My little old slave house in Central City New Orleans.

Sophie workin' on her skills!! She gonna be a cooker girl.

Buying veggie oil from Kirk in Kentucky 10/3/11

Settling Into New Orleans

Getting back into the groove of life in New Orleans. It's a pretty fun place to be and once you accept something for what it is instead of wishing it was something else, things get a little easier. I was lamenting that New Orleans has no mountains or rocks, but now I am pumped to explore the bayous and swamps a little bit and see some country. And horsepens 40 is only one long days drive away if I really need to go climbing I can take a few days out of town.

Still hoping to get onto some productions here, and doing some good networking and outreach, so something will happen. Trailer is set up in the backyard of the Zeigtgeist movie place on OC Haley and will be selling wraps there in addition, I think, to the saint which is a late night bar in the lower garden dist. off of magazine. I hope to find someone who wants to stay up that late, cause I don't want to do that all the time, but it could be a good little money maker as late night food is not that good here and not that plentiful either.

Anyway, here are some more videos of life both on the road and in New Orleans. Still sorting stuff out from the road trip, part of me wants to jump back on the highway and see some more country. For now, the empress does not ride...

New Orleans!!

Made it a few days ago and have not posted yet because I don't really like typing on the ol' iphone. Made it here, looking to rock some stuff and get busy. Sophie is doing great, weather is awesome and thigns are looking good. Word!!

The Journey is Winding Down

Getting oh so close to New Orleans, within striking distance as I like to say (less than 500 miles). I am so excited to see Sophie after so many weeks away from her (my almost 4 yr. old daughter for those not in the know). Seems like it's been a long time. Also looking forward to getting back to the big easy. It takes some time getting used to that city, but it is a pretty special place. Still goin back to live in Central City, which is special because of its murder rate, but I have been pretty good about keeping my nose clean and minding my P's and Q's, so we'll keep hoping for a violence free experience. New Orleans is not the safest place, which is part of what is hard to get used to, but it's dynamic for sure. And, I have met some great people there who are fast friends for me, so that is good.

Hoping to jump onto some work ASAP once I get down there, so as to not let all of this money I made go away all quick like. It's just so wacky, driving across this huge country, pulling this big ol' booty behind me like it's so life raft or something. It's huge, and I can't believe it made it all this way without falling apart, but it did. Seems like the bracing we did in Portland helped a bit, I am sure more could be done and would not hurt.

It's been pretty cool though, meeting new people and finding veg oil along the way. Columbus was fun. Vera and Kirsten rocked hard on Final Witness. Vera was cracking my shit up, big time. You get punch drunk after working those long days, and she got me with the ol' left hook more than once. Anyway, it's hard to find closure for an adventure like this, I'll just show up in New Orleans and live life not on the road for a while, just like that. Who knows how many more miles the Empress has in her. It's tiring to do all this driving, but it is pretty fun too. More later... here's some videos of climbing in Kentucky and buying some veggie oil from Kirk in Frankfort, KY. He had a great setup for filtering. Looks like hell, but using the water heater is genius and the lawnmower trick was new to me. That's the cool thing about veggie oil, it's just people making shit up and using it to fuel their cars and trucks from common trash.

Climbing in the Red River Gorge in Kentucky!!

On the Road, in Ohio

Myself, Jason Robertson, with Rudy Bednar, Executive Producer for ABC's Final Witness airing this winter at 10 pm.  

Last day of shooting on a farm in London, OH. Cold night to be hanging out in a corn field. Hot chocolate kept 'em warm though.

Finished with Final Witness

Woah... I feel like I was hit by a freight train. Six days shooting Final Witness for ABC got me done tuckered out. But things went very well. Lots of company moves which is hard when you are the caterer and craft service person, but I was never late with a meal, which is no small task. Everyone loved the food and it was a GREAT crew to work with. Met some folks I had never worked with and enjoyed catching up with the New York peeps I did episodes 1 and 3 with. Some pictures and video will follow... Need sleep first.

The Empress in Cheyenne

Nebraska Empress

Filtering oil in Cheyenne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6vWKLAtr-M&sns=em

Made it to ohio

Exhausted but happy to have made it in one piece.
2,400 miles and only $120.00 in diesel. The rest was veggie oil!!
More videos on the search for veggie oil to come shortly.

Sidney nebraska

Made it to the Midwest! First night in a motel. Miss the walmart but oh well. Got an iPhone so will post some videos soon.

Utah

Made it to Ogden Utah and stayed at the most beautiful Walmart parking lot I have ever seen. It was awesome. I pulled in about dark and had to filter about 50 gallons of veggie oil, being careful to not spill any on the clean pavement. It was a nice warm evening and the filtering setup worked well. It takes time to filter on the road, but it's what I do. Have only spent about $50 on diesel so far for 800 miles. I was able to find a bunch of oil at a McDonald's in mountain home Idaho. Word McDonalds!!

Now it's time for scary Wyoming.

Truck fixin'

Bummer... Ball joint broke and come to find out my truck needs $1,900 worth of work for the front end. Yikes!!! Alas, better to find out now than on the road in Wyoming, still scared of Wyoming. Hoping to leave on wednesday and will have about 8 solid days to get there. C'est la vie.

Now it's jack and I

video try 2

Leaving Portland

Getting ready to head out, and testing my video uploading capabilities.

Here is me and Jack.

Almost ready to go to Ohio!!

The trailer is ready to roll again. After a great summer in Oregon I am getting ready to head out for another week of work with ABC on Final Witness in Columbus Ohio. I was driving the truck the other night and heard a loud clunk and alas, a ball joint on the front end just broke off and left me hanging on labor day weekend. Bummer... I was hoping to go climbing in city of rocks Idaho and may not be able to do that now. But I will have time to get to Ohio so that's the important thing.

I still wonder about the sanity of doing all of this driving across the country, but for now it is what I am doing. I just hope everything stays tight on the way out there and I have a safe trip. Wish me luck.

Almost to the Promised Land

We managed to scrounge up some veggie oil in Sacramento, which made a huge difference. Now fully fueled, it's on to the Pacific Northwest! We're just north of Mount Shasta, a few miles from the Oregon border. Keep on truckin'...

The Empress, parked in Tucson

Yeah Tucson!!

Rolled into Tucson today after spending the morning going to the colossal cave near town. Was awesome to be underground looking at limestone formations after being in the truck for so long. Three hard days of driving in hot conditions does tucker out a man. In Balmorhea, Texas where we camped in a nice campground, the man said it was 108 that day. Real hot... in the shade. But we made it through Texas!! We have spent approximately $80 on diesel to go about 1500 miles, the rest was veggie oil. Probably about 150 gallons of veg so far. We ran out of the stuff I had packed in the truck, and got a bit from a taco place in El Paso and from a truck stop in Wilcox AZ. At the restaurant they could not believe my truck, they said WHAT?

So, we have about 35 gallons of unfiltered oil, hope to get some more in Tucson, and filter it, hang out a bit, and head for LA this weekend. Picking up two riders who need to get to Portland. It would be impossible to travel with all of the oil you would need, and that's part of the fun is scrapping it from anywhere you can. Johnny coined the term, "That's the price you pay when you don't pay anything" when discussing the time it took to get greasy and get some oil.

It's nice to have a rest day or two, it was hard times rolling through Texas. Ex. Second day there were lots of little hills that slowed us down, and the truck would start to heat up, so we would turn off the A/C and (wait for it) crank the heat up to cool the engine, open all the windows and struggle for a while. Nutty stuff and good times. We rollin'.

The Ride Continues

We've made it almost a thousand miles so far, all the way to Las Cruces, New Mexico! It's hot as hell out here, but we're surviving. The cats are surviving too. And the trucks's holding up. So, all in all, we're in pretty good shape. Rock on...

Day One

Day one was good, real good. We made 525 miles to get within striking distance of San Antone. Johnny drove the trailer and did just fine. It's nice to have someone to split the driving with. When I rolled down to NOLA in the fall the most I did in a day was 300 miles, so we are looking good. Need to change out some tires on the truck, and she was runnin hot yesterday, but not alarmingly so. The cats were hating life, but they will survive. We gettin er done!!

The Empress Rides Again

Check out video of the trailer in New Orleans, shortly before hitting the road for the west coast. There's also quite a bit about running the truck on veggie oil. Enjoy!

Ready to rock and roll

Getting ready to bounce out of new orleans for the summer. Getting hot here, might say too hot. I remember back to last fall, feeling nervous and scared to leave Portland. A bit nervous now, but also excited to see friends and family in P-town. I want this blog to be a vehicle to promote my business, HEADWATERS CAFE and also to advocate for the use of alternative energy.

Veggie oil is used in restaurants, food carts, and cafeterias. There is no reason all of the school buses and garbage trucks in America could not use veggie oil instead of diesel. I hope to drive across the country pulling the Empress (2,900 miles) primarily on used vegetable oil. I have 125 gallons stored and ready for transport. That should get me to Los Angeles. Then, I hope to find some filtered, used veggie oil for sale at a reasonable price (usually sold for half the price of diesel) on craigslist or from some new friends. Filtering on the road can be messy, but is possible if I have the spare time.

My goal is to drive across the country for $100 in diesel. We will see. Stay tuned and please pass this along to friends, family and associates.

40 years old??

Wow, you don't look 40. I get that a lot. Don't know why, but I look young enough to not by alcohol in many places. Anyways, 40 seems pretty cool, don't feel any different, but watching my girl grow up sure marks time.

I am happy to have some prospects in New Orleans for work though. That makes me feel much better about 40. Have had two gigs this spring and hopefully another in the pipeline. Then it's the big migration westward for the summer. Not sure if I will take the trailer but it is looking like it because I want to get onto Portlandia and could not do it without the rig. So I may be looking for riders in another month to help drive the beast through Texas and Nevada to Oregon. Leaving the middle of June if anyone has their ears on out there in the blogosphere. Send a shout out.

Springtime in New Orleans

It is pretty nice here. Will get hot in a couple of months, but right now it is super nice, no humidity, highs around 80 and lows in the 60's. Been selling food around town out of my truck and am doing okay with it. It's a stopgap measure until the film world discovers me, but I am making some money for now, so it's better than a kick in the head. Moved into my tiny apartment and am settling in here. A little sad not to see Sophie every day, but I see her most days and it is a little nice to have some more free time. I will never be back with Valerie, so might as well make the best of it. We are getting along very well and that is good enough for me right now. Getting tired of making chicken wraps, but am actually getting a little bit of a rep around town, people are starting to recognize me from Frenchmen or the Kingpin, etc. It's a fun freaky thing to do, and there are lots of folks who are digging the food, so it's a worthwhile venture. I want to get the trailer out and about, but need to get it licensed and have a bodyguard on duty in the Marigny. In due time. I miss Portland, sometimes terribly, but the weather here is nice.

Settling into New Orleans

Haven't written in a long time, if anyone is still checking this I still have a pulse. Have been in NOLA now for almost three months. I continue to meet some cool people and have had moderate success here financially. I am ready to up the ante and really put myself out there. The reason I came here was to get work in the motion picture industry and that's what I still aim to do. I have had one gig so far at the SecondLine Stages with an out of town company that featured Jeremy Schockey from the New Orleans Saints. He was in my trailer and liked the food, although he would not eat any of the beets I had roasted. His loss. Some other highlights include:
Working with Beaucoup Juice and Dylan Williams doing festivals and cafe work.
Meeting some key people like Lee and Adam at the O.C. Haley Art Market and talking about setting up a Veggie Oil collective for gathering and filtering veggie oil for fuel. (Big one).

I hope to continue to meet people who are excited about my rig and want to actually hire onto some projects so that I can continue to cook amazing food and help people get on with doing their jobs. Whether it is craft service or catering, I am ready to dazzle and inspire.