48 States 7 Days

Magnetic Material Update

I used some of the magnetic material roll to put a few banners on my rental car on the drive up to the Arctic Ocean. They worked pretty well, although I should have put them on both sides of the car since I was sometimes passing all the time, and other times being passed. They are definitely great conversation starters for stops!

2010 Postponement

As any readers may have guessed, I didn’t make the trip in 2009. I had a sudden job change this summer and didn’t feel like taking the time off from my new job so soon. My new plan is to make the trip the same week in 2010.

Also thanks to a reader named Jim that pointed out that my original map missed West Virginia.

Twitter, duh

It occurred to me this week that Twitter would be the most obviously awesome way to update my status across the country. I created my own Twitter account, but I think I’ll be creating a new account just for this trip so I can put the name on the side of my car with the magnetic material.

Magnetic Material Test

I went over to my parents house this weekend and had my mom test out some of her markers on a test piece of my magnetic material. I’m stuck it on top of my car and I’ll leave it up there for a few weeks and see if any particular type of marker fades faster or comes off with the rain. It’s already looking like the obvious choice of the fat Magnum44 marker is going to be the best.

Here’s the mag strip on my old car.

Giant Magnetic Roll

I am now the proud owner of a giant roll of sheet magnet material. 48 square feet to be exact. I’m going to use this material to put my own signage on the travel vehicle as well as sponsor signage.  Right now I am planning to cut it up into 2×1 foot sections for each sponsor and probably have a strip on the rear and side of the car with this website’s address.

Now, I just need to find some artistic talent…

I’m on CB Radio Now (but nobody else is)

Since I’ll be driving a long time, I’m trying to come up with things to make the time pass. I figure a CB radio could do that and maybe give some heads up on speed traps and traffic conditions. So, I contacted some ham radio friends of mine and figured out how to buy a CB radio and properly wire it up to my car. As soon as I got it all set up, I rushed out and drove up and down I-35 for 20 minutes and all I heard were two short unintelligible blurbs, and some guy in his house asking for a mic test. I went home and found the blog of some trucker guy and he says truckers almost all just listen to Sat. radio or I-Pods nowadays.

Even if it doesn’t help me out much, I must say that having a 3 foot antenna on top of my 92 Accord looks totally ridiculous, which is just my style.

Thinking About Sponsors

I’ve been thinking that nobody is going to want to sponsor me to waste my time. However, I think people might donate to see me waste my time, and get to be a sponsor. I figure I have to give them a little something too, so I just ordered a roll of that white magnetic sheet material. I figure I can get people to donate $10 to some charity and get a 2×1 foot banner of magnet that they can do anything they want with, and I’ll stick it on the side of the car during the drive.

The roll is 24″ by 10 feet and cost me $50 including shipping (14 pounds!)

New website

I’ve registed a domain name and I’ve set up my first WordPress installation. Already I’m very impressed with its ease of use.

I added one main page “Planned Route”, you can click it in the nav bar at the top.