The boys have done it! They made is to New Orleans before 6pm and are ready to celebrate crossing the finish line. Today's drive was relatively uneventful compared to the last few days. The one challenge was to find as many different state licenses plates as possible and grab a picture of it - the boys find about 30, which is quite good given the rural areas they were driving through! Other than that, John and Ryan just focused on covering hte 400 miles to the finish line, and had a great last day of the trip.
Well, it's now time for the boys to have some fun and celebrate the end of the rally. Enjoy it boys - it's very well deserved!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
So close!
As of 4:33pm eastern time, the boys were fifty miles to the finish, with fifty miles of gas left. Absolutely perfect.
More random updates from the past few days...
A few more tid bits of information over the past two days that will hopefully give you a bit of a chuckle. Remember the challenge in which John and Ryan had to get 10 pictures of themselves (as Elvis) along with as many other people as possible? Well, there's another interesting story with one of the pictures... John and Ryan found themselves coming upon this outstanding, ~200ft tall naturally formed rock bridge, an amazing site to see. Fortunately, there were a few tour groups around, so the boys asked a few if they'd be willing to take a picture together for a challenge of theirs. Everyone was very willing to do this, except for one lady who responded to this request with "but what if you use this picture for porn?" WHAT?!?!? Yes, because porn obviously equals fully clothed people in a natural park... Wow. The saddest part was that this lady was with a group of 7 others, and when she left her whole group did too. With their departure, they no longer had 10+ people in the picture they needed to get bonus points, too tragic.
In regards to completing challenges, the boys also did a great job performing "Jail House Rock" for the rally people to fulfill the second challenge of Elvin day. Additionally, they got the 1928 Shea Model A replica to count for their oldest car, and so found one of the oldest cars out of all the groups in the entire rally! While the boys had originally thought they were in last place, it turns out that they're actually doing extremely well, and just may be in third or fourth place!
Yesterday the rally made its way through the "Tail of the Dragon," a 12 mile stretch of road with 318 corners. That translates into just about one corner ever 50 yards. As a result, it's a motorcyclist's mecca, and the boys saw at least 1,000 motorcyclists having fun on these 12 miles of road. John and Ryan had their fair share of fun too, doing the 12 miles three times! They've also come across other areas of amazing road - two days ago, they found a long one that just might have been the most fun road either has ever driven on, with tons of tight corners to zip around without another car in sight for miles. While the 528e is no Miata, it still held out beautifully during this 40 mile detour!
One final story from last night. The boys made it to the hotel at a reasonable hour (!!), and spent the evening/night hanging out with a bunch of other guys on the rally. One of the highlights of the evening was when one group decided they wanted a convertible car, and so pulled out a saw and literally sawed off the top of the car. Very creative! Another fun thing to watch was when a Gremlin and an old Chevy (the kind that looks like a 1970's police car) decided to have a "pushing fight." They went head to head, got their bumpers just touching, and then stepped on it and put all the power they could into this pushing fight. The Chevy absolutely dominated the fight, pushing the gremlin back up a hill while smoke filled the entire parking lot. What awesome entertainment for the night!
Good luck making it to the big easy boys!
In regards to completing challenges, the boys also did a great job performing "Jail House Rock" for the rally people to fulfill the second challenge of Elvin day. Additionally, they got the 1928 Shea Model A replica to count for their oldest car, and so found one of the oldest cars out of all the groups in the entire rally! While the boys had originally thought they were in last place, it turns out that they're actually doing extremely well, and just may be in third or fourth place!
Yesterday the rally made its way through the "Tail of the Dragon," a 12 mile stretch of road with 318 corners. That translates into just about one corner ever 50 yards. As a result, it's a motorcyclist's mecca, and the boys saw at least 1,000 motorcyclists having fun on these 12 miles of road. John and Ryan had their fair share of fun too, doing the 12 miles three times! They've also come across other areas of amazing road - two days ago, they found a long one that just might have been the most fun road either has ever driven on, with tons of tight corners to zip around without another car in sight for miles. While the 528e is no Miata, it still held out beautifully during this 40 mile detour!
One final story from last night. The boys made it to the hotel at a reasonable hour (!!), and spent the evening/night hanging out with a bunch of other guys on the rally. One of the highlights of the evening was when one group decided they wanted a convertible car, and so pulled out a saw and literally sawed off the top of the car. Very creative! Another fun thing to watch was when a Gremlin and an old Chevy (the kind that looks like a 1970's police car) decided to have a "pushing fight." They went head to head, got their bumpers just touching, and then stepped on it and put all the power they could into this pushing fight. The Chevy absolutely dominated the fight, pushing the gremlin back up a hill while smoke filled the entire parking lot. What awesome entertainment for the night!
Good luck making it to the big easy boys!
First off, thanks to Jessi so terribly much for updating our blog on a regular basis. It is really cool of her! We're in a hotel (hooray!) with wireless, just getting ready for the 9am start (10am eastern time) of the final day. We have 400+ miles to cover, so it is a day of hitting the road, hard. We'll have more interesting textual updates when there's time- but for now some photos of the last few days:
Saturday, May 26, 2007
And the work begins...
Update from the road - the muffler just fell off! John summed it up well with "Oops..."
Catching up to the pack!
Driving today has been a bit more uneventful than the past two, but that sure doesn't mean it hasn't been fun for John and Ryan! After arriving in Asheville, NC at 1am last night after a long day in the car, they got some quality sleep and took off with the rally this morning. Final destination tonight? Gadsden Alabama, a fine rural town in the northwest section of the state.
Today's challenge is to find the oldest car on the road and snag a picture of it. So far, they've come across a 1928 Shea model A replica, though they're not quite sure it'll count because it's a replica. Fortunately, they've also passed an early 1930's pick-up truck. While they're still hoping to find something older, they're off to a fantastic start!
Possibly even more exciting is the fact that, for the first time ever, the boys actually PASSED some other cars doing the rally, meaning that they are no longer in last place!! However, soon after this wonderful moment, they stopped to get gas and grab some lunch, so they probably fell back behind those cars once again. Even so, they're moving closer to the rest of the rally cars, and will hopefully stick with them for the remainder of today! Best of luck boys!
Today's challenge is to find the oldest car on the road and snag a picture of it. So far, they've come across a 1928 Shea model A replica, though they're not quite sure it'll count because it's a replica. Fortunately, they've also passed an early 1930's pick-up truck. While they're still hoping to find something older, they're off to a fantastic start!
Possibly even more exciting is the fact that, for the first time ever, the boys actually PASSED some other cars doing the rally, meaning that they are no longer in last place!! However, soon after this wonderful moment, they stopped to get gas and grab some lunch, so they probably fell back behind those cars once again. Even so, they're moving closer to the rest of the rally cars, and will hopefully stick with them for the remainder of today! Best of luck boys!
Friday, May 25, 2007
It's time for The King
It's been a crazy day for John and Ryan so far during their second day of the rally! They woke up after a restful (restless?) night's sleep in the 528e, parked in the hotel parking lot. John layed down in the back while Ryan took the passanger's seat. Needless to say, it was a tad uncomfortable, so the boys are looking into different accomodations for tonight in North Carolina. Also, they sort of need to shower...
Well, today is none other than Elvis day! In honor of the King, each person in the rally must dress up like Elvis all day long, completing all challenges in full costume. John and Ryan made a mad dash to the local Wal-Mart this morning to pick up some fine costumes, and their new attire includes stunning Elvis wigs, big gold sunglasses, the obligatory "sash" (John's is red and Ryan's is gold), as well as a white shirt with a very large collar. Let's just hope they post those pictures soon, as I'm sure that was something special to see!
Once again there are two challenges each car has to complete today. The first - the boys have to get at least ten pictures with themselves dressed as Elvis along with three or more other people in the photo who are not related to the rally (and they can't be merely standing on the side lines - they've got to be posing and a full part of the picture!). So the majority of today has involved the boys driving around to find people for these pictures, and it's been an awesome experience. So far, they've got eight great shots, and are still looking for the perfect last two. Here's a few highlights from the ones taken so far: the boys stopped at a European car dealership and got a picture with a bunch of other BMWs, they made their way through a National Park and snapped a shot with local visitors, and when in Roanoke Virginia found a country music festival and gathered a group of people right in front of the stage to take a picture as the band was doing their sound check in the background. However, the best picture has got to be from their journey into Washington and Lee University, where they drove around town for a while until they found a cafe with a ton of people outside. They jumped out of the car and asked everyone around them if they'd be willing to get in a picture with the two Elvis boys, and while doing so the owner overheard them and said that he'd get everyone there to be a part of the picture. In the end, they got a whopping 21 people involved, AND a free lunch out of the stop. What more could you possibly ask for? Well, their last two pictures certainly have great competition to live up to!
The second challenge involves the boys learning all the words to an Elvis song of their choice, and singing this Elvis song to the rally people when they turn in their pictures tonight. As of now, they haven't quite learned an Elvis song, but no worries there - they've bought an Elvis CD and will be cramming in style as they near Asheville, NC!
Whoa - while writing this blog, two big updates were received. First, the boys have seen their first confederate flag, and know that they have now officially entered the deep south. Second, apparently it has now started to RAIN VERY HARD. Problematic? Slightly, given that they rolled down the rear view mirrors, and somehow jammed them in the process, so they won't go back up! Yep, the back of the car as well as the boys are pretty soaked right about now. Guess they got that shower after all!
Oh wait, update number three while writing. The HARD RAIN has stopped completely, just a few minutes after its start, and the sun is shining brilliantly, despite the boys still being very wet. Too hilarious.
Well, the boys continue on their journey to Asheville as they desperately search for a hotel that's both cheap and not sold out (surprisingly hard to do, particularly when you have no cell reception and so your phone dies twelve seconds into every call). More adventures to come as they continue into the evening for sure...
Well, today is none other than Elvis day! In honor of the King, each person in the rally must dress up like Elvis all day long, completing all challenges in full costume. John and Ryan made a mad dash to the local Wal-Mart this morning to pick up some fine costumes, and their new attire includes stunning Elvis wigs, big gold sunglasses, the obligatory "sash" (John's is red and Ryan's is gold), as well as a white shirt with a very large collar. Let's just hope they post those pictures soon, as I'm sure that was something special to see!
Once again there are two challenges each car has to complete today. The first - the boys have to get at least ten pictures with themselves dressed as Elvis along with three or more other people in the photo who are not related to the rally (and they can't be merely standing on the side lines - they've got to be posing and a full part of the picture!). So the majority of today has involved the boys driving around to find people for these pictures, and it's been an awesome experience. So far, they've got eight great shots, and are still looking for the perfect last two. Here's a few highlights from the ones taken so far: the boys stopped at a European car dealership and got a picture with a bunch of other BMWs, they made their way through a National Park and snapped a shot with local visitors, and when in Roanoke Virginia found a country music festival and gathered a group of people right in front of the stage to take a picture as the band was doing their sound check in the background. However, the best picture has got to be from their journey into Washington and Lee University, where they drove around town for a while until they found a cafe with a ton of people outside. They jumped out of the car and asked everyone around them if they'd be willing to get in a picture with the two Elvis boys, and while doing so the owner overheard them and said that he'd get everyone there to be a part of the picture. In the end, they got a whopping 21 people involved, AND a free lunch out of the stop. What more could you possibly ask for? Well, their last two pictures certainly have great competition to live up to!
The second challenge involves the boys learning all the words to an Elvis song of their choice, and singing this Elvis song to the rally people when they turn in their pictures tonight. As of now, they haven't quite learned an Elvis song, but no worries there - they've bought an Elvis CD and will be cramming in style as they near Asheville, NC!
Whoa - while writing this blog, two big updates were received. First, the boys have seen their first confederate flag, and know that they have now officially entered the deep south. Second, apparently it has now started to RAIN VERY HARD. Problematic? Slightly, given that they rolled down the rear view mirrors, and somehow jammed them in the process, so they won't go back up! Yep, the back of the car as well as the boys are pretty soaked right about now. Guess they got that shower after all!
Oh wait, update number three while writing. The HARD RAIN has stopped completely, just a few minutes after its start, and the sun is shining brilliantly, despite the boys still being very wet. Too hilarious.
Well, the boys continue on their journey to Asheville as they desperately search for a hotel that's both cheap and not sold out (surprisingly hard to do, particularly when you have no cell reception and so your phone dies twelve seconds into every call). More adventures to come as they continue into the evening for sure...
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Detour to DC, and on to Harrisonburg!
Thursday, 6pm - the boys have made it to DC! However... they're a solid 2+ hours behind the rest of the rally crew... But don't be fooled! This is not because of any potential issue with the 528e. She's still flying like a mad woman and proving her powers to all on the road. Actually, the boys made a smart move and decided to take a quick detour into DC to visit a friend of Ryan's for the afternoon. During the drive through DC, they made another smart move to pass by the Washington monument and snap a picture of the 528e in front of it! Nice one boys, that'll be a classic no doubt.
In addition to the many hour detour into the capital, Ryan and John also took a two hour lunch break in order to jazz up the car a bit. They stopped at the one and only chick-fil-A, that serves - you guessed it - a whole lot of chicken (best name on the menu has got to be the "Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Minis"). Afterwards, they ran over to Target and Wal-Mart in an attempt to find flags to put on the car, but sadly were unsuccessful with this endeavour. Fortunately, they were quick to think of an alternative, and so bought fake red, yellow, and black roses to decorate the outside of the car (colors symbolizing the German flag in honor of the 528e's heritage). Where did John and Ryan put the flowers? Well, a while back the boys had originally needed to create new holes for the hood pins in the car, but they drilled the first two holes in the wrong place and so had to start all over. In the end, drilling the holes in the incorrect location was a great decision, for those two holes are now safely holding all of the flowers for the remainder of the journey!
Oh - and in regards to finishing the second challenge, the boys did a phenomenal job, finding about half of the objects in the pictures, which is pretty outstanding given the that it was a "ridiculously hard" task.
Well, hopefully John and Ryan have made it safely to Harrisonburg by now and are hearing all of the crazy stories other drivers have to share with all those who are part of the rally. And of course, there will be more adventures to come tomorrow!
In addition to the many hour detour into the capital, Ryan and John also took a two hour lunch break in order to jazz up the car a bit. They stopped at the one and only chick-fil-A, that serves - you guessed it - a whole lot of chicken (best name on the menu has got to be the "Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Minis"). Afterwards, they ran over to Target and Wal-Mart in an attempt to find flags to put on the car, but sadly were unsuccessful with this endeavour. Fortunately, they were quick to think of an alternative, and so bought fake red, yellow, and black roses to decorate the outside of the car (colors symbolizing the German flag in honor of the 528e's heritage). Where did John and Ryan put the flowers? Well, a while back the boys had originally needed to create new holes for the hood pins in the car, but they drilled the first two holes in the wrong place and so had to start all over. In the end, drilling the holes in the incorrect location was a great decision, for those two holes are now safely holding all of the flowers for the remainder of the journey!
Oh - and in regards to finishing the second challenge, the boys did a phenomenal job, finding about half of the objects in the pictures, which is pretty outstanding given the that it was a "ridiculously hard" task.
Well, hopefully John and Ryan have made it safely to Harrisonburg by now and are hearing all of the crazy stories other drivers have to share with all those who are part of the rally. And of course, there will be more adventures to come tomorrow!
It's game time!
The first day of the rally began bright and early for the beautiful 528e with a ride through busy NYC along side all of the city’s rush-hour traffic (ah!), to get to the start of the rally. When John and Ryan arrived at the start line, they saw a whole bundle of decrepit yet awesome, crazily decorated, $250 cars. What an amazing sight to see. They came to the conclusion that their grand BMW falls right down the middle of the line both in regards to car quality and level of decorations. Needless to say, the 528e will prove her impeccable capabilities over the next few days… Overall, the first morning of the rally is “going great!” Car is holding up very well, giving the boys no problems so far.
So today, all cars were given two challenges to complete by tonight’s stop in Harrisonburg, VA. The first – with $1 bill stapled to a piece of paper, everyone was told to go to a Wal-Mart and buy as many items as possible with just that single dollar bill. John and Ryan came out strong with 8 items – finding mini Hershey “Special Dark” chocolate bars on sale for 10 cents each, and then throwing in a few 10 cent Wal-Mart gift certificates as well.
The second challenge – each car was given a stack of pictures of different items the cars would pass by during their journey, and everyone has to find these items and quickly take a picture of it before zooming by and losing the snapshot forever. Even more challenging, a lot of the pictures have been photo-shopped such that the surrounding area or other objects are missing. Well, John and Ryan’s success has not been quite as strong here as it was with the Wal-Mart challenge, though they’re working on it! They’ve gone by a few of the items in the pictures, but haven’t been able to get the camera out in time to quickly snap a shot of it! Also, they think they went along the wrong route at the start of the race, so just missed some spots all together. Rest assured they’ll have better news in regards to this challenge later in the day…
So today, all cars were given two challenges to complete by tonight’s stop in Harrisonburg, VA. The first – with $1 bill stapled to a piece of paper, everyone was told to go to a Wal-Mart and buy as many items as possible with just that single dollar bill. John and Ryan came out strong with 8 items – finding mini Hershey “Special Dark” chocolate bars on sale for 10 cents each, and then throwing in a few 10 cent Wal-Mart gift certificates as well.
The second challenge – each car was given a stack of pictures of different items the cars would pass by during their journey, and everyone has to find these items and quickly take a picture of it before zooming by and losing the snapshot forever. Even more challenging, a lot of the pictures have been photo-shopped such that the surrounding area or other objects are missing. Well, John and Ryan’s success has not been quite as strong here as it was with the Wal-Mart challenge, though they’re working on it! They’ve gone by a few of the items in the pictures, but haven’t been able to get the camera out in time to quickly snap a shot of it! Also, they think they went along the wrong route at the start of the race, so just missed some spots all together. Rest assured they’ll have better news in regards to this challenge later in the day…
Smooth ride to NYC
At 7:30pm on Wednesday evening, the boys toasted to their journey while chowing down on Thai food in Davis Square, and hit the road to NYC only mildly behind schedule (no way they’re making that 11pm deadline, fyi). The beautiful Miss Misery, with her gold painted wheels and “Don’t Don’t Crush” logo shining on the trunk, made a fantastic start to the journey and got the boys safely to NYC with no problems at all. With only a few hours before they’d be hitting the road again for the start of the rally, the boys let Miss Misery have a rest for a few hours…
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Ready to GO!
Well, in preparing for what will likely be a frantic journey, I'm hurriedly tossing up a post of our banger in the drive, just about prepped to go! As I sit here in the kitchen, with tools, clothing, ants and the various debris of a frantic week spread about, the belrays are belting out a crazy tune on my speakers and I am rushing to remember what else I need... I suppose I just have to pack her up. I've got tools ready, clothes on the floor and lots of excitement. The issues of needing a spare key (knowing ryan and me) and having an interior covered in plastic flakes from the rear window tint we haphazardly scrapped off are being tossed aside as we attempt to make it to NYC to register by 11pm (yeah, right)
Here she is, with fresh paint on the wheels and her logo!!! Hooray.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Arrival
If you've found your way to this website, you probably know the basics of what Ryan and I are doing- driving a well cared for, meticulously maintained, pristine condition copy of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's debut album to New Orleans in a less than new BMW 528e. In fact, this 528e came to our world in 1986 and has covered the equivalent of the circumference of the earth about 8 times since then. Well, we think about that, since the odometer stopped working.
The wonderful Irish man we purchased the vehicle from posted this enticing tidbit on Craigslist for a rather long time before we came along:
"
1986 BMW 528e – The 2nd Greatest Story Ever Told $500 obo
We’ve been together for five years and she has been the toast of many a dinner party tale, but I must part company with my beloved Beamer. Ill-health has made her too much for a restless lover like me to look after and it is best for both of us this way.
If you like BMW’s, love the 1980’s and are excited to restore glory to an emblem of both, then buy this beauty. Otherwise I will sell it for parts and that would be a terrible shame altogether.
Work you will need to do:
- Replace the brakes with the brand new front and back pads sitting in the trunk. Don’t know about rotors.
- She hasn’t started unassisted in a month and so either the battery or the starter is dodgy
- The driver’s side door and window do not open from the inside.
- The rear passenger’s electric window does not function electronically
- The locking mechanism doesn’t always work.
- I lost my gas cap.
- The hood doesn’t always fasten down properly and so has a short length of precautionary rope doing the job just in case.
- About 160,000 miles before the odometer started working slowly.
- Oh and a hole somewhere in the muffler.
So if you want a 21 year old BMW ready for a road trip from Boston to Germany this is not it. Love the era and love the car this is a tremendously fun restoration that was on the. If you like that sort of thing. Oh and it’s automatic and grew up in rust-free California."
We're in the process (throes?) of getting her ready to leave on Wednesday for New York city and the start of the rally.
Repairs so far?
- Hot-wired trunk lock
- New battery
- Soldered-battery connections
- New right front suspension
- Patched exhaust
- Black paint on hood, roof, trunk
- Disconnected high beam lamps
- Hood pins
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