The continuing saga of the Cross Country E85 trip….courtesy of Bradley Westrum, blogging his way across the USA in a flex-fuel Chevrolet….still working on getting some pictures to go with these posts.
March 08-06 – Today we got up around 5:15 to get ready for our big press day in Ankeny, Iowa. Arriving at the gas station around 6:30 we started to take interviews. KCCI Channel 8 News was there to do a live broadcast, as well as the Fort Dodge Messenger, and the Farm Bureau Spokesman. We talked to Van and Bonnie of WHO radio, Doug Cooper on WOI radio news show, and KJAN radio in Atlantic, via cell phone. Sponsors that were in attendance to the fill up in Ankeny were the American Lung Association, National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Representatives from General Motors, and Karl Chevrolet. Senator Beall from Fort Dodge, Iowa paid for the fuel and filled the Avalanche’s tank. After spending a few hours at the Kum&Go doing lots of interviews, we got back on the road. We filled in Council Bluffs, IA then headed for Nebraska where we filled up in North Platte. In North Platte, we found out that the roads were questionable due to a major storm sweeping across the Midwest. After filling the tank, we booked it to Sidney, NE where we would decide whether to keep going on or not.
When we got to Sidney we stopped at a truck stop, where we heard that I-80 was closed at Cheyenne, Wyoming. Cheyenne was where we planned to drive to and spend the night in anyway, so we decided to brave the storm and head west. The roads were just wet, and it rained and snowed on us the most of the way, but the roads stayed decent. We stopped at a rest stop between Sidney and Cheyenne and it turned into a huge snowball fight, being that it has been a while since we have seen snow in Iowa. Thankfully we pulled into Cheyenne a little after 7:30 Mountain time, and filled up the tank, paying the lowest price of the trip, $1.74, an amazing $0.37 lower than regular fuel. Trying to find a hotel during a storm turned out to be a daunting task, but we were successful on our third try, and thankful that we were not forced to sleep in the Avalanche.
Tomorrow our task is to get across the Rocky Mountains, where a storm is expected, but more on that on tomorrow’s blog.