Saturday 7th April
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUZANNE – the greasers celebrate the first of what will be 4 birthdays on this trip. After an early start, the crew continued driving south to Mexico City. The girls took on the Slug as a mobile office, since it is the only car with a multi socket inverter and working lighter socket. With Suzanne playing her new guitar acquired in Austin with a special “Willie” discount, the girls started writing the Greaseball theme song to the tune of Ring of Fire with a Mexican twist.
Rolling on in the hot sun, the Greasers pulled over for a quick loo stop at a roadside restaurant. A 5 minute rest turned into a 3 hour layover when Ole Yeller refused to start. After fearing the fuel pump had finally died stranding us in the middle of nowhere, Jacko suggested it might be a blocked fuel filter. After some rummaging around in the trunk, we found a new filter and Jacko replaced it with Bjornar’s help priming the filter with fresh BioWillie biodiesel. The car was soon running again with the smell of popcorn wafting into the air. After a slap up lunch of fried chicken, salad and fresh guacamole, we were back on the road.
Now we’re 200 kilometers from Mexico City, expecting to get into town in time to pick up Dan and Bing who are arriving from Seattle and Washington DC to join the Greasers on the road. Hot jalapenos! We can’t wait. Two more mechanical geniuses to nurse us through the next few weeks and give Ben and Jacko a break!
Tonight the Greaser’s will be partying for Suz’s birthday and getting down to some serious work on Sunday morning with another greasestop at the Mexico City Hard Rock Café. Unless something unexpected happens before then....
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Friday, April 6, 2007
Border Crossing - into Mexico!
Friday 6th April
After another long night of driving, the Greasers found a hotel in Corpus Christi called “El Tropical” and opened the beers. The usual banter continued in the motel corridors as the Greasers exchanged stories about friends and family back home.
They managed to set off at 9am (which is remarkable) considering there are now 12 people (including the film crew) and start the long drive towards the Mexican border. We decided on crossing at Brownsville as apparently this is a lot easier than the other crossing we were looking at – Laredo – where 4 sheriffs have been gunned down in drug battles in recent times. Also now leaving the USA, we realize that we need to adjust our driving schedule so that we are on the road early in the morning and off my dusk.
The Flying Burrito Brothers had the first blow out of the trip. With Jacko behind the wheel, the rear tire exploded with the force of a small bomb but they managed to pull over and to a tire change in 20 minutes. Safely back on the road and catching up with the girls, we all joined in convoy and headed for the border.
Once at the border, Emily needed to sell two of the cars fast...In Mexico, the owner of the vehicle has to be in the car at the border crossing, and since Emily “owned” all 3 cars that presented a slight problem. So, with a quick sale of the Slug, the white Mercedes to Ben & Jacko ($200) and the Van to Bjornar ($3500), deeds where written on the back of a serviette and deal done. Everything else went relatively smoothly although the film crew had to go back to the US side to declare all of the camera equipment. which gave the Greasers time to catch up on playing frisbee and establishing a new skipping champion, Ben.
Paperwork done, the Greasers cruised into Mexico heading south to Ciudad Victoria through spectacular rolling hills and the sunset topped off with mole chicken and bed.
After another long night of driving, the Greasers found a hotel in Corpus Christi called “El Tropical” and opened the beers. The usual banter continued in the motel corridors as the Greasers exchanged stories about friends and family back home.
They managed to set off at 9am (which is remarkable) considering there are now 12 people (including the film crew) and start the long drive towards the Mexican border. We decided on crossing at Brownsville as apparently this is a lot easier than the other crossing we were looking at – Laredo – where 4 sheriffs have been gunned down in drug battles in recent times. Also now leaving the USA, we realize that we need to adjust our driving schedule so that we are on the road early in the morning and off my dusk.
The Flying Burrito Brothers had the first blow out of the trip. With Jacko behind the wheel, the rear tire exploded with the force of a small bomb but they managed to pull over and to a tire change in 20 minutes. Safely back on the road and catching up with the girls, we all joined in convoy and headed for the border.
Once at the border, Emily needed to sell two of the cars fast...In Mexico, the owner of the vehicle has to be in the car at the border crossing, and since Emily “owned” all 3 cars that presented a slight problem. So, with a quick sale of the Slug, the white Mercedes to Ben & Jacko ($200) and the Van to Bjornar ($3500), deeds where written on the back of a serviette and deal done. Everything else went relatively smoothly although the film crew had to go back to the US side to declare all of the camera equipment. which gave the Greasers time to catch up on playing frisbee and establishing a new skipping champion, Ben.
Paperwork done, the Greasers cruised into Mexico heading south to Ciudad Victoria through spectacular rolling hills and the sunset topped off with mole chicken and bed.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Pacific biodiesel plant, Texas
Pacific Biodiesel in Texas - we had a great tour and learnt how to make biodiesel from cotton seed.
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