We're baaaack!

We arrived safely in Hanover last Thursday. We're happy to be back- so happy in fact, that we haven't gotten around to posting the remaining blogs. Come back soon and look for blogs on Cleveland, DC, and Boston! Pictures are also slowly being updated.

Thanks to everyone for making the BGB Summer 2007 Tour a success!

New York Big City

I was told in kindergarten that if I was ever to set myself on fire, or in the unlikely case that I might just find myself to be on fire, I should stop, drop, and roll. In kindergarten the possibility that I might ever be engulfed in flames was a frighteningly morbid prospect to be learning a three-step maneuver for, but even then it seemed far-fetched. However, since the Big Green Bus graced page 60 in Newsweek, it seems as though the bus, and every person on it, has been set ablaze with social interest and a status of insta-recognition in the places that we go. Thanks Newsweek for being the leaky zippo lighter to our small strike anywhere match of a mission. And although I’d like to think that my kindergarten education is the basis for every simple decision that I make, stopping isn’t an option. We refuse to drop. And the only rolling that we do is on to the next city. Sorry Mrs. D, these wheels on fire rolled out of D.C. and straight on into New York on Sunday.

A bus-size parking spot in a prime location!

We spent our afternoon in the big mealy apple of New York City parked outside of 49 East Houston Street. We were visiting an organization called Times Up and checking out their program that promotes people to bike around the city rather than drive. The bus was also open to the street and more than a few curious locals took a second out of their busy day to hop on board and engage in a friendly little chat about our journey. You may be skeptical as to whether these people were actually New Yorkers after having read the last sentence. The enthusiastic adjective ‘friendly’ when ascribed to New York is as suspicious as razor-filled candy on Halloween. But these people were the real deal, each of them was thin and wearing black with a trace of ‘I’m better than thou’ etched into their faces.

"What is this bus doing here?"

Later, Frances, Kate, and I ventured a few blocks over to Babycakes, a vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc bakery. There we met Joel Bravo, a Dartmouth ’02 and employee of the alternative pastry shop and tried some of the baked goods, which proved to be surprisingly delicious. Also surprising was that I recognized Joel from an article I had read in Paper Magazine a year back. He was in a band called Bravo Silva, and one of Paper Magazine’s beautiful people of 2006. Joel is currently in a band called Sex With An Angel.

When evening draped itself over the city we found ourselves relaxing in the lovely apartment of four big green bus alums. Mikey Saladik, Vivien Savath, Steph Lawrence, and Forest Hanson, all rode on the BGB ’06 summer tour and are Dartmouth ‘06s. More friends joined us and we had a lovely warm evening full of kickball, soccer, youtube videos, and cuddle puddles (in that order). When we awoke in the morning it was about time to go, and we all lamented having to leave the city so soon. One doughnut and two glasses of whole milk later we were back on the road, peering out the windows and promising the graffiti that we’d call, e-mail, keep in touch, and see it soon.

-Hayley

Fried cheese curds are delicious

and will make your stomach hurt. Especially when followed by fried mozzarella sticks and beer batter French fries. But as Brent says, you gotta try it while in Milwaukee. He also says this about beer. Which would explain why we bought 8 different kinds of local brews for the 6 of us (and no, the local store did not let us mix and match the 6-packs). Which also explains why Milwaukee, despite being perhaps the only place it rained for a significant amount of time this trip, was one of the best stops yet.

Still exhausted from the trying long drive across Wyoming, South Dakota, and Iowa, we were delighted to find that Brent had arranged a perfect mix of planned Bus events and do-nothing-but-relax time for our stay in Wisconsin. We started the visit off with a grease-up at Villa Roma, where reporters from several local TV stations joined us to film the greasy job (check out the media page on our website for some of the coverage). They even got a view of veggie-power at its not-so-finest when we were forced to replace our fancy Rosedale filters. Our filters, it turned out, were still fighting the water we’d picked up back in Montana and had decided that they’d had enough. But never fear, greasers like us know what to do and always have a back-up (or rather, Lucas knows what to do and the rest of us know when to follow his lead). Out came the chase car filter and the plastic bucket for a great visual for the cameras. Later we even ended up reverting back to the old stand-in: pillowcases! It all works.

Back to the Milwaukee story. After leaving Villa Roma and our moment in the spotlight, we headed down to Pier Wisconsin for a gig at Discovery World. Though the rain kept many visitors away, we had a great time exploring the awesome kids museum and listening to the music coming from the Irish fest next door (also the source of my fried cheese-induced heart burn). Happy and tired, we went back to Brent’s lovely house for Villa Roma pizza dinner. But the fun wasn’t over yet! Oh no… Next stop: the Brewers game! Fourth row seats, beer, and roasted nuts made me so happy I barely watched the game. I just know that the Brewer mascot went down the slide over and over again (yes, they won). The game was followed up by a stop to eat custard. Not just one type of custard, but every kind on the menu. Have you noticed a trend yet? Brent + Milwaukee= lots of great “this is the best ever” food. Mmmmm!

After a very hard days work (obviously) we spend the next two days playing. Brent invited us all up to his lake house in Green Bay, where we did nothing but read, sleep, grill, swim, water ski, wakeboard, jet ski, sauna, and watch movies. Fantastic! Thank you to Brent and his family for providing us with one of the most relaxing (and delicious) weekends of the summer!

Chicago!

We departed early from Cedar Rapids, leaving Frances behind in exchange for leftovers from the night before, and headed for Chicago. We arrived in the city and headed straight for the Museum of Science and Industry to speak to museum patrons. For those who haven’t visited Chicago and seen this building, it was erected for the World’s Fair in 1893 and is quite the specimen of the city’s remarkable architecture. It’s grand underground halls host a submarine and coal mine, among many other interactive exhibits. While there we were joined by surprise guest Eric Larson ’10. After several hours talking to visitors, we headed to our home for the night – the apartment of Mike Vidmar ’03 about a lively restaurant in Chicago’s Greek quarter. It was great to chat with a recent Dartmouth alum and dine on a simple, yet comforting, meal of salsa chicken quesadillas fresh from Mike’s treasured Crock Pot.

After dinner, Mike half of the crew on a walking tour of the neighborhood to admire local architecture and visit the filming location for the next Batman film, complete with the Gotham City Police Department. While Mike and the gang were out on the town, Whit and Hayley sampled the movie collection with Kill Bill and after the rest of the crew returned home, we all fell asleep on the comfortable couch and air mattresses provided for us.

With no events planned until 7 in the evening, the day was ours to enjoy in Chicago. Merritt won the gold medal for the day by driving Hayley to the airport for her 8 am flight (ciao chica! We’ll see you in D.C.!) and then he and Kate hit the streets for an early morning run while the rest of us enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in. After a late breakfast, we all walked toward the lake to visit the Millennium Park, the Bean, and surrounding waterfront attractions (see photos). It was great to enjoy these sites as a group before splitting off to explore other sectors of the city. While walking the Magnificent Mile (Chicago’s premier shopping district), Kate, Whit and Merritt stopped off at the Apple Store to play with the iPhone and marvel at its user-friendly features. Take note gift givers – this is certainly the item of the year.

Later that evening we all met back at Mike’s apartment and drove to a hole-in-the-wall pizza joint to dine on some of Chicago’s specialty deep-dish pizza with some young alums and a bunch of ‘10s who were visiting a friend (who happened to work for Mike) in the city for the weekend. We all had a great time and loved having the chance to try some real Chicago pizza!

-Whitney

A mini-update

Many apologies for the lack of recent posts. We are all doing well, and after getting 200 gallons (hello, jackpot!) of veggie oil this morning, we left Milwaukee and Brent's family and are headed for Cleveland. Stay tuned... we'll tell you all about it asap!

"Reunited and it feels so good..."

After being picked up at the airport by Frances' sister (thanks Eleanor!) and hanging out with her family for a few hours, the chase car pulled into Vernon's driveway and I was swept into the loving embraces of Whitney (fresh off a bus ride from Minneapolis), Hayley and Frances. Oh, Reunions! Always a joyous event, and that was certainly the case that day, the fourteenth of August, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Yes, that’s correct: the one, the only Cedar Rapids, also known as the hometown of busser Frances Vernon.

After properly greeting one another and catching up on our lives apart, we piled into the car with Frances' parents for a delicious dinner at a Greek restaurant aptly named the Vernon Inn. Understandably exhausted after a long day of travel, Whitney tucked in for the night while Frances, Hayley and I rallied for an evening in Iowa City.

A Wednesday morning thunderstorm thwarted our (rather ambitious) plans for a run, so we compensated by sleeping in and eating a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit. Sigh. Life can be tough on the bus sometimes. The chase car then headed over to the local farmer's market where it was met by the bus, carrying Lucas, Esther and Merritt! We spent the afternoon drinking lemonade, talking about alternative energy, and showing off the bus. I had an interesting encounter with an old farmer who wanted to know my name so that he could report me to the Cedar Rapids police, because "it would be so funny to read in the paper that you were in jail." Hmm.

He had a good point though, and one that we've encountered several places along our journey: because we don't buy our fuel from gas stations, we aren't paying road tax. Back in good ol'New Hampshire we tried to do this, but the state had no way to process our money. In Raleigh, NC, we met with legislatures who were in the middle of figuring this issue out as a WVO user had just been fined several thousand dollars and was getting lots of media attention. As our country starts to change the way that we get energy, whatever method that might be, our government and infrastructure will have to change as well. Clearly, switching to alternative energy sources is a long and complicated process - but the sooner we start talking and thinking about these issues, the better.

Ok, enough of that, back to our day in Iowa. After the farmer's market we all headed back to the Vernon's for a delicious potluck block party. It was a great chance to have some longer conversations about the bus and also to eat some ridiculously good food. We managed to get quite a crowd of friends to come along for our grease run. We hit the jackpot - 75 gallons! Merritt enjoyed showing off his muscles, and we all like having so much company.

The next morning we were up bright and early with another delicious breakfast. After saying goodbye to Frances until D.C., we were on the road again....

Many thanks to Monica, Bill, Natalie, and Eleanor Vernon for hosting our wonderful stay in Cedar Rapids!

-kate

Busser-fact-o-the-day: The Vernon sisters are so accomplished and well known in Cedar Rapids that, for a period of time, they were actually banned from being written about in the local newspaper in order to give other people a chance.

We Dug Wall Drug

Yep, we stopped at Wall Drug while in South Dakota. How could we not?

Truckin' across the baaaadlands

More shots as we travel from Casper, WY to the Badlands of South Dakota.

Wow, it's really flat here.

still flat. But with trains! (Lucas is excited)

The bus obligingly poses in front of Mt. Rushmore

Though we failed to get a shot of the bus in the badlands, we took lots of photos of ourselves on the brief stops on our long, long drive. Other noteable happenings during this section included a stop in a beautiful campground at Horsethief Lake (where Merritt cooked gourmet rice and beans while Lucas ate tuna out of a bag and everyone went skinny dipping), being passed by lots of bikes on their way back from Sturges, and a brief panicky moment where we were all on the outside of a large green moving vehicle that decided to shut its doors on us.

Grand Teton Photo Shoot

Amazing views plus the bus... (and Merritt's stylin' haircut)



Note to self (and readers of this blog): Spend more time in this park sometime in the future.

“WE GOT CLOUDS ON OUR YellowSTONE(S)”

Hayley: You know, sometimes there are just those days when you gotta suck it up and go with the flow, roll with the punches…
Frances: Are those like the days when you have to pump 50+ gallons of watery veg out of the bus tanks by hand?
Hayley: I think that’s what I was getting at.
Frances: You know what I say on days like that?
Hayley: What?
Frances: Shucks man. Just Shucks.

‘Shucks’ is the less verbally offensive 5-letter-word that Frances and I have been using when expressing our minor frustrations with life, the universe, and everything (the answer to our frustrations was not 42 however).
Explain, you say.
Tell me more, you plead.
…You know we can’t say no when you look at us that way.

Frances: So we accidentally pumped a whole bunch of water the other day, which isn’t exactly good for our engine. In fact it kinda sucks.
Hayley: Feeding a diesel engine water is the equivalent of feeding a human being sand, and then kicking him in the junk.
Frances: Right, so somehow we had to get it out. And that somehow was by putting on our grease clothes on and getting dirty for a good 6 hours. And when I say ‘good’ I really mean ‘great.’
Hayley: We were essentially holding our bus’ hair as it coughed, hiccupped, and upchucked like a prom queen at an afterparty. Now I remember getting dirty and carrying 2 gallon buckets of veg-vom, 3 if you include the gallon that was smeared all over my body, sure. That was pretty rad. But riddle me this, why was Lucas under the Bus with a hose in his mouth?
Frances: So you remember the dead animal in our tank?
Hayley: I told Kate not to club that baby seal.
Frances: No, it’s a critter that got in there before we even left Hanover. Well it was plugging up the passageway that was allowing us to drain the tank, so Lucas being the manliest man man that he is, was blowing bubbles into the tank to move the critter and allow the veggie juice to flow.

Despite the fact that Lucas may have been mildly veggie-hazing himself, everyone was pretty chipper. We decided to take a break in the afternoon (aawwww noooo mom, let me play in the veg just a little more! Please, I like the way it smells like butt!) and check out the falls on the other side of the park.

Frances: Thank goodness Ranger Merritt was there at the falls with us, otherwise we may not have been observant enough to see the (not so) incredibly rare Yellowstone beast, the Awkward American Tourist (watch out they bite). After the ‘oohs’ and ‘aaaahs’ we made dinner and finished un-vegging.
Hayley: A bison ate my left arm. Actually that’s not true. It was Frances.
Frances: You had sauce on your arm. I didn’t want it to go to waste. That’s right, I’m calling you saucy.

After we finished eating dinner it had already gotten dark so we called it a ‘shucks’ kind of day (but in a good way) and tucked ourselves into bed. With Fran’s and my chatter at a temporary cease-fire, Lucas says that he could hear a wolf pack howling somewhere in the park. Blissfully unaware and serenely passed out, our theme song colored our dreams a dull shade of bling-bling-platinum. (Cue ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna ft. Jay-Z).

-Hayley & Frances

Despite what Hippies claim, engines don't run on water

Frances, Esther, Erin and I woke up early this morning to go on a morning hike to Avalanche Lake. The name of the lake sounded much more dangerous than it actually was. We hiked two miles through cedar groves and pine forests, traveling alongside a stream flowing blue glacial water. When we arrived at the lake, I understood why people love the park. On three sides of the lake were mountains, each with bare rock faces and little streams flowing down the sides of the cliffs. Esther thought the area looked like something straight out of the movie "The Land Before Time." I realized that I was wearing my swimming trunks, so I decided to go for a morning dip. The water was SO COLD! The lake was very shallow, and the bottom was all silt, so it took about ten minutes of trudging through the muck to get to a spot deep enough to go for a dip. By the time I got out of the lake, my feet were numb. On our hike back down to the car, Esther got into a "fight with a bear," and scratched up her hands and legs pretty badly.
When we got back to the bus, we packed up camp and headed back to Kalispell. The bus vegged up, and the chase car dropped off Erin. We were all sad to see her leave, because fresh faces are always welcome on the bus. After saying goodbye to Erin and her family, we began our 360 mile drive to Bozeman – only to break down half an hour into our trip!! The bus was losing power, so we stopped at a small local gas station. Lucas and I spent the next two and a half hours in the parking lot examining the engine. Lucas worked on the bus and explained the problems to me while I nodded my head and pretended to understand. The "veg run" that we made earlier in the day turned out to be more of a water run. The tanks were contaminated with water!! We drained the water out of the front veg tank and cleaned out the fuel lines, but some engine troubles remained during our 6 hour drive.
We arrived at Sam Naney's house in Bozeman at 11:00. A crowd was over at his house, and they wanted us to hang out with them, but we were pretty tired. Sam, his buddies, and our gang all hung out on the bus for a while, but then it died down and we crashed.

-Merritt

The Courageous Busers in Glacier National Park

Today we went RAFTING!!!! We did some other stuff involving scary drives, beautiful views, and mountain goats, but the highlight was definitely floating down a river in Glacier National Park. I’d made it a personal goal to find us a place to go rafting when we were in Colorado several weeks ago, but had been unable to find to find any adventures that met my criteria (pretty much had to be free). However, my dreams came true when Erin’s family offered to take us in their boat on the Flathead River. Merritt, Lucas, and I joined the Windauers and their dog Holly at the park gate to prepare for the epic journey. HUGE waves, gnarly holes, towering rocks, and giant fish* threatened to flip us as we navigated down the river. Bernie gave each of us a turn at the oars (a fool-hearty move? Perhaps, but we are courageous busers and are not swayed by danger). I fought off giant waves at the bow in order to keep everyone dry while Lucas showed off his steering ability (“Only one rock ahead? Don’t worry guys, I’ll get us stuck on it”). After several hours of showing the river what we’re made of and nearly losing Merritt to the class 10 rapids** we arrived back at the gate, wet and very happy. After packing up the boat and saying goodbye to the Windauers (except for Erin, who we kidnapped for the night), we headed back to the Apgar village for huckleberry ice cream and a delicious dinner by Chef Hayley. An awesome day- we’ll have to come back some time and spend more time here.

*not true
**really, really not true.

Much thanks to the Windauers for hosting us, taking us rafting, and for letting us take their daughters for the day. Erin and Heidi, if you want to join us as new crewmembers, there’s still room!

-esther

Merritt and Lucas show off their manliness by jumping off tall bridges

Pretty

Merritt, Lucas, and Erin stare off into the smoky Lake McDonald

fact-o-the-day: Odors attract bears. However, several national parks are testing biodiesel trucks and have not founds sniffing bears to be a problem. We also concluded that veggie oil is not a bear attractor. (Though we still encourage you to be careful with anything that leaves a scent while in bear country).

Drive me to the moon

Me: Wow, only a few weeks left huh.
Lucas: Yep.
Me: That’s not much time is it?
Lucas: Nope.
Me: And we have, what, the length of the United States left?
Lucas: Uh-huh.
Me: That’s like, a crap-ton of driving.
Lucas: Oh yeah.

For those unaccustomed to my units of measurement, a ‘crap-ton’ (which is much closer to a ‘whole-bleeping-hell-of-a-lot’ than to ‘quite-a-bit’) is about 4,000 miles. Probably more. So considering this, and the fact that we’ve put a heavy restraining order on all-night drives , the next two weeks will be filled with days on the road and nights wherever we can find food, a place to sleep, and if we’re lucky (which we generally are) the familiar face of a friend.

On our last day in Seattle we faced the idea of running into our ex-flame, the 10-12 hour all night drive (despite the court order she keeps on calling). It had been our original plan to drive across Washington, Idaho, and straight into Glacier National Park in Montana all in one go. But as Whitney and Kate both packed to leave, the 5 lone bussers looked at each other and said ‘no way Jose’. Jose pouted in the corner and we made last minute plans in Spokane and Kalispell, rearranging our schedule and breaking up the drive quite nicely.

From Seattle we drove to Spokane, where we stopped and spoke to a few locals interested in our project, and were appallingly late for the dinner that had been prepared for us at Mike Maccini ‘08’s house. After the 5 of us demolished his ‘dinner for 10’, and inhaled dessert, we lounged and scattered for bed. In the morning Mike made us a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, and huckleberry (a reoccurring theme later in the day) jam, further proving his undeniable kitchen prowess. Lucas, can we switch roommates? I think that I might appreciate Mike more than you.

After saying goodbye to Mike we set off for Kalispell, Montana, or as Frances calls it, “Cow’s Bell Montana? What?” Lucas, Esther, And Merritt drove the (now) ever-so-spacious bus, as Frances and I took off in the chase car to do errands before following along. What was a pretty, but uneventful drive for the three riding the bus, proved to be a bit more action-packed for us chase car kids. After a wrong turn in Idaho, and some screwy directions, Fran and I found ourselves careening through cow country and climbing a switch-backed mountain on a dirt road looking for a town that wasn’t even on the map. Side note: did you know that you can make just about anything with huckleberry? According to the numerous billboards we passed, huckleberry is great in barbeque sauce, ice cream, syrup, jam, and soap!

After finding Murray (the town that’s not on the map) and asking for directions inside of the Bedroom Goldmine Bar (where there were more tractors parked than cars) Frances and I got back on track and made good time up to Kalispell. The other three were waiting for us there gnawing on some ribs in Erin Windouer ‘08’s house. Erin is a firefighter. Erin is tremendously cool. That night a few people headed off to a local bar, I don’t know what happened there because I was sleeping and dreaming of giant huckleberries. Heaps of them.

On the road: Jack Kerouac eat my veggie dust

-Hayley

take a dip-and-roll

Sunday morning, post-awesome party, was a little bit of a late start for most of the crew. After waking up, a handful of eager helpers headed back to Evo for a little morning clean up. Hayley and Whitney headed to the zoo with Dartmouth friend Nora Johnson '08, while Kate and I headed downtown to the visit the market. As afternoon rolled around a group of us got to spend an amazing few of hours on Lake Sammamish-THANK YOU Titcomb Family!! The lake visit consisted of meeting new friends, wakeboarding, reading magazines, sleeping, swimming, and Xthen Titcomb's notorious nacho creations. We spent the rest of the evening catching up on much needed sleep. Thanks Seattle for such an awesome time. We hope to be back soon.

-Frances

THE Big Green Bus Party.

Have you ever woken up knowing that the day ahead was destined to be great? That every action, breath taken, and word spoken is fatefully predetermined not only to be graceful but impactful (a day that you can make up words like ‘impactful’ and get away with it) as well? Surprisingly, not every Big Green bus morning is like this, but on this particular day the planets aligned and The Big Green Bus embraced it’s inner superstar.

For breakfast, Elliott (BGB ’06) escorted us to The Market where the sea of people parted for our divine presence. Actually, to be completely honest, the sea didn’t so much part as it did try to drown us (some people just can’t seem to fathom greatness such as ours) as we ducked dove and darted toward the vendor selling adorably small hot doughnuts. After our cute pastry consumption and some egregious pointing at the tourists who were in turn egregiously pointing at the fish vendors who were eating up the attention of the crowd (I’d much rather a doughnut) we went our separate ways to adventure elsewheres.

Our crew of eco-argonauts reconvened in the afternoon to attend ‘The Big Green Bus Party’ that the ever-suave Elliott May had spent weeks preparing for us. It was described to us as a chill fun event that we couldn’t help but be majorly stoked for. Sickies. In other words we were ready for an awesome time, but the expectations we had formed from the surf-speech laden blurb were entirely exceeded.

At 5pm the gates to the Evo (A skate-ski-board-apparel-Seattle-retailer) parking lot opened where the band ‘A Handful of Lovin’ played in front of our bus, Sierra Nevada beer was provided alongside BBQ food and (of course!) Clif Bar samples. The entire BGB Crew and party staff wore Big Green Bus Party Shirts (80% Bamboo!) and Jackets provided by FiveUltimate who had a Disc-Dunktank next to the bus.

On the road we had obviously been treated like JV celebrities before, but this party shed the bus of the Jonathan Taylor Thomas exterior and revealed our true inner Justin Timberlake. The transformation from JTT to JT emanated from our Big Green Lovin’ Machine well into the night as the band stopped and the DJ began to spin inside beckoning partygoers to the dance floor. The bus was lit up and packed with people until the party ended sometime past midnight. After having talked to people all night, with a fair share of goodtimes dancing and laughing inner dispersed like a good pancake mix, we rolled back to Elliott’s and ended the night with some tunes, beer, and friends. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Rockin' out at Evo

-Hayley

Thanks to Evo, Sierra Nevada, Clif Bar, and FiveUltimate.
Very special thanks to Elliott May (Rockstar Extrordinaire).

Oysters – Mmmm

Today we sadly left Colleen and her family because we had to travel to Seattle. I drove the chase car with Esther and Kate. It was our job to drop by a New Seasons grocery store where Colleen had secured a sponsorship for free food. It took a while to find the grocery store, and I believe Esther got fed up with my driving. She convinced me that I REALLY wanted to eat my sandwich, and that I didn't actually want to drive. Anyways, we found the grocery store and bought cereal, vegetables, peanut butter, and bread.
The estimated Bus travel time was three hours, but Esther, being the geography major that she is, managed to extend the drive to a total of seven hours. For some reason she and Kate assumed that traveling along the coast wouldn't take any longer than the highway, and I wasn't awake to talk any sense into them. Thus, I awoke in the car in the middle of a forest in Washington. I must admit, it was a beautiful drive – except for the clear-cut sections. I was getting very hungry, and as we passed through the small fishing town of South Bend I pointed out a small restaurant serving fresh oysters. A man was smoking the oysters in a smoker outside and basting them with white wine and barbecue sauce. I ordered a half-dozen smoked oysters with garlic bread, and Esther ordered an oyster sandwich. The oysters were so good! I'm usually not an oyster fan, but these fresh smoked oysters were the culinary highlight of the entire trip. Esther, after assuring the bus crew that we would make it to our event in Seattle on time, decided to ask the restaurant owner how far we were from the city. He estimated the drive to be about three hours. We were planning on arriving at our event at 5:00, and it was already 2:45! We drove along the coast a bit farther, and then hopped on the highway, only to get stuck in traffic.
Instead of going to the event, we decided that it would be best to pick up Frances at the airport. She was scheduled to arrive from San Francisco at 6:00. However, we were delayed for a half-hour because the bikes were on top of the roof of the car – preventing us from going into the parking garage. We finally managed to fit both bikes in the back seat of the car, and I tried my best to cover the greasy chains and gears with plastic bags. After picking up Frances, we drove to Elliott's house in Seattle, but, Esther being the fantastic geography major that she is, managed to get us lost in downtown Seattle. We finally arrived at Elliott's around 8:00, only three hours late!
After meeting Elliott and his friends and roommates, we went to a gorgeous lookout over the city of Seattle. Elliott suggested that we all get dinner at "Dick's," so we drove to the hamburger joint and got $2 hamburgers. Many of us agreed that Dick's outdid In-N-Out Burger. However I am sure that Chris would disagree.
After Dick's, we went back to Elliott's house and played pong! It was the first game of pong that I had played since the end of school! Lucas and I held the table for three games, but lost when both sides were down to half a cup. The party slowly died down, and we all went to sleep.

-merritt

Portland: This is Radio Free BGB

Our fan base (hi Mom and Dad) has noticed and complained that the blogs are falling further and further behind. So in an effort to remedy this situation, it was agreed that Portland should be blogged in one entry. A mighty challenge given the number of events we had in that city. But never fear, your hardly loquacious, not-even-close-to-an-English-major blogger stepped up to the plate. Here goes:

“We’ve been looking forward to your visit all summer,” Colleen’s mom told us when we arrived at the Wearn household in Portland late Tuesday evening. “Me too,” my stomach agreed as I chowed down on the feast of Mexican lasagna spread before us. A delicious breakfast spread the next morning (and the following two mornings) confirmed my tummy’s inner monologue. After the bussers were sufficiently fueled up, (with food, not veggie oil), we headed to the McCall waterfront for first of our many Portland events. A fairly uneventful morning, but we were pleased to meet many of Colleen’s friends and father’s coworkers. The afternoon saw the bus parked in front of OMSI (the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), where we met lots of very curious kids and parents. Many thanks to OMSI not only for providing us with a great parking spot, but also for the passes to BodyWorld3, which we oohed, aawed, and eewed at after we finished presenting.


Another day, another great breakfast later, we were back on the streets, spreading the word about sustainability and alternative energy. A chance meeting in the neighborhood lead to a invitation to come visit the Nike headquarters and be guests on the company’s in-house radio program: KAOS: Radio Free Nike. While the rest of the crew sat around eating doughnuts, Whitney chatted up Nike’s sustainability team on the air. Following the show, we got a tour and learned about some the company’s responsible fabrics and products. We then got to see some of those products and buy them at the employee store (I like to think making purchases as practicing what we preach, though that may be a stretch). More learning ensued at the Portland Office of Sustainable Development as our guide Mike showed us around their Gold LEED certified building. Next stop was a farmer’s market, where we again parked the bus and tabled. To end the day, we joined a group of Portlanders with alternative fuel vehicles for a parade around the downtown. The parade ended on Marshall Street, where we showed our bus off to the crowds out for First Thursday (a monthly street and gallery art exhibition).

Thus ended two days of fun in Portland. To the Wearn family: Thank you very much for your gracious hosting. Your porch is definitely vying for the top spot on my “best places to sleep while driving a big green bus around the country” list. To Colleen (who left us to start her job in Hanover): We miss you already. Good luck!

Hayley and the curious crowds at OMSI

Radio Free Whitney

-esther

fact-o-the-day: Nike's new brand, "Considered", aims to create sustainable products. All Nike footwear is created with a Sustainability Index to move toward eliminating waste and toxic substances.

The road to the Northwest...

On Monday morning we continued on to the next mini-region of our journey: the Northwest. While the beautiful states of Oregon and Washington will hold the excitement of discovery for many bus crew members, heading north is a bit of a homecoming for Whitney and Esther (who will feel at least a bit closer to Alaska) and Colleen (whose home we're headed for in Portland, OR). Regardless of our respective homelands, the thick coniferous forests and cooler temperatures are a welcome change for everyone.

Around 8am we departed the Bay Area after a grateful goodbye to our young alum hosts and headed north. Our first stop on the two-day drive to Portland was in San Rafael to visit EcoTimber and show off our fine wood floor to the staff there. In talking with them we learned that while the resources required to ship sustainable harvested wood from places like Brazil are high, these forests receive stronger local protection than neighboring preserve areas because of their economic productivity and importance. This new knowledge made us thankful of our ability to ask some tough questions about such environmental issues. For more information about EcoTimber and their products and practices, visit http://www.ecotimber.com/.

Next we visited the Benziger Family Winery in Glen Ellen, CA where they treated us to a home-cooked lunch on the terrace accompanied by several bottles of the local wine. Unfortunately Hayley and Kate were not able to partake in the drinking, while Merritt was able to sneak a few sips from his mother's glass. (Merritt's mom, fondly known as Mama Jenkins, hopped on the bus in San Francisco to spend a few days with us traveling up to Portland, OR). One thing that sets the Benziger winery apart is their commitment to maintain the health of the land and the biodynamic practices that aid in this. During our tour we visited their insectory, compost piles, recycling ponds, and caves that provide natural cooling for the wine barrels and came to appreciate how their product is distinguished from other organic wine products. Check out http://www.benziger.com/ and the June cover story of Wine Spectator for more on Benziger.

The lovely and biodynamic Benziger Winery in Sonoma, CA

After a full afternoon and evening of driving, Monday finally ended with an impromptu dinner at Applebee's and luxurious stay at a roadside inn in Ashland, OR thanks to the generosity of Mama Jenkins, who is riding along with the bus from San Francisco to Portland. Even though it wasn't in Philly, she was still able to give us a home on the road - thanks Joanne!

On Tuesday morning Colleen, Merritt, Joanne, and Whit all rose early to explore the quaint streets of Ashland before hitting the road again. Along our drive through Oregon, we also stopped at the Rogue Creamery in Medford to taste some world-renowned blue cheeses (and perhaps wish that we had bought some Benziger wine to go with). From there, Colleen took the chase car and sped ahead to her home in Portland to prepare for the arrival of the bus while the rest of the crew stayed behind to search for grease. Restaurant after restaurant had nothing suitable to offer, especially as we become more picky after some bad fuel experiences. 12 restaurants down, we finally hit jackpot with a 120-gallon haul from Wendy's. Though loaded up, we stopped to check out our first legitimate biofuels station - SeQuential Biofuels, an Oregon based biofuel provider. Not only do they provide biodiesel, diesel, unleaded and ethanol fuels for their customers, many of their stations rely heavily on solar power and also employ living roofs and bioswels to improve local water and soil quality. Their website is very informative about the benefits of biofuels and the specific products they offer: http://www.sqbiofuels.com/index.htm.

Arriving in Portland, Colleen's family greeted us and had a delicious homemake lasagna waiting to fill our stomachs for the busy days ahead - another great example of how warm, healthy food can keep us kickin'.

-whitney

The Bus explores a SeQuential biofuel station

Facts-of-the-day: Our visit with EcoTimber helped to shed some light on sustainable building and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (L.E.E.D.) certifiations. While a product like bamboo offers high yields per resource inputs and lower sale prices, hardwood aften lasts five times as long and is thus a more sustainable product. A sustainably harvested woodfloor is one component of building design that earns points towards L.E.E.D. certification. Homeowners and businesses alike strive to achieve L.E.E.D. certification through meeting standards in five areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. Patagonia, a corporate leader in environmental responsibility and stewardship, recently built a new distribution center in Reno, NV that meets L.E.E.D standards and the following link contains a video about their project and environmentally friendly building specifications. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr9WU4-NAc4

Ghetto-ade, fortune cookies and free dinner!

Sunday: our last day in San Francisco, and it certainly came too soon. The bus crew was roused bright and early at the certifiably insane hour of 4:30 am to head across the Golden Gate Bridge (alas, in the fog, so no spectacular views). Don’t fret just yet, though - we were dragged out of bed for a good cause: manning the water station of mile 7 of the San Francisco marathon. The Bus Crew was put to work pouring hundreds upon hundreds of mini cups filled with a gatorade – like substance also known by the names of Cytomax, and “Ghetto-ade.” We were joined by a great group of bikers who kept us entertained all morning. Before we knew it we were hit with the first wave of runners, clipping along at a pace that was faster than most of our sprinting speed. Apparently, running that fast doesn’t correspond with being a nice person, as we were chastised by some angry racers who vocally disapproved of our beverage dispensing methods. After a steep learning curve we were all pros and handed out cup after cup to the grateful and inspiring runners. Our cries of “electrolytes!” and “cytomax!” soon morphed into “lecterlytes?” "sattlites" "christmaslights" "psychomax" and“spiderplex!” but the runners seemed to understand. By 9 am or so we had hydrated the last stragglers and made our way back over the bridge to the finish line.

The afternoon provided bussers with some much-appreciated free time to hang out and explore San Francisco. Half the crew checked out the local brewery where Colleen’s cousin worked and then explored downtown San Francisco. A stop in Chinatown proved fruitful as the bussers returned to the apartment with a bag of homemade fortune cookies. Nearby, Lucas and Esther met up and compared buses with Ethan Burke from BioTour, another bus on a sustainble mission. The rest of the bus crew passed the afternoon visiting museums, walking in the park, and taking in the wonderful oddities of the city such as roller dancing and the people on Haight Street (the home of the hippie revolution).

As evening rolled around the bus headed out once more for a dinner provided by some more folks on a similar journey – the Udall Scholars. We were spared being tardy by catching a ride with the most crazy taxi ride ever, which was quite similar to an amusement park roller coaster ride. Everyone enjoyed the delicious dinner and interesting conversation. It was great to compare stories about life on the bus, which is certainly a unique experience. Udall - it was great to meet you and best of luck on the final stretch of your journey!

-kate

links-o-the-day: Check out our bus friends! http://www.biotour.org and http://udall10.udall.gov/

Your inner flower child says:

If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you're going to San Francisco
You're gonna meet some gentle people there

People like Crank (’06, BGB1&2), Aekta (’05, BGB1), and Hoffman (’05, BGB1), who were kind enough to open their home to us this weekend in addition to planning an alumni picnic in the park. With the bus parked grass-side we spoke to curious passers-by as well as Dartmouth alums from ’66 to ’06. But no bums, which made me a little sad. I was expecting a few hip hobos to swing by and talk to/personally inform me about electric acid kool aid. But my mood is fickle, and my mild disappointment soon disappeared. when so many of the BGB1 alums arrived at the park. I was so pleased that I forgot to sulk. Not only were we able to exchange ideas with the original Bus Crew, but us newbies also got to show off the sweet alterations that we've made on the bus (cough cough we're awesome).
It was agreed upon after much discussion however, that in a super death-dome melee, BGB1 would beat both BGB2 and this year’s BGB3 by a bone-breaking landslide. I’m not quite sure how the discussion came to this point, but the final decision was undeniable. BGB1 is Fierce (notice the capitalization of the 'F').

For those who come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there
In the streets of San Francisco
Gentle people with flowers in their hair

After an afternoon filled with sandwiches, disks tossed every which way, and more than one too many of those delicious brownie bites in my tummy, the crew parted ways for the remainder of the day. Nate, Kate, and I visited the de Young museum and explored the paths surrounding it. We strolled through the Aids memorial park and lay in the grass making flower chains that we then wore while walking down Haight Street back to the apartment. And no, we did not have to travel in Mr. Peabody's way-back time machine to achieve this…we just had to live on a bus for a while.

All across the Nation such a strange vibration
People in motion
There's a whole generation with a new explanation
People in motion people in motion

The rest of the gang beat us home after dropping the aforementioned bus off at Vista Point and taking a look-see at Fisherman’s Wharf. Once home, they quickly flaired-up and ran out…also before we returned home. Their destination? Why a flash-mob dance party that we had heard about through the grapevine of course! The entire group (a tall leprechaun Lucas, spandex pimp Merritt, scuba Esther, hottie mchottpants Colleen, and disco princess Whitney all dressed their part) met up at this impromptu chi gam, sans the raging hormones, stripper poles, and suffocating axe-fumes of course, where we danced to some bollywood tunes until our bodies could rock no more.

The Merrittbot. Go, go Merrittbot.

For those who come to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there

Our night did not end there! We were tired after appeasing the glorious gods of dance, but there was more love to spread. Our next destination was a party in the lovely grown-up-home of Susan Gordon, Natalie Allen, Libby Hadzima, and Aya Caldwell, where we found alums and friends in ever corner of the SF apartment. The Dartmouth redux lasted well into the night as we hugged, told stories, and spent time together that seemed so comfortably and wonderfully out-of-context.

Hi San Francisco. I have a crush on you.

If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a lovin’ Dartmouth there

-Hayley

One Farewell, To a Cool, Cool Bus

I write today with a tear in my eye and a catch in my throat. My time on the bus – altogether too short – has come to a close. I find myself nostalgic, sentimental, and pained to be leaving my ten compadres, our big green bus, and the little blue chase car. Tomorrow morning will find me in a car at daybreak, setting out against the horizon for a family vacation. Going from 11 people on a bus in big cities to 7 people on an island without electricity and running water, culture shock is the understatement of the year. I don’t want to wax too poetic, so I’ll sum up my bus time in a sentence – great friends, beautiful scenery, and a summer to remember.

My last full day on the bus was a good one. We started the morning at another awesome company, one of our sponsors, Clif Bar. Their headquarters were reminiscent of Google’s, and we had a great time learning about their five pillars (business, brand, planet, people, and community), their environmental initiatives, and a bus project similar to ours that they have run in the past. We stocked up again on delicious Clif Bars, making sure to grab Luna Bars for the girls and Builder Bars for the boys.

Our second stop was at the Chrissy Field Center in Golden Gate Park, where we talked to an awesome group of campers from elementary and middle schools. We promised to name some names in the blog, but since we can’t fit them all, we’ll just say that from Alex to Quinn they were all fantastic, and that we know Jacky is spelled with a “y” and one of the kids named Chris spells it Cris. We had a really fun time and loved their enthusiasm!

The night ended at the apartment of Bus alums Crank, Aekta, and Hoff, where we watched School of Rock, walked around the Haight, and played a spirited game of Celebrity. A great way to cap off my summer with the bus. I’ll miss you all dearly, and can’t wait to reconvene in the fall!

- chris

The group kicks back for some games with bus alums Crank and Aekta!

Fact-o-the-day: Clif Bar as a company has recently taken huge strides to reduce their waste by eliminating shrink wrap from their packaging, and minimizing non-recycled materials. They even make handbags out of unused wrappers!

NATE RAINES

Gooooooooogle

We awoke to our second morning on the beautiful Californian coast in Andrew Molera State Park to continue our drive up Route 1 toward the San Francisco bay. After a few low-key hours on the road listening to Jack Johnson and taking turns with the two bus copies of Harry Potter #7, we arrived in Mountain View, CA. As we awaited our main event of the day with Google, we perused REI and a pet store while taking advantage of the city wide wireless internet to catch up on logistics planning, etc.

Later that afternoon on the Google campus, Charles Baron ’05 (who works on the climate team with company’s philanthropic arm, Google.org) greeted us for our afternoon of activities. In addition to working toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the effects of climate change, Google.org also strived to combat issues of global public health, economic development and poverty. Craig ‘Crank’ Rubens ’05, Andrew Hoffman ’05 (both formers Big Green Bussers), Charlie Guthrie ’07 and Chimpo Cahill ’07 all joined us for our tour as well and provided a welcome Dartmouth reunion for our time in the Bay Area. After showing the bus to a few members of the Google.org team, we headed over to join up with transportation specialist Ward Thomas to tour the company’s evolving hybrid plug-in vehicle program and solar panel facility. There we learned that Google owns five plug-in hybrids vehicles for company use – 10% of the total such vehicles available in the world. Additionally, they're striving to meet carbon neutrality by the end of 2007 through renewable energy generation, carbon offsetting, and improving energy efficiency.

Finally, we met with Jon Murchinson ’91 - one of Google’s senior communication managers – who gave us a tour of the company’s corporate campus before leading us to the cafeteria for a great dinner. After abandoning Nate to send Chimpo and Charlie off to the Marshall Islands, we piled into the bus to drive north to Berkeley where we camped out in Nat Smith’s backyard (Dartmouth class of 2009) though he and his family weren’t home. A quiet neighborhood and beautiful view of the city lights were all we needed to end the day.

- whitney

The BGB crew goes crazy for Google!

Fact-of-the-day: Each year, Google.com spends one percent of it’s total corporate profits toward philanthropic endeavors. To combat climate change issues, they are partnering with RechargeIT, CalCars, and the Electric Power Research Institute – among many others – to develop hybrid and renewable technologies. For more information, visit http://www.google.org/.

Happy Birthday Green Bean!

July 25, 2007 = one of the best birthdays ever. A morning run in San Simeon State Park followed by the gorgeous drive up Big Sur kicked off Colleen’s 23rd birthday. Lucas—the ever-vigilant driver—spotted elephant seals off the coast, so we stopped to ogle at the blubbery 5,000-pound male seals (with trunks!) that spend the summer in Big Sur molting and fighting to establish alpha male status. We then set up camp at Andrew Molera State Park for an afternoon of chilling on the beach, reading Harry Potter, and exploring waterfalls, galleries, and spectacular vistas along the Big Sur coastline.

In honor of Colleen’s obsession with snacking, Nate and Merritt prepared hors d’oeuvres throughout the day—with a rousing round of Happy Birthday sung each time! The master chefs served delicacies such as goat cheese and sundried tomato spread, melon and prosciutto (with driftwood skewers), and a dinner finale of fresh salad, gado gado, and no-bake cheesecake! As we hung around the campsite chatting and laughing, it was decided that the BGB gang has found its groove, Colleen loves the amazing crew that gave her this best-ever birthday, and we should follow Nate in praising the glory of public land.

- colleen

Brent enjoys a day at the beach.

Fact-o-the-day: The Northern Elephant Seal is an extraordinary marine mammal. It spends 8 to 10 months a year in the open ocean, diving 1000 to 5000 feet deep for periods of 15 minutes to 2 hours, and migrating thousands of miles, twice a year, to its land based rookery for birthing, breeding, molting and rest. The Piedras Blancas rookery, on the California Central Coast, is home to about 15,000 animals. (www.elephantseal.org)

Pretttttttyyy

A morning grease stop/media event at a local McDonal’s in Santa Barbara turned into grease-snobbery, as the bus crew deemed the WVO dumpster – complete with plastic bags of old Egg McMuffins – unfit for BGB use. Splitting off from the bus, the car went to Kinkos and the hardware store to finish some tasks, while the bus went elsewhere to search for veggie oil! A brief stop at In-N-Out Burger again for lunch (they give their veggie to a local grease-car-guy) satiated the bus crew before they pushed onward and upward to a T-Bell and MickeyD’s for a good fuel stop. With bus and crew both greased up, we hit the road en route to Big Sur.

Everyone enjoyed a beautiful day of driving before stopping in San Simeon Park and Washburn campground, a bit south of Big Sur itself. We grabbed a campsite and Whitney cooked up some delicious chicken-in-a-can curry with rice that we all devoured. After dinner, a quick hike down to the beach for a beautiful sunset with the whole group. As it got colder, we bundled up, threw on our comfy Clif Bar beanies, and had a nice small fire in our hobo-style trashcan fireplace. We discussed logistics, read our books, and had a lovely night’s sleep in the crisp NorCal air. During the night, Esther sealed her place as the #1 BGB bird puncher. Well done.

- chris

The beautiful NorCal coast.

Hayley frolics in a gorgeous sunset.

Moron-o-the-day: Merritt Jenkins. Whipping people with kelp, burning himself repeatedly and intentionally on the fire, and just generally being dumb. Keep up the good work!

In-N-Out of Santa Barbara

Our final morning in Encinitas began early as we prepared for a long journey to Santa Barbara (our bus + morning L.A. traffic + seaside distractions = a full day’s drive) . We said goodbye and thank you to the Kennedys and as has become typical on early morning drives, Lucas drove while the rest of the crew slept. We made a quick detour to Malibu to drop off dear Kate for a visit with a friend, and then continued to travel north on beautiful Route 1 along the coast. Although the air was cool, the waves tempted the bussers to stop for a quick run into be waves before continuing on. With a growing afternoon hunger in our stomachs and Chris yelling “Barf want burgerrrrrr!!” from the bunks, we began our search for an In-n-Out Burger. There, Esther, Merritt, Lucas and Chris all lost their In-n-Out innocence for only $4 per person – we love California!

Our first official event in days was to take place at University of California, Santa Barbara with 60 high school students participating in the Research Mentorship Program. We rejoined the chase car carrying Frances and Colleen and cleaned the bus, set up our displays and divided into groups to educate the youngsters. Unfortunately, their plans changed and they were only able to spend one minute outside before moving on. This was slightly disappointing, but it meant that we get to save our rested A-game for another day. After a hour of random bus work including a run to Kinko’s and finally installing the quarter-rounds on our EcoTimber wood floor, we headed into the hills to stay with Carly Silverman, Dartmouth class of 2010, and her family for the night. There we were treated to a wonderful barbeque dinner and great conversation before we settled down to watch The Italian Job. A perfect end to an awesome day – thanks Silvermans!

- whitney

Merritt digs into a double-double, animal-style.

Fact-o-the-day: For those who have never had the pleasure of an In-n-Out dining experience, you’ll be happy to know that all fries are cut from potatoes in-house and their meat is also fresh, never frozen. We also discovered the joys of the secret menu thanks to Hayley’s expertise in the area and agreed that ‘Animal Style’ is the way to go with any burger.

Sunny California

After departing Las Vegas, we drove through the night to Hayley’s home in Encinitas, CA, just outside of San Diego. The cool air coming off of the ocean was a welcome sensation after spending the past week in 90 – 110 degree heat. After a group nap, Hayley’s family treated us to burgers and shakes at the 101 Diner in downtown Encinitas. Our first day in California would not have been complete without a stop at the local fruit stand to stock up on perfectly ripe cantaloupe, plums, berries and avocado. That night, Chris led Brent, Colleen, Merritt, and Kate into San Diego to watch the Padres defeat the Phillies in a close 1-0 pitchers’ duel.

Friday morning began with a plethora of breakfast choices, and I think the whole crew agreed that something as simple as cereal and cold milk never tasted so good. Next up was the long awaited trip to the beach – the Pacific Ocean, finally! – and attempts by all to get up on two feet on the Kennedy family surf boards. A few hours of playing and reading on the beach proved to be just the R&R that we all needed. Over a delicious trout dinner, Hayley’s parents Audrey and Bill (who are both former professional cyclists) kept Whitney captivated with their stories and updates on the Tour de France 2007 and paved the way for a following over the next two weeks.

Saturday morning started slow, watching the first time trial of the Tour de France and walking to Barnes and Noble to acquire some new reading material for Nate and Kate – the seventh and final installment of Harry Potter! The rest of the group hit up the thrift stores in downtown Encinitas where Esther and Merritt made some amazing finds. The day ended with a neighborhood potluck in the Kennedy’s cul-de-sac where we enjoyed some great home cooked dishes and showed off the bus to kids and parents alike.

On Sunday morning Colleen, Frances and Brent took the chase car and forged ahead to Los Angeles where they planned to spend the next night and day with various friends and family. The ladies will rejoin us on Monday in Santa Barbara, but we’ll be without Brent until we roll into his home state of Wisconsin in three weeks – farewell and take care friend! The rest of the crew spent their final full day in this sunny paradise with more thrift shopping, finishing Harry Potter, a final stint at the beach and lunch at the local burrito joint Juanita’s. We returned home to the Kennedy’s for a TV dinner around the first Pyrenees stage of the tour to watch Contador take the stage from the leader Rasmussen in the final 200 meters. We haven’t had such edge-of-your-seat excitement in recent memory and the crew’s attention over the next few days will likely be divided between following the race and plowing through Harry Potter.

- whitney

Girls and their boards!
The whole group at the beach!

What Happens In Vegas, Gets Blogged About

Las Vegas, Nevada has been called many things – Sin City, The City That Never Sleeps, The City of Lights, The Birthplace of Culture, The City of Brotherly Love, The Big Apple, etc. etc. etc. This jack-of-all trades city is many things, but there’s one thing it isn’t – cold. 110 degrees during the day, 90 at night, and I haven’t sweated this much since my last Econ final.

We rolled into Las Vegas after leaving Zion National Park – with a quick stop in nearby Hurricane, UT for a daytime viewing of the newest Harry Potter (for a few of the girls) and Transformers (the best movie ever made). After hearing that our original plan to visit the Grand Canyon wasn’t going to pan out, we called ahead and reserved rooms at The Sahara, a desert-themed Vegas-mainstay hotel on The Strip. Braving heat waves hot enough to melt the sole off of Lucas’ sandals while driving (true story), we rolled into LV with only a couple desperation stops for water and ice cream.

Las Vegas was described by Brent as the best city in the world for about 4 hours, and then pretty awful after that. We had a good time for a little longer than that, but the assessment was largely correct. We were awed, amazed, and a bit put-off at times by the extravagance of the city, although we made sure to take in all the hotels and their grandeur. The fountains at the Bellagio - set in time to God Bless America – helped ring in the first birthday of the summer! Happy birthday Frances!

The night and next day were passed in numerous ways – shopping, riding roller coasters, touring the various hotels and casinos, watching pirates do battle at Treasure Island, slipping a couple quarters into slot machines, and enjoying the famous Vegas buffets. Frances, Lucas, and Esther stopped at a nearby elementary school and presented the bus to every single kid in the school! They rejoined the rest of the crew rejuvenated and ecstatic about a successful event.

A sushi dinner for Frances’ birthday finished our Vegas stay, along with the presentation of cake, a pink cowboy hat and matching boa, a badge proclaiming “Francis” the sheriff of Las Vegas, and a “We Live On A Bus” t-shirt to top it all off. We once again packed onto the bus, and headed for cooler weather and fewer bright lights.

- chris

Merritt, Nate, and Brent fit right in at The Sahara!

The group out for Frances' birthday dinner at Ra Sushi!

Fact-o-the-day: Las Vegas is planning to build a new city center that will be LEED certified. Read more about LEED certification here: http://www.nrdc.org/buildinggreen/leed.asp

Into the Park: Adventures in Zion

The bus travels on in the land of the red rocks…

Monday and Tuesday proved just how awesome Zion really is. After a quick morning of presenting at the Canyon Community Center (along with yoga for Kate, Frances, and Esther), we returned to the campground to prepare for the day’s adventure: hiking the Narrows. At noon we set out through the canyon, joined by Ranger John (Colleen’s newly-found friend from the day before). Steep cliffs of sandstone surrounded us as we zipped past European tourists ("Bonjour" "Merritto baila con su cabeza"). As the walls narrowed, a river replaced the paved path. In we waded, happy to be in the cool water and shaded from the sun. Brent rejoiced when he found pools to swim in along the way (if its not clear by now, Brent really, really likes water). The crew joined him in his revelry, splashing and floating along. 5 hours later, we arrived back at the campground, happy, wet, and tired. To finish off a great day, we went to dinner in Springdale and enjoyed delicious fish, “forbidden rice” (I’m not sure why its called that, but I’ll be disappointed if I’m forbidden from eating again) and solar oven-cooked brownies. Many thanks to Stacy and Lyman for the meal and for showing us their beautiful sustainably-designed house.

Before continuing on our journey, part of the crew did one last hike. Taking advantage of the cool early morning air, the hikers headed to Angel’s Landing to catch the sunrise. Overcoming sheer cliffs and fear of heights, they climbed up and up and up to a view of the canyon spread below. Reports are that it was gorgeous. The rest of us slept in.

Tune in again soon as our (mis)adventures continue into the dessert…

-esther

The Bus crew poses in their sweet Ibex gear

In the Narrows with Ranger John

A shout-out to the park: The National Park Service’s commitment to sustainable practices was truly on display at Zion. A couple of our favorites included the shuttle system and the very “green” Zion Visitors Center. In 2000, a shuttle system of 30 propane-powered buses replaced the 5000 cars that would otherwise drive through the park. Zion’s Visitor Center made use of efficient materials, direction, thermal mass, native plant landscaping, and several other “green” design principles to create a sustainable building that not only reflects the beauty of the surrounding landscape, but also saves over $14,000 and 310,000lbs of carbon every year! Check out the park’s website for more on what they are doing, as well as tips on “greening” your own environment. http://www.nps.gov/zion/naturescience/green-park.htm

Fact-o-the-day: In 1999, recycling and composting activities prevented about 64 million tons of material from ending up in landfills and incinerators. Today, this country recycles 32 percent of its waste, a rate that has almost doubled during the past 15 years.

High On Mountains

An astute observation: the farther west we travel, the happier I am. The Bus Crew and the Chase car kids had a reunion in a Bryce Canyon parking lot worthy of slow motion, an open field, and an abundance of butterflies, as I had a more private reunion of my own with the browns, reds, and dry heat of the desert (insert deep sigh here). After reveling for a good 30 minutes at the fact that, for the first time ever, Brent was the stinkiest bus member of the bus, we set up shop outside of the Bryce General Store. It was a slow day for talking, but a good day for long hikes. The group split up into 3 respective groups and took in the unreal scenery. We reconvened for a family meeting in the evening over some polygamy porters. We saw 3 bambis and a jackalope….other than that I’m not quite sure what was said.
Fin!

- hayley