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Day 3: Line brick Line, frozen filter and hot springs

During the morning news on the TV at the Town House Inn in Havre, the national weather referred to Cutbank, MT (just west of our route) as the coldest point in the lower 48 on Monday night/Tuesday morning. Mighty cold on the Hi-Line and not expected to get warm real soon.

Truck started right up on our rear tank, a 50/50 blend of summer/winter diesel and we headed to MSU-Northern. As usual we did not know which building to go to, so we called the operator. “Brick, line, brick, line, Brick” said Greg as we described the rear entrance of the Helsner Center at the school.

The MSU show went very well, with a more serious crowd than usual, as many of the attendees came from Northern’s renowned diesel program. Lots of interest by the students and lots of tough questions. As always, Jason present our ag for Montana message well and made sure the crowd had a few laughs while they enjoyed his tunes.

We asked, “what would you guys need to do biodiesel testing here at the school?” Professor Stilger responded simply “more Money”. His wishes and ours were answered that morning as we got word that money for biodiesel testing was included in the Governor Schweitzer’s budget request for 2007.

Greg worked on the Real Food story as we presented to the crowd. Message came during the show that Harlem schools were closed due to drifting snows. Our event was cancelled and we suddenly had some extra time. We stopped for lunch at the Plainsman, 15 miles east of Havre. We were feeling very good about our progress, but not worrying too much about the -35 below zero wind chill outside. While finishing our meal and going through many songs on the jute box, the truck, which we had left on idle, went dead. Because of a low idle (our idle screw was missing), the metal and fuel of the fuel filter got too cold and stopped the flow from our biodiesel tank. In addition the batteries were almost dead on account of the lights being on. A lesson learned for all of us. We had no way to warm our filter and ultimately had to have the Vegi hauled back to a shop in Havre to thaw, which forced us to miss the Malta show. Funny enough the tow truck that came to pick us up got stuck in a snow drift

Back on our way, we topped of our winter tank with type 1 diesel; this was absolutely necessary due to the severity of the weather and need to travel in the late evening. Not a reflection on Biodiesel, super cold and summer diesel (type 2) would be in trouble right now too, need to add thermometer to our tanks to monitor effect. Great opportunity with the cold to know what to do to improve our system.

Some in the group had a little concern for the trip and lost some moral with the lost show and delay, but came together well and enjoyed some warmth between the drifts at The Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs Resort which was kind enough to leave the door open for us after the end of office hours. Cool place, sort of rustic but had great character. To get to the Resort there was some adventure with white out conditions from time to time on US 2.


Day 3 Quotes:

“Those diesel program boys sure did know a lot about diesel.”
- JD

“You guys had to be on your game with that crew.” -GL

“today it was colder than Plentywood.” – JD

“Ough gees……………don’t put that as quote………….. folks up on the Hi-Line really ready to help us out in some pretty cold weather, especially our tough friend Bob” – Kyle

“It’s the building with the Brick, line brick, line brick pattern”. – GL

“…friendly folks, high winds cold chills, good time – LUV

“At last the adventure has truly begun, today was an adventure – LUV

“NPR followed by rap” – Radio station from Fort Belknap

“That hot springs would have been the perfect place to thaw out those apple ciders” – GL

Today I remembered why I crave those raw, harsh adventures. It is about those people you get to work with that get you through. - Matt

MSU Northern's new diesel work area



Matt and Kyle talk with the crowd



Presenting in the classroom at MSU-Northern

(Click for Photos from Great Falls Show)

Biodiesel Montana Tour Day 2: Great Falls to the Hi-Line


Monday morning found the Tour in Great Falls. Extremely cold weather had descended over northcentral Montana with colder temps to come on the journey. All of the fuel in the bed of the truck had frozen solid and the equipment was covered over with a light dusting of snow. The crew ventured into the cold to visit Great Falls High School where they put on two shows in the school’s shop. About forty students attended each session along with a few members of the greater Great Falls community. The students were still a bit groggy from their Thanksgiving break but were attentive to the show. A couple of students seemed genuinely interested in our presentation and one student had the crew autograph a CD for him. Jason treated the crowd to five songs including a cover of an Eminem song.

After some technology bugs were worked out in Great Falls the crew once again hit the road. The roads were relatively dry from Great Falls to Box Elder but then the snow started to pick up. And on a breezy night on the Hi-Line that means everytime a big truck passes the road whites out. On an extremely cold night in northern Montana a show was performed at Stone Child College on the Rocky Boy Reservation. Despite some last minute planning the show worked out well. The five brave folks who ventured out were treated to a strong show with a personalized touch.

In Havre on a brutal night a dude, named Sleet, was riding his bike down the main street in a snow storm, cold temperatures and wind. Kyle ran out in only his T-shirt to greet him.

Crew quotes from Day 2:

Got to work in a warm shop (Great Falls High) where we were able to rearange and dry out.
- K-Luv

I heard it ain’t gone platinum yet but its gone aluminum.
– JD, Refering to SAVE’s Hippie Ki Yi Yea album


Looks like a moonshine operation.
– Attendee of Stone Child show

Kyle came into his own as a biodiesel presentere.
– Matt

Biodiesel Tour Day 1: Final Preparation and the Angus Bar

Biodiesel Montana, edition number two, will cross northern Montana over the next week, following US2 eastbound and MT 200 westbound. The crew of five participants will visit sixteen communities over the next seven days. Crew members include Caleb Cantwell-Frank (K-Luv), Jason DeShaw, Matt Elsaesser, Greg Lambert, and Kyle Perkins. The primary mission of the tour is to promote the use of biodiesel as a viable alternative energy resource, especially in a great agricultural state like Montana. The tour provides communities and schools with an informative presentation on the small scale production of biodiesel. In addition to the biodiesel presentations country singer Jason DeShaw, of Plentywood, MT, wows the crowds with his “old time” country performances. Earlier this year the first edition of Biodiesel Montana took place in late February and visited communities from Missoula to Miles City.

This second edition of Biodiesel Montana began yesterday, Sunday. Before the ‘epic’ journey began the participants and the “Vegimobile” were blessed by Father Eric Gilbaugh of the St. Helena Cathedral. Following the blessing a humorous moment occurred when country singer Jason DeShaw asked another priest present at the ceremony if there was a blessing for country musicians, the priest simply responded “in fact son there is, it’s called an exorcism.”

After a busy day of final preparations the crew set out on a chilly November afternoon from Helena and made their first tour stop in the small central Montana community of Cascade. The first show of the tour was a success as the small but lively crowd at the Angus Bar was enthusiastic for both the country music and the biodiesel demonstration. Most promising was the attendance of a local farmer who plans to grow about fifteen acres of camolina crop next summer. His intention is to use the oil from the crop to make biodiesel to fuel his vehicles. Overall the Angus Bar show was a great kickoff to the tour, filling the crew with optimism for the long journey and many stops that lay ahead.

The night ended in Great Falls where the crew rested in surprisingly posh surroundings at the Holiday Inn. Kyle though, not surprisingly, still found the floor to be the best place to sleep.

The crew provided the following quotes on the kickoff show at the Angus Bar:

Great crowd enjoyed Jason’s show and the Biodiesel with lots of great questions. Including one that related to S.A.V.E.’s legislative agenda for small-scale biodiesel. Truck ran great. Roads were okay. Well received from the start. – Matt Elsaesser

Enthusiastic crowd. - K - Luv

A welcoming crowd of local residents showed enthusiasm as they danced and sang along with country classics. Interactive process was well received as the crew passed the bottle of biodiesel around the bar. - K - Luv

Jokes well received by the crowd. – Jason DeShaw

Ideal mix of entertaining the crowd and providing education to those interested in biodiesel. – Matt

We figured we could drink the biodiesel. – Local at the bar.

Click here for full schedule and more information.

Tour updates to be posted daily.

- BioMT II