OHIO, OHio, ohio…

Today we ventured into the state of Ohio. This previously lesser-known state was put on the map after being featured in the opening credits of the Drew Carey Show. Just kidding. Next Step Ministries loves Ohio, and apparently, so does Veggie. It was smooth sailing all the way into Toledo where we met with some more youth pastors. After a few hours, we packed up shop and are heading to Cleveland for tomorrow’s meetings, but not before stopping at Nick’s very own diner.

So far the trip has been pretty awesome. Veggie is drawing some big crowds and a lot of questions. Which I suppose is pretty natural. I mean, who wouldn’t be curious about a big black bus that runs off waste oil? The number one question we get is: where do you fill up? This question is actually pretty complicated and is affected by a number of variables.

First, where we fill up is dependent on the quality of waste oil a restaurant produces. For example, McDonald’s waste oil does to Veggie what its Big Mac does to our arteries. If you happened to get a glimpse at McDonald’s grease, you would see a thick, white substance sprinkled with the occasional chicken nugget. If we filled Veggie with that, we’d be waiting on the side of the highway with our thumbs up. On the flip side, Veggie is a huge fan of Chinese buffets and Mexican restaurants. Their waste oil is a dark, transparent liquid that looks similar to the oil you would put in your car. This is the good stuff.

Second, where we fill up is dependent on whether the restaurant lets us or not. Some restaurants have contracts with grease collection companies and don’t let us road trippers have access to their waste oil stash.

Third, well there really is no third.

Having said all this, I have decided to provide a public service to those of you reading this blog. We will update you daily as the quality of grease from different restaurants. This way, we can promote the restaurants that are gracious enough to let us use their waste oil, and even more importantly, we can hopefully add a few years on to your lives by deterring you from chomping down a Big Mac (sorry McDonalds).

The bus driver, Nick, just altered me that we are close to Cleveland, so I have to jet. He’s doing an awesome job driving. Only hit three cars and one cat so far. Yahtzee.

P.S. Expect a video entry soon!