After one of the most terrifyingly mediocre Mexican lunches that I’ve had in probably years, I had the opportunity of a lifetime present itself to me today.

This:

Plus this:

Led to an extra 25 minute lunch outing in the attempt to obtain the privilege of spending an extra 30 cents a gallon for E85 fuel (based on comparative MPG of regular gasoline). My only hope that when we actually arrived at this oasis of fuel stations that:

A. The lines wouldn’t be too long
B. There would be some E85 left

Amazingingly enough, there was only one fuel pump and nobody was around using it!

Probably the only real benefit… um… of getting this fuel… well – hmmm – we couldn’t come up with one. Oh yeah – we’re saving the planet by utilizing a product that makes the US less dependent on foreign oil. What about:

• You can’t find it.
• You’d probably have to buy a new car or truck to use it
• Contains less energy than gasoline making you have to fill up more often (about 1.4 gallons to every 1 gallon of gasoline)

It was a delightful post-lunch drive complete with Waylon Jennings honky tonk music (hey – we were driving in a pickup). How long this effort continues will require a little more research into practicality. Not that I’m not interested in the long-term survival of our American Way Of Life – but at some point it needs to make dollars and sense.