HalloweenWe have been having too much fun in Moscow to leave just yet. After the barter faire, we decided to stay until Halloween so we could go to the Modest Mouse concert in Spokane with some friends. So we prepared some fun costumes: Seneca went as Jesus (he already has the perfect hair and beard, so his costume was easy) and I went as an angel.

The Modest Mouse show was awesome and it was a great performance. We hung out in Spokane for the night before heading back to Moscow. We have been catching up with all our friends, playing disc golf, and visiting our old favorite places while we’ve been here, and time has flown by. We’re now contemplating our next steps, not wanting to end our adventure just yet but facing the fact that eventually we’ll have to settle down.

Seneca and I want to live somewhere that fits us, somewhere that is environmentally conscious, naturally beautiful, and full of inspiring people and things to do. We have now narrowed our search, deciding to live in Northern California, somewhere near the Mendocino coast we fell in love with during our journey. We’ve started researching real estate possibilities and looking for places to rent until we can save up enough to buy some land and build a sustainable home. And we’ll be heading that way shortly, after stopping in Boise and possibly making a detour through the desert and the Southwest. It’s getting cold up here, so we’re hoping to hit the road in the next couple of days.

We have really learned a lot on this trip, and although I really didn’t know what to expect, it has certainly turned out to be the road trip of a lifetime. It’s been an interesting process and a project, as well as a learning experience.

We have learned a lot about sustainable travel and grease in particular. It has been difficult to find good grease sources on the road, although biodiesel is becoming more and more popular. We’ve decided that grease is actually easier when you have a home base (and a garage) with a regular source of waste veggie oil that has time and room to settle before filtering and processing. Settling allows the hydrogenated fats to separate from the usable vegetable oil, and is an important part in the process that quick on-the-road fill ups skip. So we’re hoping to improve our knowledge and continue to expand our use of WVO when we settle down and get serious about it.

For now, the journey continues. We’ll see what’s around the bend!