Plants & HouseWell, we’ve moved again. This time it wasn’t far. We are now in Mendocino Village, about 10 miles south of Fort Bragg. Mendocino is where we wanted to move when we first visited the area, so we’re really happy where we’re at now. The town is historical and really cute, and we’re right up the hill from town, just a short walk or bike ride away. While we no longer have redwoods on the property where we live, we do have an ocean view, plenty of sunshine, and lots of room for an organic garden!

The volksvegan has taken us on a few small adventures this summer. We went to Sierra Nevada World Music festival for a day, and Reggae Rising for a day. It sure is nice to be able to roll into a festival, pop the top and have a cozy home base to camp in. We haven’t taken the bus on any long road trips this summer though, because she needs a bit of work. The glow plugs have burned out again (grrr!) and the muffler still needs to be replaced with a heavier duty one that won’t fall apart. We’re hoping to have her fixed in time for Okanogan Family Faire in October, where the bus makes a great camping spot as well as a vending booth (thanks to our canopy that attaches to the side), and we also plan to go to Earthdance a little closer to home.

We finally found a grease source nearby! A sushi restaurant in Fort Bragg has agreed to let us collect their waste veggie oil. Now we need to get a new barrel and test out our filtration system. We are very excited about this, because it has been difficult to find restaurants that didn’t already give their used oil to a greaser! California has a lot more veg-oil powered cars than Idaho. That’s a good thing, but it makes used oil harder to find. With the price of diesel and bio-diesel lately though, jugs of virgin veggie oil from Costco might be cheaper!

OhmWe are also dreaming about Volksvegan II, a second bio-powered VW we hope to get. We’d like to sell our small gas car and get a newer VW Jetta TDI. We use the small car to run errands that are too far to ride or walk, and to visit our community garden plot and friends in Fort Bragg. Jetta TDIs get great gas mileage since diesel engines are more efficient, and they’re bio-diesel ready. There is a bio-diesel collective about an hour from us that delivers large quantities, so with two Volksvegans we might use enough to warrant having it delivered.

We love our new home. The Mendocino coast is full of like-minded and eco-conscious people. I see Priuses everywhere, organic gardening is popular, and there are many great local environmental organizations. We’ve been going to a drum circle on the beach every Friday, making new friends, growing organic food in the community garden, and spending lots of time outdoors in the redwoods and on the beaches. I’ve found a tree-hugger’s paradise. So despite my urge to travel in the volksvegan, I don’t think we’ll be going too far for a while.