It's day two on the road. Between the seven of us we've been pretty much non-stop on the trail. About every four hours we stop to refill the tank with veggie oil and switch drivers. We've been running on veggie since we threw the switch in Chicago. The longest we've turned off the ignition has been a half an hour and the engine has still been warm enough upon our return to stay on veggie. The refill process is becoming routine though we did manage to spill about a half gallon on oil in the back of the bus on our first attempt. We started with four 55 gallon drums and are now on the second one. To fill up we open up the back of the bus and run a hose from the drum to the fuel tank. There's a hand pump in the drum and when it is cranked it moves the veggie oil from the drum into the fuel tank. It's a messy process and we are all soaked in oil at this point. The good news is well be the most well oiled boys on the playa when we arrive.
Ragnarok is extremely comfortable. We've three couches, a swivel chair, and a table that can sit four. It's more than enough room for the seven of us. All of the camp gear is on the top roof rack and in the back half of the bus with the drums of veggie. For those of you who have not been on the playa it may seem odd but we've eliminated most bathroom stops by pissing into a large water bottle at the front entrance of the bus. This, of course is standard procedure on the playa if its late at night and you don't want to trek to the johnny on the spot. I learned how to lean into the front seat the last time I was pissing after falling into the doors of the bus. Good thing the latch on the doors is pretty stable as I would have gone flying out onto I-80 with my pants around my ankles.
I bought the bus a little fridge that plugs into the cigarette lighter and though we've had a rough time getting all our various cigarette lighter devices up and running at the same time, the fridge has managed to allow for cold beer and red bull while we're on the road. We have a nice collection of comfort items as well. There are a few Ganeshas, the laptop I'm writing on, iPods galore, chess, checkers backgammon, a handful of good books and a few really nice cycling globe lights that provide a sweet ambiance in the night. I've had my new digital camera out and snapping continuously. I'll do my damnedest to get some pictures online soon.
The crew on the bus are simply the best. There's Bucky, Alex, Matty, Jason, King, John and me. Everyone's got a great work ethic and we've been operating like a tight pit crew every time we stop to refill. You can cut the camaraderie with a knife. Everyone is so thrilled that you can almost always catch one of us looking about in awe. We're living the fuckin' dream right now and it shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. We're already plotting next year's playa exploits. The guns keep getting bigger, the mission more vital, and the tower more pronounced on the horizon.
So we're way ahead of schedule at this point and depending on how the bus runs when we get into the mountains we'll actually be able to get a motel room in reno and get a little R and R before hitting the playa. We're kickin' ass here kids. When we hit the playa we've going to get straight to work on setting up our 30' dome. We may have the camp all ready by the time the rest of the kids roll in on Sunday. I'll check in with the Rangers and set up my mentored shifts and then get my Rangering schedule for the rest of the week. I'm going to do the minimum as far as shifts go as I want to spend as much time running about with the Vikings as possible. I'm going to try and work a few shifts at the Sanctuary and will have a blast working when they burn the man on Saturday night.
Alright, there we are at the moment. We just recently rolled into mountain time zone. Our next stop will be Cheyenne, which is half way there! I'll try to get this posted ASAP but that depends on our stopping at a place with a wireless connection and that's just not a priority. Many thanks and much love to all those who are still at home. You have no idea how much we wish you were here with us and no idea how we're going to ride you to get to Black Rock City next year.
In love and light,
~Renegade
Posts
