***Update from Iowa***
After several weeks of quasi-sedentary life in Madison, BioTour hit the road again on Friday with our new storage and pre-filtration system, the state of the art Elsbett vegetable oil conversion plus reusable metal screen fuel filters. We were on the highway again, rolling over the timber lined bluffs and green fields of Northeast Iowa, passing cows, horses, and llamas and eating soft serve ice cream and feeling just about invincible until…Bang! 
‘Did we lose a barrel!?’
Brief visions of a vegetable oil filled barrel careening down the highway flashed through our minds. We were relieved to see only a flap of rubber tumbling down the road. We’d blown the tread on a rear tire, but there were still had five more, still intact on the road.
After a few hours of cautious driving, the golden dome of Iowa’s Capitol building shone ahead of us over the city of in Des Moines. Only a few hours late, we pulled up in front of the Mayor’s Energy Futures Conference. Inside we heard the chair of the Prairie Justice organization, Dianne Dillon-Ridgley, speak about why ecological diversity matters, which was
enough to get us excited about the weekend event. We met some of the speakers and attendees as they left the auditorium, including the mayor of Des Moines, Mayor Cownie—a man with such vision and passion that I hardly believe he’s a politician.
On Saturday we attended the workshops at Drake University, designed to generate ideas to be implemented in Des Moines and across Iowa that will transition to a greener Iowa in one year. There were activists, business leaders, teachers, students, and mayors from all over the state brainstorming ideas,
and plans for implementation at every aspect of society from waste management to sustainability curriculum in public schools, and reducing energy consumption in the homes. The obstacles to change will surely be significant, but the solutions are just within reach. And the enthusiasm and leadership at that conference gives me high hopes for the city of Des Moines and Iowa.
We spent the night at the home of our host, and sustainability advocate, Lynnae Hentzon. At their home a few miles outside the city, Lynnae and her husband Rob, their kids Stien, Grishom and Sasha, their dog, horse, and four 
outdoor cats welcomed us graciously. Lynnae’s home was wonderful oasis.
While my cohorts took the bus out into Des Moines for an evening of bar hopping and some vehement discussions with some young Sierra Club members, and concluding with Berkey and Ethan in the pool of the Marriot Hotel at 5am. Around the time Ethan and Berkey were drying off and indulging in the breakfast buffet, I was waking up in my tent to the sounds of birds back in Lynnae’s yard on the outskirts of town. Then with a wine skin full of water I trekked down the paved road and into Brown’s Woods–500 acres of trails within the Des Moines city limits. I walked dirt trails inside a brilliant green dome of the decidious forest, spotting white tailed deer, and one knee high fawn. I walked down from the hills onto the flood plain and stood on the bank of the Racoon River. With the muddy turquoise water running below me, I felt like Huck Finn.
On Sunday the city of Des Moines hosted the Olympic triathlon trials. Unfortunately Hummer was one of the sponsors and the ridiculous mini tanks, that typically carry one passenger (and their giant teetering ego) and get half the gas mileage of a Model T Ford sat plunked around the starting line and podium. We were compelled to cruise the bus around the race trying to inject some sane transportation ideas into the collective consciousness of the spectators. I was 
encouraged to hear that the winner of that day’s race, a Dane who received a Hummer along with his cash prize had already made efforts to sell it before the day was over.
This morning we gave a presentation to about one hundred students between the ages of 9-12 at the downtown school in Des Moines. It felt great speaking about sustainability with people again and sharing ideas. 
Tomorrow morning we are headed 2 hours East to Fairfield, IA to check out an off-the-grid eco-village, and a perma-culture greenhouse, give some a presentations and interviews, then we’re off to South Dakota to visit Pine Ridge Reservation and whatever else we discover along the way.