no waste; every part of the waste oil is recycled. The cooked food can be composted and all the oil is used. We have never had a fuel line blockage with our process!
On the road, however, it’s a different story. We have been buying filtered oil along our route which has worked great. In the United States, it’s not too difficult to find folks that either run their vehicles on used veggie oil who are happy to help us out, or to find people making biodiesel. To make biodiesel, you start with vegetable oil and then add chemicals to change it’s viscosity. This make the oil thin so you can put the fuel directly into your diesel tank without altering your vehicle (as is necessary with straight veggie oil). We approach those making biodiesel and buy the oil before they process it.
Fewer people in Canada are using alternative fuels. We have a friend, James, in Vancouver who helped us out with beautiful, clean grease, but the oil we just received in Calgary was unfiltered. So last night we slowly filtered half the oil we received through a cone filter, and we’re on our way to the hardware store to find additional filters. I have been told that paint filters work well, so we’ll see! The adventure continues!
There are ways to filter onboard. Our friend James has the best system I’ve seen. Most of the problems with running a vehicle on veggie oil are cloggs in the the system, so proper filtering is a must. I have put over 30,000 mileson this veggie system, and to date, I’ve only had to change my fuel filter twice. I’m sure I’ll have future changes as we find the best way to filter as we go, but I brought plenty extra filters to keep us moving. Once we get to Alaska, we’ll have plenty of filtered oil to choose from.
Veggie Voyage, Part 3
Leah and I are now in southeast Alaska waiting to board a four day ferry that will take us to northwest Washington state. It's going to be amazing, from what locals have told us, so we'll see...
We have driven all this way entirely on veggie oil, with the exception of half a tank of diesel in the Yukon Territory before Dan found us and filled us up. We have had several filter changes because all of the grease we got in Canada was unfiltered, but basically things couldn't have gone smoother. We even made it up to Denali to visit our life-long friend, Barak, and his wife, Kim. But I'll stop here and let you read the article I wrote for the Pickens County Progress.
Leah and I have been on quite an adventure! We are currently in Anchorage, Alaska getting ready to head down to a ferry to take us along the southern Alaska coast, south along Canada, to end in northwest Washington state. But, to recap our trip from Calgary to the present...
We left Calgary and headed into the Canadian Rocky Mountains. We visited Banff National Park and Lake Minnewanka (where Leah went swimming), then went north into Jasper National Park via the Icefields. The mountains, turquoise lakes and rivers, and wildlife were beyond anything we could have imagined. Snow covered the peaks, brilliant water was everywhere, and we saw elk, bear, porcupine, caribou, deer, moose, fox, and mountain sheep. We continually reminded ourselves that what we were seeing was real; every curve we rounded brought incredible views.
Our journey took us north to Dawson Creek where we picked up the Alaskan Highway. We headed west and drove, and drove, and drove. Eventually we reached Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory. I had miscalculated the enormity of northern Canada, so we ran out of vegetable oil just before reaching Whitehorse (our car runs on used vegetable oil - see the previous two issues of the Progress for more information). We drove through town looking for a restroom and as we pulled into the parking lot, Dan, a local of Whitehorse followed us. He saw the sticker on the back of my car and wanted to speak with us about our travels. He was the only person in the town running his vehicles on grease, and as luck would have it, he had enough to share to get us to our next destination!
Leah and I left Whitehorse after refilling the car at Dan’s home and headed to Alaska. We stopped several hours before reaching Anchorage for a nap, where we received our first introduction to the mosquitos. We slept completely covered in our sleeping bags (we didn’t pitch our tents because we were only sleeping for a few hours), but they viciously kept swarming around us, buzzing over our heads even though they couldn’t touch us. The number of mosquitos in Georgia doesn’t compare to those in Alaska!
We made it to Anchorage to fill up our used vegetable oil suplly and then headed north towards Denali to visit our friends Barak and Kim. We have known Barak’s family since we were kids, and he and Kim moved up to Alaska a year ago. For the past several years, they have been learning to live off the land. They hunt, fish, and gather most of their food, they make their tools and work on crafts, and are always working and learning to be more self sufficient. They are currently care taking some property for a woman who works on the North Slope (oil fields), and are in the process of moving to a different cabin further in the woods without power, running water, or any of our modern amenities. Eventually they plan on purchasing
their own land in the area.
Alaska is truly our last frontier. There are few roads throughout the state, the water is crystal clear, and the population is low and mostly concentrated in the southern part of the state. The mountains are amazing, and Denali Mountain (Mt. McKinley) is immense. Barak and Kim took us canoeing and fishing just up the road from their current residence, and even though it was cloudy, the visible mountains were breathtaking. Leah and I are eternally thankful that they advised us to get headnets. I bought them and thought that I would never wear one because they looked so silly (a net you wear that completely, but loosely, covers your head), but the mosquitos drove me to put it on. Without them, we would have been eaten alive by the bugs. Any piece of exposed skin was lunch for the bugs, so we wore pants, jackets, gloves, and headnets. We were safe from the bugs and could sit back to enjoy our tour of the lake.
Barak and Kim went ocean fishing today and we are getting ready to head to the southeastern part of Alaska. We will pick up the ferry in Haines, a small port and fishing village, and take it to Bellingham, Washington. The journey will take four days, and we’ll see glaciers, mountains, and much more. (I truly have no idea what else...) These sights are not visible any other way since there aren’t any roads, so we’re in for quite a treat!
The Photos
Leah, Munchkin, and Vered at Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park
Lake Minnewanka
River feeding Lake Minnewanka
Us in Jasper National Park
Jasper National Park
Taking a break in Jasper
Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park
Munchkin's spot in the car, standing while resting her head and front feet near the driver.
Mountain Sheep, one of the many, many animals we've seen
On the road to Alaska, to see Barak and Kim.
Kim, Barak, Vered, and Leah in Alaska
Driving to Haines, Alaska to pick up the ferry to Washington.
View from our campsite in Chilkat State Park in Haines
Veggie Voyage, Part 4
Well, we're back in Eugene. My mom, brother, Munchkin, and I are leaving this evening to head back to Georgia, leaving Leah here in her sweet new apartment. The trip was a fantastic adventure, quite the experience!
Below is the article I wrote for the Pickens County Progress, but of course there are many things I had to leave out because otherwise my article would have been pages and pages long.
One of the major elements of our trip that needed constant attention were the bugs on the windshield. There were so many bugs, that not only was the windshield covered in bug slime, but there was a thick layer of bugs on the bottom side of the the wipers. There were hundreds of bugs of all shapes and sizes smashed on the front grill of my car; scientists could have probably discovered new species. So even though we didn't need gas stations to fill the tank, we often stopped just to wash the windows.
Also, the article below focuses mostly on the ferry trip from Alaska to Washington, but I left a lot out. Munchkin, my pup, played a central role in my voyage. They allow dogs on board, but they must remain either in the car or in a kennel. Munchkin stayed in my car, and I made it as comfortable as possible. We stopped at ports along the way, as we headed south along the Alaska coast. We were able to get out and walk around, giving her a chance to take care of business. However, there were a couple ports that were eight to twelve hours apart, so the crew scheduled 'deck calls' when we could go to the cars (which were off limits while the ship was 
moving) to let the animals use the restroom on the deck, and then we got to clean up after them. These were often in the middle of the night, so my sleep schedule centered around these opportunities. Munchkin is very well trained, so she wouldn't relieve herself indoors. She chose to wait for the ports when she could run around in the grass. But at least I had the chance to give her a hug and let her know that I didn't forget about her. The last stretch of the journey, along the Canadian coast, was extremely long. We didn't visit any ports because then we would have to deal with customs and the other formalities of entering another country. This last part of the trip was 36 hours long, and there were 4 deck calls during this time. Munchkin didn't use the restroom for 24 hours! But finally she went, and looked at me with utter confusion as I ecstatically praised her for relieving herself indoors. She was amazing this entire trip!
The definition of a 'highway' in northern Canada and Alaska is very different from that in the lower 48. The road from Jasper National Park to Anchorage was paved for part of the way, but there were hundreds of miles of gravel road. My car needs a new windshield and was completely covered in dust, to the point I couldn't see out of the back window. We passed lots and lots of construction, and they worked on the roads until late at night since it didn't get dark.
That's another thing! There is no night in northern Canada and Alaska during the summer. It is possible to read a book outside at midnight! Leah and I went almost a week without darkness, which completely messed with our sleep schedule. We finally saw night on the ferry south; I don't know how the folks who live up there all summer!
I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting about, so I'll add it as I remember. So, here is the Progress article. Enjoy!
We made it! Leah, Munchkin, and I are back in Eugene, Oregon, and we met up with our mom and brother to help get her new apartment set up. We’ve been cleaning and helping find the essentials for her new home, and we’ll be heading back to Georgia in the next day or so, leaving Leah here to begin her new life as an independent college student.
But first, to fill you in on how we got here from Alaska...We left Barak 
and Kim’s place in Denali and headed south. Our destination was Haines, Alaska, a small port town on the southeastern coast of the state. The climate is extremely mild there, so even though the mountains still had snow-covered peaks, the lower elevations have weather similar to the northeast. Leah and I left Anchorage and headed east, back into Canada, and then south back into Alaska to Haines. The road east led us through the mountains and along the northern edge of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. And once we turned south at Haines Junction, the road wound through beautiful rain forests and mountains. This is the area of the first gold rushes, so we passed small mining towns, old mines, and other historical sites. We also passed many landslides demonstrating the harsh effects of winter on the higher elevations.
Leah, Munchkin, and I arrived in Haines the evening before our scheduled departure. I was 
worried because every place we drove in northern Canada and Alaska took a lot longer than estimated. I am proficient with maps and directions, but the land up there is so huge, larger than anywhere I’ve been., so I left plenty of time to get to the ferry from Anchorage. We ate a delicious Cod dinner at a local restaurant and camped along Chilkat Lake. The next morning we drove down Mud Bay Road to the southern end of the peninsula. We were across the bay from Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve with amazing views of the glaciers making their way through the mountains. I had confused glaciers and icebergs, so here’s a quick explanation. Glaciers are rivers of ice slowly moving across land, carving it as it travels. Icebergs are large pieces of ice floating in water. So glaciers can break to form icebergs as they melt. What we saw were the blue frozen rivers coming through the mountains and melting into the bay.
We boarded the M/V Columbia that evening, Monday, June 19th. There are three ways to reach Alaska: You can drive (which would
take roughly three days of almost non-stop driving from Vancouver), you can fly, or you can take the ferry. The ferry hopped from port to port along the Alaskan coast, and then went directly from Alaska to Bellingham, Washington without stopping in Canada. This eliminates the need for customs or any of the other procedures needed when traveling to a different country. The route wound among the islands that span the coast giving views of glaciers, giant snow-covered peaks, and beautiful forests. All the land belongs to a National Forest, so houses are sparse and wildlife is abundant. Many of the channels we passed through we not much wider than the ship, and there are no roads in the area, so water is the only method of travel. We relaxed and enjoyed the ride, which took almost four days. They even allow pets for the ride.
Passengers aboard the ferry have several options. They can rent a cabin, which contains a bed and bathroom with a shower. There is a restaurant on board, and a snack bar for smaller meals. The ferry had four levels, with cabins on the first two, the food and an enclosed observation room on the third level, and the Solarium on the fourth level. This is where Leah and I spent most of our time. The Solarium is enclosed on three sides, with the fourth side open to the back of the ship. The two side 
walls and the ceiling are glass, and there are heaters on the ceiling to keep you warm. There are lounge chairs in the covered area, and the back half of the level is open on all sides. Passengers who do not wish to rent a cabin sleep up on the Solarium, or they may set up tents on the open-air deck portion of this ship’s level.
Munchkin had to stay mostly in the car on the second floor, but Leah and I took over two of the lounge chairs, and all the space in between. We ate most of our meals out of the cooler, making giant sandwiches and other delicious feasts. Leah knitted and read, and I worked and read. It was wonderful to relax and not drive, but to also have the opportunity to see this amazing part of the country. The land was breathtaking, and we also saw whales, bald eagles, and other wildlife. We met fantastic people who also lived in the Solarium for the duration of the journey. The best part of the voyage was curling up in our sleeping bags on the lounge chairs, relaxing with a book, and watching the scenery as the constant breeze kept any hint of sea sickness away. (I don’t know how people could stay in the cabins and observations rooms all day without any fresh air and not get sick!)
The crew of the Columbia was fantastic! They were available to provide help when needed, they did what they could to accommodate
everyone, and a couple of them treated Leah and I like guests of honor. We were taken up to the bridge (where the captain sits) to see how the ship was controlled. The captain explained the process he went through to get to his current position, he and his assistants showed us the navigational equipment, and they answered all our questions. The bridge offered a fantastic view of our course, including several whales along the way. One of the engineers was up in the bridge 
during our visit. We spoke to him about our veggie powered car, demonstrating our knowledge and appreciation for the mechanics of the diesel engine. He offered to take us below the decks to see their diesel engines, the two that powering the propellors, and the three generators providing all the electricity for the ship. The engines were so large and so loud! We had to wear ear protection and remove our winter gear to avoid melting in the heat. The engines were so big that we were actually walking through it on the tour; they burned over 400 gallons of fuel an hour! Our tour finished with a grand finale, a visit to the extreme back of the ship, as close to the water’s level as you could get without going swimming. A fantastic finish to a fantastic adventure! We arrived in Bellingham early the next morning.
Leah, Munchkin, and I completed our transcontinental veggie oil powered journey safely and soundly. With the exception of several fuel filter changes because we used some unfiltered oil, my old Mercedes station wagon and the veggie system drove without any 
problems. (Our only setback was the flat tire we got 60 miles north of Eugene on our way home. And I need to replace my windshield thanks to the ‘highways’ in northern Canada and Alaska, that were really gravel roads for hundreds of miles.) We used 1 1/2 tanks, or about 20 gallons of diesel fuel the entire time (with the exception of all the diesel fuel burned by the ferry), with the rest of our adventure powered by roughly 519 gallons of used vegetable oil (ending in Eugene, not Georgia). We visited 13 states in the US and two provinces and one territory in Canada. Our animal sightings included moose, elk, caribou, fox, mountain sheep, whales, eagles, bear, and more. We traveled through snow covered mountains, forests, the largest unbroken grasslands on the continent (south of Calgary, according to some Canadians we met), deserts, rain forests, we saw lakes, rivers, waterfalls, glaciers, and the ocean. It has been the trip of a lifetime, one mile at a time!
I will leave Eugene with my mom and brother to return to Georgia. Leah will stay here in Eugene to begin working and to start school in the fall. It’s been fun, but I’m looking forward to getting home and returning to my day-to-day. I spoke to the Progress about writing these articles about our Veggie Voyage to show what an amazing continent this is, that it’s not necessary to get on an airplane to travel somewhere beautiful and new. Travel can be accomplished affordably, even if your vehicle is powered by unleaded fuel rather than vegetable oil. I never paid more than $20.00 a night to sleep because we camped everywhere we went, and usually it was closer to $10.00. We only ate in restaurants a couple of times; we bought food at the grocery store and kept it in a cooler. Travel can be affordable if you’re willing to ‘rough it,’ and there is so much to see...
Visit the Veggie Voyage link on the home page of www.homeschoolexcursions.org for more information and photos. Call our brother, Oren, at (678) 643-4171 if you have any questions about converting your diesel car to run on used veggie oil.
The Photos
Driving through Alaska, southwestern Canada, and the southeastern coast of Alaska to Haines, where we picked up the ferry to Bellingham, Washington.
We camped at Chilkat State Park, just north of Haines, the night before boarding the ferry. We needed to be at the port by 6:30 PM, so we had all day. Haines was a cute town, so we explored for a while. Our wanderings took us down Mud Bay Road, across from Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Here are a few photos of the glaciers coming through the mountains, as well as some other amazing views.
Here are a few more of us loading the ferry. We got to ride a 'car elevator' to the top car deck. In the blurry photo, you can see the crew man in his glowing vest waiting for us on the second level.
The views during the ride were incredible! These photos can't begin to compare to the grandeur of the country, but you can get an idea...
Some people set up tents on the deck behind the Solarium. I hear that during the busy summer season, which is only just now getting started, the entire deck will be packed with tents.
The crew had to practice their safety drills should they need to evacuate the ship. They asked for passenger volunteers, so here they are in action.
Munchkin and I got out to walk at each of the ports we stopped at. This was a beautiful trail we explored in Sitka.
Well, that does it! Leah and I had the adventure of a lifetime, thanks to the miracle of fueling my car with used vegetable oil. (Otherwise today's high fuel costs would have prevented us from traveling as far.) I hope you enjoyed reading about our voyage. Feel free to contact me any time with questions.
Contact Information
Homeschool Excursions Inc.
P.O. Box 1283
Jasper, GA 30143
(770) 605-2451
e-mail us at:
info@homeschoolexcursions.org
(c) Educational Excursions, Inc. 2008
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