We drove through some pretty territory getting here to Salt Lake City. At our midday fuel stop you could see some snow on the mountain tops around us.
I know I’m promoting ethanol on this trip but I hope these big diesel rigs can find some biodiesel somewhere along the way too!
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
Our first major fueling stop on the highway Saturday was this Travel Center of America truck stop.
With 17 vehicles and a busy truck stop this was not a short one. I asked inside and unfortunately this is one stop with no ethanol being blended with gasoline. We have several stops across the country on our agenda that do. I figure it never hurts to ask though. That’s one way we can all help communicate our desire to have a renewable and clean burning fuel like ethanol become more and more a part of our fuel supply.
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
Hello from Salt Lake City. Yesterday was a long travel day and tomorrow will be too. This morning I had to get organized and find an internet access spot that works. I’m on my 4th location which is a Sheraton hotel and it’s working!
Before we kicked off one of our convoy sponsors, XM Satellite Radio, provided all the convoy participants with radios. I’m sure it was just so we could check news and weather right?
I had brought along my Sirius radio so after talking it over, XM VP Roderick McKenzie and I thought a cross country comparison would be an interesting side line to the highway adventure. I interviewed Roderick so you can learn about some of the interesting data applications XM is working on, some of which are being demonstrated on this trip with some special GPS/Satellite radio receivers.
My Sirius receiver is a Clarion plug-n-play and the XM one is a Delphi Roady. One thing I noticed quickly was that when I go under an overpass I lose Sirius service until I’m out the otherside. I never did with the XM. I’m sure I’ll have more comparisons for you soon.
Here’s my interview with Roderick: 
Roderick McKenzie Interview (11 min MP3)
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
It’s the end of the day here in Reno. Tomorrow it’s on to Salt Lake City with an early departure.
I’m sure we’ll be passing some beautiful countryside like this.
Our schedule says we’ve got a 9 1/2 hour trip (520 miles) and a dinner after we arrive. My guess is this means you won’t see a fresh post from me until Sunday. I’ll be thinking about you though.
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
When we got to Reno, NV today our first stop was the National Automobile Museum. We were welcomed by state Senator Bill Raggio.
Senator Raggio said good things about the highway system and that there are challenges looking into the future, especially as it relates to issues like funding.
You can listen to Sen. Raggio here: Nevada Sen. Bill Raggio Remarks (4 min MP3)
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
As is normally the case for me when I’m out and about, I’ve got way more pictures than I can ever post for you. At the conclusion of this 2 week cross country adventure I’m going to post a Flickr photo album for you that will have lots of interesting photos.
Here’s one as we were on the way past Sacramento toward Reno. This is what’s been in my rearview mirror all day. That’s a big motor coach.
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
This is what my view was like as we left San Francisco this morning. Looking at the rear end of a vintage Hudson. I’ll have more on it and the driver in a future post.
To help you get a feel for what it was like I had to shoot a video clip. This is definitely not recommended by the state troopers who you will see.
You can watch it here: 
Rolling Through Town (3 min WMV)
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
One of the primary sponsors of the cross country interstate celebration is Firestone. They are well represented by the great grandson of Harvey Firestone, Andrew. Andrew made remarks this morning at our kickoff ceremony.
It was a bright morning hence the shades.
Andrew says his family was there from the beginning of the interstate system. In fact, he pointed out that without these great highways, we wouldn’t have been able to get our kicks on Route 66.
Listen to what Andrew had to say here: Andrew Firestone Remarks (2 min MP3)
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
I just missed the ribbon cutting ceremony after which we had to start our engines and take off on the highway today. It was held in front of this truck which proudly displays the reason we’re travelling cross country this month.
You can see the name Firestone and I’ll have more about that name in the next post.
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
Kicking things off this morning for the AASHTO cross country convoy was our U. S. Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta.
Sec. Mineta is from California so this was a homecoming speech in a way. He spoke about then Lt. Col. Dwight Eisenhower’s historic trip in 1919 which showed the need for a road system in the U.S. and how we now have a system of highways that is the envy of the world.
I recorded Sec. Mineta’s comments which you can listen to here: Sec. Norman Mineta Speech (10 min MP3)
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
