Have A Little Fun!

It’s been a whirlwind week for us here in Louisiana! From time traveling back to a Renaissance festival to dancing to jazz music played on New Orleans’ streets, we have had quite the entertaining week. The fun never stopped when we got down to business by having our first two sit-down interviews of the trip with The Green Building Shop and Baton Rouge Green! As we move into our last week here in Baton Rouge, LA, we are certainly excited to be making the most of our time!

This past weekend we traveled with our friends Bryan, Julia and Jackson to the Louisiana Renaissance Festival. While it wasn’t quite what I expected (i.e. not the real Renaissance) it was definitely an interesting experience. Between modern-day innuendos set to a pirate tune and comedic jesters juggling fire, there were always entertaining shows to watch.  There were also plenty of challenging games where unsuspecting (and slightly over-confident) visitors could attempt a nearly impossible feat, like climbing a sideways rope ladder, and epically fail (ahem, Daniel and Bryan)! For a more authentic taste of the 15^th century, there were jousting events throughout the day and glass blowing tutorials during which the artist gave an interesting history of glass through the ages. In the end, it was more like a state fair where it’s totally normal to walk around in pirate garb and corsets than an event concerning real history, but it was definitely worth going to at least once!

My friend, Jackson, the coolest (and cutest) knight at the Renaissance Festival!

Having such an entertaining weekend was like pre-gaming for the week to come. On Monday night, Daniel’s dad flew in to Louisiana for a business trip but came a bit early so that we could see him. We had dinner at a great local seafood restaurant where Daniel and I both had alligator for the first time and I had my first taste of crawfish. Both were actually quite tasty! The following day, we headed to New Orleans to do some exploring. We wandered along the “Mighty” Mississippi and admired all of the massive ships docked or floating at its edges. We then moved towards the French Quarter and sat down for some delightful beignets at the famous Café du Monde. Strolling through New Orleans truly requires very little planning because there are just so many sights and sounds to take in. Walking around in and of itself becomes the event! There are musicians stationed at every corner that draw you in with their distinct tunes, be it jazz, country or even folk-rock. We loved it so much we wanted to stake out a corner for our favorite Richmond band, ROMA, and have them fly down and join! After a little bargain and window-shopping at some of the famous boutique shops, Daniel and I headed to the bus stop to catch the last bus back to Baton Rouge. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our time with Daniel’s dad and with the City of New Orleans.

Daniel's dad, Steve, Angie and Daniel in front of the Mississippi in New Orleans.

 

Even though our “vacation” was over, the remainder of our week was reminiscent of Thomas Edison’s famous quote, “I never did a day of work in my life. It was all fun.” We sat down for two great interviews, the first being with Michael Gatz, owner of The Green Building Shop. He told us about everything from bamboo flooring to recycled glass countertops to authentic wool carpeting! Aside from the pure awesomeness of these products, we discussed reasons why these products have not yet become mainstream and what some possible solutions to these problems could be.

Later in the week, we sat down with Baton Rouge Green’s Executive Director, Diane Losavio and their program director Suzannah DesRoches. It was a beautiful day to discuss green places in Baton Rouge and that is exactly what we did.  We discussed the importance of trees in both economical and environmental ways. We also talked about the importance of city governments in making sure cities stay as hospitable to green spaces as possible. In the end, we left feeling very positive about the community’s desire to have and take care of the green spaces around them.

Coming Soon: In-Depth Articles about the interviews! (Possibly including video clips if we can get the technology right!)   :)

The Cost of Living Sustainably

Living sustainably has proven to be more challenging than anticipated. We know that in order to live a lifestyle based on that principle, you have to make an effort to purchase items that are produced in a sustainable way, such as organic and local foods. Purchasing products from huge, commercialized farms on the other side of the country does not help sustain your community or even your body in a healthy manner. Unfortunately, we have come across a couple problems in our pursuit to live in this manner.

The first predicament we have found ourselves in is the frequently cost-prohibitive action of healthy eating. Whether you’re at your local grocery store wandering through the organic aisle or meandering through the farmer’s market, you will typically find that the foods that you know are the best fuels for your body are frustratingly twice as expensive as the traditional product. When you absolutely have to save money but also desire the best for your body, what do you do? Do you give up the healthy food for junk so you won’t overdraw your bank account? It’s definitely a tough position to find yourself in and one that we know all too well. We don’t have all of the solutions and would greatly appreciate any other creative ideas to get around this problem, but here are some that we, with the help of others, have come up with:

First, think about the big picture. If you go to your local farmers market and buy some of their cheese, they will probably return the favor and come into your store to return the business. Don’t own your company? Well they still might come to your place of employment to do business, which will help to guarantee your next paycheck. The farmers need the business and will gladly deal with a friendly customer whenever they can. Secondly, Daniel and I stop using the “luxuries” as much so that when we do, we know we can splurge on the good stuff. For example, we love milk but instead of using it to make tomato soup, we will use water. It’s not as creamy but with a grilled cheese, it’s barely noticeable!  I also try and cut back on my beloved chocolate milk. Its something I definitely don’t need frequently and when I get it, it’s a real treat. Cutting back on the luxuries can save us a half-gallon a week, meaning we can afford organic milk since we aren’t buying multiple gallons of the store brand per week! Finally, and this idea came from our organic-minded hostess Julia, try and get to know your local farmers. Maybe if you go out to their farm, they will cut you a deal on their products. It saves them gas and they know that they will have a loyal customer in you. If none of these ideas work for you, just think about how much your body deserves this tasty, organic food and try to think of something unhealthy you can cut in order to purchase the good stuff. A block of yummy, handmade cheddar cheese is so much more scrumptious than a pack of cigarettes!

Angie buying Satsumas at the local farmer's market.

Lots of yummy and healthy foods available at the farmer's market!

Similar to the cost crisis of buying food locally and organically, we have found that buying non-edible products from local shops is unfortunately très cher as well. When you really want to support the community, it’s disheartening to find affordable products only at superstores like Wal-mart or Target. So, this is my plea to local specialty stores, please look into providing lower cost products to your customers. They don’t have to be new or fancy, they can be used or refinished, but please consider it. For example, Daniel and I have been bike searching for weeks and we really didn’t want to buy from a department store but we also had a small budget. We didn’t have fancy expectations and were completely fine with used but sadly, the bike stores nearby had practically nothing under six hundred dollars. Its not just bicycle stores, though. Specialty stores need to understand that there are still plenty of people out there who will gladly spend a small fortune on products because they take part in bike marathons or they are avid fine china collectors. I don’t think you will lose money by offering used or less expensive items; you will just win a whole new clientele. We really want to support you, so please give us the opportunity.

On a side note, the one way around this problem is a thrift store. If you do enough shopping and have Lady Luck on your side, you might find just what you are looking for and save a bundle! Plus, many thrift stores use their profits for charitable outreaches within the community and that’s definitely a bonus.

Living sustainably is not necessarily easy, but it isn’t really that hard either. If you prioritize your purchases and make an effort to go to local stores instead of just one giant one, you will usually find what you are looking for at a reasonable price. Furthermore, you will get the pleasure out of knowing you are doing right by your body and the community.

The USS Kidd & the Baton Rouge Green Crawl

First and foremost, we heard this morning that Daniel’s grandpa was in the hospital and we would like everyone to send their prayers and best wishes to him for a quick and full recovery. We are thinking about you Big Bill and we hope you feel better soon!

Over the past few days, Daniel and I have gotten to explore some great places and meet some even greater people. It all began a few days ago when we took a ghostly tour of the World War II naval destroyer, the USS Kidd, which served in that war on the Pacific Front as well as the Korean War, losing some of her men in the former. The USS Kidd is now docked on the edge of the Mississippi in Baton Rouge and has been rehabilitated to serve as a museum.  Being a history buff, I was excited to explore a WWII military ship so closely since I had never even seen one before. It was a self guided tour, which essentially meant that we were handed a map of the ship and then sent off to explore every nook and cranny without a chaperone to bestow logical explanations or even to pull us back into the 21^st century reality every time our minds began to wander. This time of year is the tourist off –season, so we had the entire ship to ourselves with the exclusion of the ticket-taker at the beginning. Having free range of an entire naval destroyer without another person in sight allows the mind to easily drift into the misty reverie of what might have been.  Daniel and I certainly began to drift away, but he to the North and I to the South. He began to imagine himself sitting behind one of the big guns, shooting away at the approaching enemy with flawless aim. I imagined apparitions of angry soldiers who had never gotten off the ship behind every corner and in every dark bunkroom.  In the mess halls, he saw brotherhoods of soldiers gathering around, excited to go off to war. I saw cramped, dark rooms at the bottom of steep, narrow ladders and wondered how two people could both make it up if they were running away from something sinister. However, we both agreed on how cool the deck was. Daniel loved the huge guns and 40s style helmets while I greatly enjoyed the rampant sunlight and listening to the Mississippi wash away the ship’s violent past and provide it with its new duty of teaching to whomever would like to learn. 

Daniel wearing a helmet behind one of the guns on the deck.

The USS Kidd from the shore.

Angie putting on a brave face... about to go down the hatch.

The following day we were lucky enough to be able to participate in the 3^rd annual Baton Rouge Green Crawl. It was a great event and we met some really awesome people throughout the evening. We began the event in downtown Baton Rouge at Dana Brown & Associates, a landscape architecture firm that Baton Rouge Green was partnered with for the night. It was intriguing to learn about how important good landscaping is to the environmental health of an area and how Baton Rouge is continuing to pursue more environmentally friendly regulations in this area. We also got to hang out with Suzannah from Baton Rouge Green, an organization that encourages and sponsors an urban forest in Baton Rouge. They also educate people about the importance of trees and how to best take care of them. Suzannah invited us to bring Big Easy to this stop on the event and we gladly accepted. It was so nice to have people so interested in learning about we what we were doing while we were so excited to see what they were doing. After about an hour, we decided to head out on the scooter and meet some of the other awesome people who were involved in the crawl. We got to meet some cool people from businesses like Gulf South Solar as well as stroll through some vintage shops like Noelie Harmon and Honeymoon Bungalow that use recycled materials to create new masterpieces of clothing and other neat things (Not to mention the adorable kittens that Honeymoon Bungalow lets you carry around while you shop!). Furthermore, there were some great organizations involved that ranged from doing great things for the community, such as ConserveBR , to expanding their helpful reach globally, such as Falling Whistles. We wish we had more time to get to know everyone and their organizations even better, but we did get some great contacts and plan to go back to some of these places again next week to collect even more information from these people who certainly have a wealth of it.

We finished out the week with a Halloween Parade and an afternoon in the kayaks on the LSU lakes. The parade was fun but apparently rather short compared to most Louisiana parades. Jackson, our 4-year-old host here in Baton Rouge, was quite happy with the parade though because of all the candy they threw! Also, the lakes we went kayaking on were really calm and seemingly alligator free. Maybe one of these days we will get lucky and run across a real Louisiana gator… hopefully not too close though!

The Beginning of Baton Rouge

On Sunday afternoon, around 1 pm, we celebrated as we finally pulled into our first destination, Baton Rouge. We were so excited to be done with driving for a while and even more excited to meet the family that we would be staying with. We were definitely not let down because Bryan and Julia are very friendly and helpful hosts.  We couldn’t be more grateful to them for letting us stay on their property and becoming our first friends in Baton Rouge.

Daniel making dinner!

When we first arrived, we were quite travel-fatigued and spent most of the afternoon getting settled and strolling around our immediate area. Bryan kindly took us on a little tour to show us where grocery stores and other useful places were located. We began the process of settling into our new, temporary home which included cooking our first meal. Daniel decided to cook cheeseburgers on our propane stove and they were actually very tasty. We are slowly getting into the hang of buying groceries in small amounts and only cooking what we will eat right away since we have limited storage space. It is a bit challenging but in the end, fresh is definitely better!

After resting up on Sunday night, we were ready to start exploring on Monday. Unfortunately, we did not get very far with that plan because our smaller solar panel system decided to stop working. We use that small system to power an inverter that we plug our electronics into, as well as the shower pump and inside lights. After running some tests, we came to the conclusion that the system’s battery was not holding enough charge. We were actually not terribly surprised at this because, instead of purchasing new batteries like we did for the system running the refrigerator, this smaller system just used an old car battery. We were hoping that since none of the electronics or lights would always be plugged in, the solar panel would have enough time to trickle charge the battery between uses. Sadly, we were wrong and it was just too old to hold enough charge to power the above-mentioned items. Thus, we grudgingly spent the entire morning on the hunt for a new battery. However, on the bright side, everything works now! 

After fixing that problem, we decided to stop by a coffee shop so that Daniel could use the Internet to purchase and download his favorite zombie show while I grabbed a much-needed coffee. Well, my coffee was long gone by the time his show was downloaded (I’m talking hours…) so by the time those two errands were done, our day was mostly gone. As a reward for so patiently indulging Daniel’s zombie obsession, I decided to take us to a great Baton Rouge pizza place for dinner called Schlittz & Giggles. Their motto is “Silly name, Serious Pizza” and it was definitely some serious pizza! Overly full, we made our way back home to Big Easy and curled up for some zombie watching with the promise of a full day of exploring awaiting us.

Daniel in front of Schlittz & Giggles, the pizza place.

We finally got to fulfill that promise today and it was a blast. Well, most of it at least. We had a potential catastrophe this morning when we found out that according to Louisiana law, ALL scooters must be registered and have a license plate, no matter what size it is. In Virginia, a scooter like ours that is below 50cc does not need those things. We never really thought about checking other state’s laws since we figured the South was just a generally more lawless place anyways. (Actually, we just forgot, but why does the one thing the South want to regulate have to be scooter law?!) In the end, we decided to just go to the DMV and ask what we should do. They told us to just not worry about it since we are only visiting. Let’s hope whatever police officers we pass feel the same way!

After our midmorning scare, we decided to get down to business and go exploring. It was about a two-minute scooter drive to get to the end of downtown where the Mississippi River is located. I was so excited to see this majestic river that everyone speaks of with such awe. Once I climbed up over the bank and looked down, though, I found myself a tad bit disappointed. I was expecting something at least the size of the James River where it runs through Newport News, but it did not seem nearly that large to me. Daniel assured me that I will be much more impressed when I see it in New Orleans. Nevertheless, while I may have expected bigger, I didn’t expect to be able to stand so close to the infamous river or see such beautiful, sparkling water courtesy of the afternoon sun.

Daniel and Angie on the observation deck at the State Capitol building.

The view of Baton Rouge and the Mississippi from the observation deck.

After visiting the river, we stopped and had an excellent meal for quite the deal at Downtown Seafood & Grill.  We even left with the offer of vegetable oil and a potential mural client! Feeling productive, we trekked through downtown a little further and toured both the State Capitol and the Louisiana State Museum. The Capitol was awesome to tour because Congress was not in session, meaning we got to go inside the two chambers, take pictures, and wander along the sides of the rooms. We also went all the way to the 27^th floor and stepped out onto the observation deck, overlooking all of Baton Rouge and following the Mississippi River as far as the eye could see. The museum was also a neat place because it mainly focused on Louisiana culture, cuisine, and its boating history. Neither Daniel nor I knew much about any of these topics so it was quite the learning experience. We especially loved all of the Mardi Gras costumes! When we finally got home for the day, we were very happy with all of the things we got to see. We are even more excited about all of the things still left to explore, especially the Naval Destroyer from World War II that is docked in the Mississippi. Lastly, our upcoming event where we get to meet all the “Green” businesses in Baton Rouge is on Thursday so stay tuned to hear all about how it goes!

Daniel and Angie at the Louisiana State Museum.

Southern Hospitality

We are excited to let everyone know that Big Easy has safely made it to the deep South! It may seem like a long time since she was “cleared for take off” but there were quite a few people who we wanted to stop and see before we left, as well as slowly ease Big Easy into long highway driving. We spent Monday and Tuesday performing the “Long Goodbye,” as Daniel’s grandmother titled it, bidding farewell to family and friends as we journeyed slowly south through Virginia. Finally, Wednesday morning, we started off for Canton, Georgia and the home of Daniel’s sister, Suzanna. We were feeling confident with the bus’s performance when we left because on the 100 mile journey from Fauquier County to Petersburg, very few things had gone wrong. In fact, one of the only problems we had was that the shelves in the trail fell (literally) victim to the bumpy highways around Richmond. This was easily fixed with some metal strapping to help hold them in place. Since that was the only problem, we were finally ready to begin our journey and enjoy the ride.

It was a rainy drive through Virginia but once we got into the North Carolina, the weather calmed and we were able to enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful autumn leaves. We were slightly discouraged about how chilly the weather was even in the Carolinas, but we still hoped that it would get warmer the further south we drove. We noticed three problems with Big Easy as we drove towards Georgia, and two of them have already been resolved. The first issue was that Big Easy was having a really difficult time maintaining speed as we were driving up hills. We assumed that this was just because of the weight she was pulling, but once we got to Georgia and realized that the tires had only half of the correct amount of air, Suzanna’s boyfriend Josh kindly filled them up and Big Easy now happily speeds uphill. The second problem we discovered was that Big Easy was mysteriously low on oil even though Daniel had recently changed it before we left. We checked multiple times for oil leaks but, finding none, it was safe to assume that Big Easy just simply burns oil from all the work she does and we would just have to be diligent about frequently adding oil. The last and only unresolved problem is that there appears to be a coolant leak coming from where Daniel teed into the existing coolant line to run another line to the vegetable oil tank. We think we will be able to fix this by using a different type of T and we plan to as soon as we stop for good in Baton Rouge. So, finally, after a long Wednesday of driving mostly problem free, we stopped to spend the night in Charlotte, NC once it began to get dark. We cooked on the bus for the first time and after a few burnt pancakes and some fire alarm outbursts, we had a lovely breakfast-for-dinner meal. Unfortunately, against our previously described hopes, it was freezing in Charlotte and we shivered through the night.

Thursday morning we woke up bright and early to finish the drive to Canton. It was a lovely drive through the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains but we were happy to arrive in Canton and give Big Easy a rest. We parked the bus at Josh’s moms house since it wouldn’t fit in Suzanna’s driveway and spent the afternoon finishing up some loose ends while we waited for Suzanna and Josh to get off work for the day. One of those loose ends was hooking up lights to run of the solar battery bank so now we don’t have to turn on the bus to have light! We really enjoyed spending time with Suzanna, Josh and his family as well as taking in the mountain scenery. We got to see Suzanna’s new house and all of the work she and Josh have put into it so far. It was definitely impressive. On Friday, they took us over to Josh’s dad’s house where we played with adorable baby goats and attempted to pet a soon-to-be momma cow. Daniel and Josh also went squirrel hunting but (to my secret happiness) didn’t get the chance to shoot at anything. We also received some great looking canned veggies and fruit from Josh’s dad. We are very appreciative for the truly Southern hospitality we experienced! We had such a great time that we almost didn’t want to leave, but Saturday morning, we pulled ourselves together, said our goodbyes, and headed out of Georgia.

We are now on the road to Baton Rouge but will break up the trip with an overnight stay in Mobile, Alabama. Luckily, it is much warmer down here! We are so excited to finally reach the city and spend some time exploring. Please continue to send us your well wishes!

Josh, Suzanna, Angie, & Daniel in front of Big Easy near Canton, GA.

Cleared for Take Off!

Big Easy has passed inspection and is cleared for take off! We even found that getting her to that point was not too terribly difficult. In fact, for the past couple weeks, the majority of the work focus was not even on Big Easy, but on the trailer instead. Even by the time we left Richmond, the trailer still needed to be painted, have shelves added and have some sort of kayak holding contraption added to it as well. Moreover, Daniel still needed to go through all of his tools and materials to decide what he wanted to bring and what he could bare to separate with. By finishing at least one task per day, Daniel was able to get the whole trailer finished, filled up and organized in about one week. On the left side of the trailer sits one shelf and the scooter while the right side holds two shelves and some larger tools and camping supplies. All of the shelves hold crates full of paint, canvases or other miscellaneous items that would be needed for painting or for vegetable oil filtration. The back of the trailer holds two 55 gallon metal barrels, one for the waste vegetable oil and one for the filtered oil. Above the barrels hang the filters and water separator that the oil is pumped through. Finally, on the outside of the trailer, Daniel welded a kayak carrier and tied his ladder to the top. Finishing the trailer was an enormous relief and we are confident that everything we are bringing is securely attached. Unfortunately, we still feel that the trailer is the most worrisome aspect of the journey since it is carrying a lot of weight and is a bit wobbly going over bumps since it is so disproportionate. The major highway tests with it have been pretty positive though so we will continue to keep our fingers crossed!

The kayak holder!

We also added another addition to our showering system during the past couple weeks. We had been debating for months over what would be the best system for disposing of our shower water since we did not really have the space to install a grey water tank. We had gone over the idea of just using a bucket but where would we store it or how would we dispose of it? It’s against the law in most places to just dump that water outside even if you only use environmentally friendly products because it will still go down the sewer drains and add even more chemicals to the water. By chance, we were perusing through an RV website and found portable grey water tanks which sounded perfect for us. They come in all different sizes and have wheels on them so we can just roll it under the shower drain, seal it back up, and roll it right back to storage until its time to take it to a disposal facility. We looked around some local RV stores and finally found the perfect size for a cheap price. With this latest addition, our showering system is now complete!  We definitely felt more comfortable leaving knowing that we finally had a simple solution to that very important, yet annoyingly stubborn, problem.

Portable Grey Water Tank

After a bittersweet goodbye with my family in Fauquier County, Big Easy hit the road on the way to Fredericksburg. We stopped along the way in order to get a state inspection done on the bus. It was not due until January but we figured we should get it done now since we would be on the road then and, if anything was wrong, we could hopefully get it fixed early. Of course, there were several things wrong and we failed the inspection, leaving us to spend the weekend at Daniel’s mother’s house in Fredericksburg trying to fix the problems. The first, ancient windshield wipers, was an obviously easy fix. The second, a broken brake light, was a bit harder. After figuring out that the bulb was fine, Daniel grudgingly began to take apart the wiring. Smartly, he decided to check the fuses for power and he found a blown one. After switching it for a working one, the brake lights started to work without a problem. We still are not sure what caused the blown fuse but hopefully it will not happen again and if so, well, we will just cross that bridge when we bravely come upon it. Lastly, and most time consuming, was the hole in the exhaust pipe. Before we adopted Big Easy, her previous owners had replaced the back part of the exhaust system, leaving the front part old and rusty. The connection of the old and new pipes was probably not made with the most care and, ultimately, the connection began to rust and fall apart, leaving giant gaping holes for the exhaust to escape from. In order to fix this, Daniel completely cut away the part with the holes in it and put in a new piece of pipe attaching it with clamps and special sealant. In the end, the entire older pipe will probably need to be replaced but we think that this quicker fix will hold us for quite a while. After proudly fixing all of the problems ourselves, we brought Big Easy back to the mechanic early Monday morning and (yay!) passed!

The rusted out connection that Daniel cut out of the exhaust pipe.

The new pipe that connects the older part of the exhaust pipe to the newer part.

After saying goodbye to Daniel’s mom, stepdad and a few of the most fantastic co-workers, we hit the highway, bound for Ashland. We are happy to report that this time there were no trailer doors flying open! We plan to stay there Monday night visiting with Daniels dad and stepmom, then head through central and southern Virginia on Tuesday. We are so very excited to get to Baton Rouge early next week and participate in our first event, the Baton Rouge Green Crawl! We will be visiting multiple “green” businesses in the city and listening to presentations about how they do it! We can’t wait to give you the rundown of what we learned!

The Maiden Voyage

On Saturday, October 1^st, we officially moved out of Richmond and Big Easy took her first trip on the highway since we began working on her back in February. We drove about 84 miles north from Richmond to Fauquier County, with Daniel driving Big Easy and me following behind in his truck. We were pleasantly surprised with how well she handled while pulling a trailer and even more surprised with the miles per gallon calculations we completed once we reached our destination. We were expecting, at worse, about 4 mpg since we had added so much weight between the deck, trailer, battery banks, and other miscellaneous additions. At best we were expecting about 8 to 10 mpg according to what we had read about the year and make of Big Easy. The result of our calculations, though, was almost 12 mpg! We were very excited to see this considering there seems to be more and more competition with bio-diesel companies in collecting waste veggie oil from restaurants.

Despite the great mpg discovery at the end of the test drive, we did hit a few bumps in the road (pun intended) but most of the difficulties were with the trailer and not Big Easy. Before we even got on the road a taillight on the trailer was accidentally broken upon knocking into a trashcan but, duct tape to the rescue, onward we marched. Daniel and I had established a code before we left in case of an emergency so that I could notify him if I saw something go wrong with the trailer or the bus. It was quite simple and consisted of me slamming on the horn if he needed to pull over immediately or calling him if it was something that could wait until the next exit ramp. I was able to test the code almost instantly given that we had not even technically left Richmond before the first problem arose. We were speeding up on the on ramp for 95 North when the trailer doors that Daniel had spent hours trying to secure suddenly flew wide open. This was extremely problematic considering we had just piled the trailer completely full of items that could potentially hurt very badly if they slammed into your windshield. I immediately began slamming on the horn but, unbeknownst to us, a diesel engine running right beside you apparently drowns out all other sounds. After I realized he couldn’t hear me honking, I called him and told him to pull over as soon as possible. We then used ratchet straps to hold down the doors for the rest of the drive but we still haven’t decided on the best way to keep the doors secure. Unfortunately I did not have my video camera with me, but I think I learned my lesson and will keep it rolling from now on!

The next stop we had to make came around the Ashland exit when we had to pull over because a loose wire had fallen off the trailer and was dragging on the ground. The wire wasn’t being used so it was an easy fix to just take it off. While it might be frustrating that objects randomly fall off, we do recognize that it was a pretty cheap, old trailer and we do our best to just take all of the problems in stride. The final problem we ran into, and the only bus problem, was that the driver side taillights decided to stop working around Fredericksburg. Luckily that was an easy fix as well and Daniel just had to tighten a few screws to get them working again. In the end, it was a pretty solid drive to Fauquier County and it definitely gave us a confidence boost in how well the bus is running.

We still have a lot left to do but we hope to begin our journey by this weekend (10/8-9). The rainy weather has provided a few setbacks but we plan to finish the loose ends this week while visiting with our families and friends. We are very happy that everything with the bus has been running smoothly, especially the solar power, and we are crossing our fingers that it stays that way! 

Big Easy and her soon to be painted trailer sitting in my mom's driveway after the trek from RVA!