Dust storms....not

Since I reached the California desert before crossing into Arizona, there have been big electronic and stationary warning signs about dust storms. I’ve seen them before but because there’s so much wind and wind gusts, I’m paying closer attention. Travelers are told to pull over, turn off engine, and take foot off brake – to wait inside the vehicle until visibility has returned.

So when I drive through the rest of Arizona and enter New Mexico, as it’s getting dark, I feel the truck getting sluggish and wonder if the elevation is increasing – I think it is but I try to switch to diesel to test it, and my truck seems to go as fast in diesel as it is in veggie oil.

I want to make it to El Paso to visit chosen family but soon I’m just trying to make it to Las Cruces, as there’s a rest stop there that I love.

Not only is my truck sluggish, but I’m starting to see bits of dust flying around so I REALLY want to get to the rest stop. It’s cold and dark but I don’t realize exactly how cold it is until I stare more closely at the dust particles and suddenly I see that it’s not dust but fuckin snow – yes, snow in southern New Mexico, almost to Las Cruces.

I am barely able to get the truck to go 45 mpg, then 40, then 35. Switching to diesel makes it stall out completely, which I can’t afford to do on the highway.

I pass a Love’s truck stop, debating whether I should forget trying to make it another 7 miles to the rest area and spend the rest of the night at the truck stop. I decide I can’t cope with a bunch of 18 wheelers running their engines all night, and what’s another 7 miles but by the time I crawl into the rest area, I see unfuckinbelievely that the fuckin snow is sticking. I’m able to just barely swing off the road onto the shoulder behind another truck when my engine dies.

I’m unable to restart it so I can’t run diesel through the hoses and I know this bodes very bad for starting tomorrow. I can only hope it is not as cold as I think it is – veggie oil doesn’t like to run under 40 degrees and it has to be at least 32 in order for there to be snow.

I have to walk about 2 long blocks to get to the bathrooms and pass two lanes of trucks, many idling as they wait for the sun to come up.

Oh no, more veggie oil tsores....

After a quiet night, I get up to witness a beautiful sunrise and head to the Y. I mapquest a different Harbor Freight that is near a Trader Joes and close to I-10. They have my pump and I also invest in a large pair of pliers to make changing connections easier for me.

I switch to diesel on my way to Trader Joes so I can stop in the parking lot and pump veggie oil after purchasing my jumbo eggs, which I’m delighted to report they have!

I can’t fuckin believe that the beautiful clear oil I purchased and pumped into my tanks in California is now a thick creamy consistency that slowly travels through the new pump and into my tank.

In a panic, I try to get ahold of Shaz to find out why it’s so thick but he’s not available. My go-to mechanic who has always been available to help me thinks maybe it has gotten colder and solidified – but it was not hot in CA when I pumped it and it never solidified. It is not that cold here in Phoenix so I continue pumping – actually it only takes less than two hours to fill my tank.

The oil never gets clear so Craig thinks maybe there’s lard in it or coconut oil, even though the top of the oil still looks clear and not solidifying.

I cross my fingers and head out – I need to make it to Yalui Village as soon as I can and to Brownsville also.