PLAYING ON MOUNTAIN TOPS

The following morning we took advantage that the sun didn't come over the mountain range until after 9. The air was crisp and the valley was dark with shadow. It was a wonderful few hours of continually returning to the world of slumber. Once up we greeted good morning to our neighboring marmots and scrambled back on top of the big rock to watch to light come over the range and fill the valley. Somewhere around 10 (we didn't have a time piece other than the sun) we loaded up our day pack full of food and warm clothes and took off for Lake Solitude. This time the lake was not so secluded. To our surprise there are a lot a endurance driven day hikers that venture out to the lake. So we decided to press on up the range on the adjacent side and get a higher view. We had originally hoped to hike this range with all of our gear and camp on the other side at Lake Holly. Though plans changed when we were told by rangers that the pass was iced over. So today we hiked up to see how far we could make it before the ice got too bad. The trail took us on a gradual incline along the range with sweeping views of Lake Solitude, the valley we were camped at and above to hidden lakes still frozen in the cleavage of the surrounding mountains. At about 10,000 feet the hike got harder. It began to switch back even higher into snowy and windy terrain. But the views were more than worth our efforts. As we climbed on we reached peaks where we were looking down on several of the Teton mountains. The Grand Teton raised up to appear that it's peak was right beside us. Once on top of the Paint Brush Divide (11,000 feet) we looked down upon the rocky mounds and valleys, snow and ice, lakes and glaciers, and we felt larger than life. It was at the peak that we could go no more. The trial continued on to cross a section that was entirely too dangerous for us to attempt without the proper gear. Instead we decided to sit down and take in the experience. There was an out cropping of rock that we sat on that protected us from the wind and provided an amazing panoramic view. We ate a wonderful lunch while sitting there, then slowly began our climb down. It was as we retraced our steps that the truly picturesque moments happened. The sun was now at mid afternoon height and the shadows had returned and were playing to our advantage. Once back at Lake Solitude the day hikers were all gone and we again had the place to ourselves. Hot after a long hike we dipped ourselves into the freezing water and then sunbathed on a rock along the shore. At some point we noticed that there were several marmots coyly attempting to steal our socks. We got dressed and followed the crashing sound of water to the falls that poured out on the lake and down into the valley we camped in. Once back at the campsite we made ourselves a dinner of quinoa, cheese and seaweed. We tried to watch the sunset on the large rock again but were both too tired. It was to bed early that night. What a day.

HIKING THE TETONS

We left early on Monday morning for Teton National Park. Once again at Jenny Lake, this time we flew past the Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point and continued on to Cascade Canyon. Our hike began at 6,800 feet and followed along the snow melt fed brooks, creeks and falls. We stumbled over miles of inclining rock to a fork at the canyons top. Our destination was Lake Solitude so we chose to go North. We hiked on over bridges, through mountains and always near water. The source of all this water became evident once we approached our destined area. While we were both very warm from the hike it was necessary to us to cross several large patches of snow. About 7 miles into the hike we found a wonderful campsite that had a beautiful brook that rushed through, had both sunny and shady spots, great views of the Grand Teton behind us, and best of all a huge rock that we could sit on and watch to Tetons while the sun went down. And it also happened to be the Marmot Kingdom (marmot- cute little creatures that are a cross between a prairie dog and a beaver). They were everywhere. Luckily they cared no attention to our food, instead preferring our pee spots. Strange creatures, though very cute. After setting up camp we took a short nap, then hiked the half mile up to Lake Solitude (over 9,000 feet). When we arrived an hour before dusk the lake did indeed provided us with much solace. It was amazing, it's surface alive with the glistening of the setting sun. No one else was around and we rejoiced in the solitude. Back at the campsite, we had soup and salad for dinner while sitting next to our brook. Then we sat on the big rock and watched the moon come out over the Grand Teton. Superb!

GROS VENTRE AND FRIENDS

On Wed. we drove out past the Wedding Tree in Gros Ventre, wound around the side of the mountain on a one lane dirt road high above Lower Slide Lake, and settled at a secluded campsite on Gros Ventre River. Once our tent was up and the food was stored in the bear box we heading back into town to meet up with Brandon and Sara. As we waited at the bird observatory deck at the Jackson visitor center our friends snuck up behind and surprised us. Many hugs were had. Brandon and Sara are traveling/moving from the Santa Rosa area of California to Pennsylvania. Therefore our friends have a lot of extra weight trailing behind there 2 vehicles (one of which is a custom veggie run Mercedes Wagon). On our way back to the site we watched them in the review mirror as they struggled through the rough and steep road. Luckily all arrived safely to our new home (for the next 3 nights).

The next morning we all slept in till 11am, enjoyed a meal by the water, and then drove to Granite River's trail head that led us to a beautiful waterfall with hot springs at its base.

On Friday we stayed around the campsite and hiked the trails adjacent to us. We walked through hills covered in sage brush that provided views of the surrounding mountains, river, lake, and beyond to the Tetons. The trail then cascaded down to valleys with creeks and forests, then back up onto another hill. The experience was especially breathtaking at sunset. By 9 pm we had returned and began cooking our last meal by campfire light. We shared a bottle of Asian Pear champagne made by our friend Holly and passed out relatively early. By 7am we had said our goodbyes, agreeing that our 3 days had passed all too quickly.

After they left the two of us packed up camp and drove back to Jackson to help Brenna pack for her move to Austin, TX. Most of the day was spent playing with Hunter and talking weddings. Tonight we will feast on home made hot wings and PBR. Tomorrow is another day.

WHITE WATER RAFTING THE SNAKE RIVER

This morning we awoke early and drove out to Sands white water rafting shop. By 9 we were on the Snake River with 4 others and a guide. Nikki sat on the front right, Jeremy the front left and needless to say we got soaked! The ride lasted almost 2 hr. and was full of exciting rapids that thrilled and chilled us to the core. Afterwards we returned to Brenna and Eds for a warm shower. Tonight we will take it easy hanging out with the newlyweds. Tomorrow Jeremy's good friends Brandon and Sara are meeting up with us. We plan to do some hiking and camping over the next few days. The fun just keeps on coming.

WEDDING BUSINESS

The following week has been a blur of fun and celebration. On Wed. morning we went hiking up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point along the canyon of the Grand Teton. It was inspirational, to say the least. While at the top, Sue called and told us to hurry back down and meet she, baby Noah, Brenna, and baby Hunter at Brenna's place in Jackson. Once there we were met by Brenna's whole clan and then the real fun began. Jeremy, Ed, and Ryan (Sue and Brenna's husbands)went to a show in town while the girls played with the babies.

Wednesday morning we moved from our camping site into town to be closer to the festivities. Jeremy took off for a day of rafting and fishing with the boys. Nikki chilled with the girls, walking around the small town and eating Thia. When evening came along we all went out and broke loose (Grandma Cimi watched the little Hunter and Noah). Liz met up with us later into the night at the Cowboy Bar, along with Mary Beth. It was a wonderful reunion for our Crew.

The following morning everyone was a little slower than usual. After a day of exploring the Tetons some more with Sue, Ryan, Noah, and Liz, we went to this BBQ place called Q for the rehearsal dinner. It was there that the whole wedding party was finally brought together. Ed's friends/family mingling with Brenna's loved ones.
We feasted on local meats which were amazingly fresh and yummy.

Then on Sat. morning the bridesmaids met up at the Wort hotel for a bridal breakfast. We each presented Brenna with a gift to help her be a good wife. Nikki's was a hand embroidered bra and panty set that had the letters E & D sewn onto each breast. Other gifts resembled this sentiment. We then gathered at noon in Brenna's hotel room at The Wort and got ready for the big day over a bottle of champagne. At 2:30 we left for The Wedding Tree in Gros Ventre . The location has sweeping views of the valley below and the distant mountains. It was gorgeous! After the ceremony we headed back to The Wort Hotel for the meal and reception. There we all danced into the night.

Sunday morning the two of us went with Liz to the A-OK ranch and indulged in a 4 hour horse back ride into the mountains. One couldn't ask for a more beautiful location to ride. Afterwards we went back to Brenna and Ed's place for a backyard BBQ of buffalo burgers.

This is as brief of a summery as could be provided. In actuality this week was jam packed with fun experiences that will live with us forever. Congrats to Brenna and Ed!

Today (Monday) we are cleaning the car, organizing our things, fixing a crack in the car's windshield, and writing this blog. Greasecar sent us new filters for our system but there was a mix up and we received the wrong size filters. So this must also be fixed. We plan to stay in the area at least another few days and perhaps do a overnight hike. We'll let you know more as it happens.

JACKSON, WY

Tuesday

Set in a valley south of the majestic Tetons, Jackson is the kind of town that feels like one could ride his horse right up to the bar. In fact, the seats at the local Cowboy Bar are saddles. Antlers gather together in arches around the square, the walkways are made of wooden planks, cowboy hats are sold in each store, and the local food is Buffalo, elk, and moose. Surprisingly there are also several sushi restaurants. Today we visit one of them and are pleased to be enthusiastically provided with oil. Shogun Sushi had been saving their oil for another patron who runs his truck off of veggie oil and therefore had plenty for us to extract.

Afterwards we return to our campsite at Jenny Lake and enjoy a nice walk around the lake. The view of the Tetons is amazing from this area! The huge mountains peak out of the clouds covered in snow, then fan out into canyons, waterfalls and lakes. It is truly beautiful here!

WHY WYOMING

MONDAY

Up at 6, we pack and enjoy some oatmeal. Then we jump back on 80 West and take 287 North into the mountains. Shades of tan, copper, and shadow play constantly along the rocky mounds leading us North through Wyoming. The majority of the vegetation is sage bush and pine. We travel long gaps before seeing evidence of humans aside from the road and the fences. Passing through the Green Mountains we see the White Peaks looming in the distance. Ironically the scenery got greener afterwards. North of Landford we run out of veggie oil and now run off the diesel until Jackson. We begin following the Wind River. And where there is water... Cotton woods follow along the bank and we later see local farmers utilizing the water supply on their now lush crops. Seemingly out of no where a forest pops up, the Bridger Teton National Forest. We find a turn off that leads us up into the mountains to Brooks Lake. Along the shore we find a primitive campsite and declare it home for the evening. At this point we are very high in elevation, so much that there is snow around our site. It begins to rain a little and we ponder the possibility of spending the night cold and wet. Fortunately the mountain weather shifts and the sun comes back out. So we hiked around the lake for a few hours. And again we were in bed by early evening. The next morning we packed up around 5 and drove to Jenny Lake campground in the Teton National Park, set up camp and went into town to get ourselves some oil.

THE ROCKIES

SUNDAY

We awoke at 5:30 again, ate our continental breakfast(coffee & bagel) and were back on the road by 6:30. A few hours into driving we spotted them. After a small eternity of nothing but squared off farm land we were now approaching the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. At first they appeared as if clouds, though as each hour passed they slowly came into view in their full glory. We drove through Denver, Colorado and turned North on 25. Before long we were already in Wyoming. Turned West on 80 and set up camp in the Medicine Bow Natural Forest. We found a nice spot surrounded by boulders at the head of a path that led to the rock face across the small valley from us. The rocks were tough yet the shape was reminiscent of Arizona yet with more pines. We took the path and proceeded to scramble up and around the first 50ft. of boulders. There was this cove about 40ft. up that had a crack that seeped a freezing breeze. Jeremy took advantage of the "air conditioning" to cool down. At this point we would need ropes to get any higher. So we returned to our site and jumped on our bikes for a sunset ride. Dinner was tostadas next to the fire and bed followed shortly after.

THE LONG ROAD AHEAD

SATURDAY

Leaving Arkansas was easy, traveling through Oklahoma and Kansas not so much. We'd passed hundreds of miles of industrial farms and livestock pastures today. Traveling West on 40 and North on 35, through Oklahoma and into Kansas, we then went West again on 70. After a full day of driving and 4 oil refills we decided to stop for the night in Hayes. We crashed at a cheap hotel that promised wireless Internet that turned out not to work. After a dinner of pizza we promptly passed out and were back on the road early Sunday morning.

THE HILLS OF ARKANSAS

Friday
Arkansas is called The Natural State. Start with 600,000 acres of lakes, add 9,700 miles of streams and rivers, & 2.4 million acres of national forest and you understand why. Knowing this encouraged our enthusiasm to get back on the road. We finally had made it out of Hot Springs Village and were traveling North on state road 7. The road twists and turns through grassy hills and valleys peppered with small farms. We passed towns where our Jetta looked quite a bit out of place surrounded by pickups and tractors. Then as we aproached interstate 40 something strange happened. Out of no where our locked roof cargo box popped open and we could see in the mirror a tan garmet bag fly out. Now for you who know what is soon to come in our itenary you'd see our immediate concern. We are soon expected in Jackson, WY for our friend Brenna's wedding (and Nikki's a bridesmaid). Inside that garmet bag is Jeremy's suit, Nikki's rehearsal dinner dress, and most importantly the bridesmaid's dress! All of that now lay rincled inside a plastic bag sitting between the 2 lanes of this busy highway. We quickly parked on the shoulder and ran back to where it had flown out. Once there the fast traffic kept us at bay for another 2-3 painful minutes. As each car buzzed by we'd shield our eyes from the possible distruction of our formal wear. But don't worry Brenna, we recovered the bag without any harm done. So now the garmet bag sits safely behind the passenger's seat.

With that over with we got back on the road, exited 40 at Fort Smith and drove a long and curvy dirt road through the hills of Devil's Den state park. This eventually brought us to our evening's destination, Wattle Hollow. We parked and began exploring each cob hut in search of someone... anyone. To our surprise we were all alone surrounded by castles of cob. We knew which room was ours from the earlier arrangements and set at making ourselves at home. Our room had a double bed set back in the clay and straw. The sculpted walls were alive with texture, organic shapes, and stained glass. The sliding glass doorway looked out over terraces of herbs and perrinials that leads down to a pond. Above the room is a large balcony and common room with an adjacent kitchen. All of this looks out across the pond and beyond to views of neighboring hills. We ate our dinner and drank tea watching the sunset from the balcony. Then we showered and jumped into the hot tub located on the bank of the pond. It was wonderful. The next morning we awoke at 5:30, watched the sunrise over another pot of tea, and were on the road again by 6:30.

BACK ON THE ROAD

Hello friends,

After a week of resting up and visiting with the Arkansas folks we begin our travels again this morning. We've secured ourselves 27 gallons of prime veggie oil from the Japanese restaurant Osaka. This stuff is like liquid gold. We wanted to take the whole grease trap full and would have if we could. The oil is primarily used for tempura frying therefore can't be used multiple times if a decent standard of quality is to met. Who wants greasy, heavy tempura anyways?

In a few hours we will finish packing the car, say our goodbyes and will drive 3 hr. North to Fayetteville, AR. We will stay the night at the retreat center Wattle Hollow. Check it out. This place is a cob wonderland.

Then we're back in the car and heading across Northeastern Colorado and up into Wyoming through the Rocky Mountains. We had hoped to travel the Trail Ridge Road through the Rocky Mountain National Park but found out last evening that they are doing road repairs all summer up there. The Old Fall River Road has been closed for the entire summer and delays for the Trail Ridge are to be expected. It's not that big of a deal if we change our plan. Anyway we travel we'll hit the Rocky's at some point. Those majestic mounds are about to come alive with the smell of tempura fried veggie oil.

THE BEGINNING

Our veggie adventure has begun! 1350 miles on half a gallon of diesel fuel and free oil...

It all started on Memorial Day weekend when Jeremy and Murray (Jeremy's Dad) diligently installed our Greasecar veggie conversion kit. Our Greasecar kit was specifically made for our 2003 Jetta Wagon, and we were greatly assisted by watching their DVD of a Jetta conversion done by a greasecar mechanic.

The round 13 gallon veggie oil tank fits snuggly into the car's spare wheel well. Connected to the tank is a hose-within-a-hose fuel line that uses an exterior hose of hot coolant to warm the interior hose of veggie oil. The fuel line was strung from the rear wheel well underneath the car and up into a veggie filter warmed with a copper coil filled with coolant. The heater line was tapped into to keep the veggie filter hot.


The most crucial part of this system is flushing the veggie oil out of all the lines with diesel so that the oil doesn't clog up once cooled. Also, the oil needs a few minutes with the car running on diesel in order to warm to a safe temperature for the engine to accept it without clogging. A switch was installed that controls two solenoids, one which operates the veggie oil and the other the diesel fuel. We can transfer from diesel to oil or oil to diesel on the fly with the switch placed on the car's dash.

The whole conversion took 3 casual days of work. We are thankful to Murray whose electrical skills saved us from a world of confusion.

Now that the conversion was complete, next on the list was to find our oil. We went to St. Simons Island and had lunch at our favorite mexican food restuarant, Bubba Garcias. We figured Bubba's would be the ideal grease provider since they only fry chips and chimichongas, no dairy. The eatery is a little more gourmet than traditional mexican resturants, therefore they don't use hydrogenized oil or reuse their oil. Also, the family owned restuarant has another eatery - Gnat's Landing - across the street that we could obtain additional oil from. Part of the way through our meal we asked our server if we could talk to the manager. The owners sister Josolin came over and within seconds of mentioning "oil" she knew exactly what we were asking for. Both restuarants were very cooperative with providing us with as much oil as we need. And when we return from our travels we hope to continue using their oil.

To harvest the oil we ciphened it out of the drums behind the restuarant with a marine pump charged by the car's battery and hoses connected to either end of the pump. One hose went into the drum and the other dipped into a 10 micron filter that sat on top of our plastic containers. We have enough containers to hold 27 gallons of oil and at 45 MPG (fully loaded car) we can travel 1200 miles before needing to go to another restuarant for more oil. This means we can comfortably make it to our next destination to harvest again.

We've already traveled over 1350 miles on veggie (500 miles to and from Orlando & 850 miles to Hot Springs, AR), Presently we are hanging with Nikki's parents in AR. Tonight we go to Osaka Japanese Steakhouse and ask for more oil to get us to Jackson, WY. We'll let everyone know how it goes.