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