Day Nine, Saturday, March 18 (Rudolf Diesel’s Birthday) Philadelphia, PA / Belmar, NJ / Coney Island, NY
The first thing in the morning, we found out that this was Rudolf Diesel’s birthday. So, Rebekah, Charlie and I decided to take advantage of this amazing coincidence and dedicate our journey to Mr. Diesel by finishing our cross-country trek a day early.
Most people don’t know this, but Rudolf Diesel originally designed his engine to run on plant (peanut) oil – not petroleum. It was befitting that we finish our 3,300-mile journey, running on nothing but plant oil, on Diesel’s birthday.
At Reedman – Told Chevrolet outside of Philadelphia, I was interviewed on The Bald Guy and Linda Radio Show, which is broadcast from Golden, CO to several Western markets. The Bald Guy has supported our quest right from the start. After the interview, we took the most direct course to the coast.
This took us to the beautiful beach community of Belmar, New Jersey.
For weeks, PR expert Carole Bartholomeaux (www.b-pr.com) has worked diligently to have media coverage of our event. Truth told, we did this journey to bring media and public attention to alternative fuels like vegetable oil and E85 Ethanol. Yet, when we finished our journey, Charlie, Rebeka, Paul (our camera guy) and I stood on the beach alone, with no media attention.
How could the media overlook such an important event? We just drove 3,300 miles on American-made cooking oil and corn-brewed Ethanol (or as we affectionately call it, “fry grease and moonshine”). To us, this was historic. Where were the cameras? Where were the reporters?
Just as all hope was lost, a man and woman came up and hugged us. They saw the P-100 and E85 signs on our trucks and commented, “We think what you are doing is incredible. Thank you. This country needs to use more alternative fuels.”
More people gathered. Similar accolades were bestowed upon us. Similar support was shared. Soon, we had a small gathering of people of all types wanting to know how a 6,000-pound pickup truck could run on cooking oil, and how a luxury SUV could run on Ethanol.
Then, it occurred to me. People want alternative fuels. So, if small grass-roots gatherings happen wherever we take our trucks, we’re going to continue with this mission. Hopefully, the media will catch on, but in the mean time, we’ll talk with anyone interested in our quest.
Later that evening, we drove to Coney Island, NY.
There, our coast-to-coast trip ended as we dipped the front tires of both trucks into the Atlantic Ocean. Happy Birthday Rudolf Diesel! Thank you nuVision Financial. Thank you General Motors.
Most people don’t know this, but Rudolf Diesel originally designed his engine to run on plant (peanut) oil – not petroleum. It was befitting that we finish our 3,300-mile journey, running on nothing but plant oil, on Diesel’s birthday.
At Reedman – Told Chevrolet outside of Philadelphia, I was interviewed on The Bald Guy and Linda Radio Show, which is broadcast from Golden, CO to several Western markets. The Bald Guy has supported our quest right from the start. After the interview, we took the most direct course to the coast.
This took us to the beautiful beach community of Belmar, New Jersey.For weeks, PR expert Carole Bartholomeaux (www.b-pr.com) has worked diligently to have media coverage of our event. Truth told, we did this journey to bring media and public attention to alternative fuels like vegetable oil and E85 Ethanol. Yet, when we finished our journey, Charlie, Rebeka, Paul (our camera guy) and I stood on the beach alone, with no media attention.
How could the media overlook such an important event? We just drove 3,300 miles on American-made cooking oil and corn-brewed Ethanol (or as we affectionately call it, “fry grease and moonshine”). To us, this was historic. Where were the cameras? Where were the reporters?
Just as all hope was lost, a man and woman came up and hugged us. They saw the P-100 and E85 signs on our trucks and commented, “We think what you are doing is incredible. Thank you. This country needs to use more alternative fuels.”
More people gathered. Similar accolades were bestowed upon us. Similar support was shared. Soon, we had a small gathering of people of all types wanting to know how a 6,000-pound pickup truck could run on cooking oil, and how a luxury SUV could run on Ethanol.
Then, it occurred to me. People want alternative fuels. So, if small grass-roots gatherings happen wherever we take our trucks, we’re going to continue with this mission. Hopefully, the media will catch on, but in the mean time, we’ll talk with anyone interested in our quest.
Later that evening, we drove to Coney Island, NY.
There, our coast-to-coast trip ended as we dipped the front tires of both trucks into the Atlantic Ocean. Happy Birthday Rudolf Diesel! Thank you nuVision Financial. Thank you General Motors.
posted by Tom Holm at 4/03/2006 09:23:00 AM
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