Roadchix : Visualizing the Vibe

(It's All About the Journey)

Thus begins one of the great Roadchix Tales to date. Our wild journey to try to win a Pontiac Vibe for a week. A week of what you ask? Well, a week of roadtripping, of meeting the people who make this country great and of course, what would a Roadchix trip be without Roadside Attractions? The story below written by Kristy describes the crazy events in our trying to win this Sweepstakes.

One night while watching TV, I ran across a Pontiac commercial in which a pair of people begin jumping up and down delirious because they had won a Pontiac for a week. This was music to my ears. "They're giving away Pontiacs for a week?" I thought. Roadchix can show them what roadtripping is truly about.

So a few days later, I surfed to www.pontiac.com to see what the deal with this sweepstakes was. "The Deal" was that you could indeed win a Pontiac for a week. In 75 words or less, Pontiac asked you to explain what you would do with a Pontiac for a week and why they should give it to you.

What an opportunity. I knew that the Roadchix could not pass this one up. After many emails, editing and debating, a pithy 60 word answer was sent to Pontiac along with pertinent personal information. And then we stored this application away in our minds as simply a good story of, "Oh yeah, one time we tried to win a Pontiac, but we never heard anything."

Congratulations! Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 8:15 am I opened my e-mail to discover a letter that began: "Congratulations!" Hyperventilating and jumping up and down, I read on to discover that the congrats were because we had made it to the next level, not because we had actually won. The next letter involved more questions. Questions that speak to the heart of Roadchix. "What does roadtripping mean to you? What are your feelings about driving? What are your feelings about your desired vehicle?" And our personal favorite: "Places you would go." And thus we plotted our trip to the place we had not yet journeyed, to the very heart of America and to its proudest creations: its Roadside attractions. And then we proposed the following trip: World's Largest Teapot (WV), Mummies of the Insane (WV), World's Largest Rubberstamp (OH), World's Largest Crystal Ball (OH) World's Largest Egg (IN), Watermelon Statue (IL), Popeye Statue (IL), World's Largest Man (IL), Angel Museum (WI), Spam Museum (MN), Jolly Green Giant (MN), World's Largest Strawberry (IA), Corn Palace (SD) and ended with 'and we're just getting warmed up". So, off went the e-mail and I wondered if we had any chance of ever hearing back.
You're Pulling Our Leg Again Tuesday, December 4, 2001 - 8:05 am I began going through my e-mail to discover a letter from Pontiac. Fortunately, they didn't start this one with "Congratulations", but we had made it to the third level. Great, I thought, but what are the stipulations? Fill out paperwork...get Beth to fill out paperwork...make a video. Make a 2-3 minute video? By December 15th? Oh no. That was 10 days away. Leaving us one weekend to get together and film something? But Beth is in Boston, I thought. And we both have tons of weekend plans. Thus began a harrowing of week of debate on where we should go, what we should include and how I was going to get to Boston. Not to mention canceling our weekend plans, procuring a camera, finding editing equipment and finding someone to go along and film us.
Blurry Eyed and Confused Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 5:15 am I woke up bright and early to begin my journey to the airport and then to Boston. What follows is an amazingly typical day with Roadchix. We took our friend Cara along to film and she did a fantastic job. If you follow our day from here on you'll see us: get lost, get a little crazy with the attractions, get lost, discuss what would be great about actually having a Vibe, get lost again, philosophize on why we love roadtripping and you'll meet a little of the local color we ran into when we were asking for directions. So, please read on and click on the pictures to watch video clips of our day.
		Now What Do We Do? Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 10:05 am Arriving a the airport and picking up my luggage we were a bit perplexed as to go about starting a film. What do we do? How do we go about introducing ourselves? Should we talk to people? How do we look on camera? What are we doing? Are we funny or do we just 'think' we're funny? So here's Take 1.
		In Search of Stonehenge Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 11:25 am Off in search of "America's Stonehenge", which looks nothing at all like the real Stonehenge in England. We began to discuss what would be so great about having a Pontiac Vibe for a week.
		Does Anyone Know How We Actually Get There? Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 11:50 am Not much dialogue here. You see we're wondering about aimlessly looking at the guide that "America's Stonehenge" provides. Much confusion, pointing and walking about in search of the right path. This is extremely typical and fun. We get lost all of the time, and this only enhances the fun. You never know what you're going to stumble across next.
		Don't Put It There If You Don't Want Us To Make Fun of It Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 12:05 pm Typical Roadchix antics ensue as we come across these mysterious paint marking on the rocks. This leads to a debate on why anyone would paint such weird outlines on rocks. If you watch the clip, you'll see the conclusion we came to.
		The Secret Room Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 12:15 PM Arriving at "The Secret Room", which was the highlight of the informational video provided by "America's stonehenge" before you journey out onto the ground, Beth investigates just how this "Secret Room" works.
		Is There Such a Thing As Camera Sickness? Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 1:05 PM Cara was a great sport throughout the entire day. She filmed over 50 minutes of video for us at different times. But as you'll see there is a great hazard in filming, especially while walking and while sitting in a car. It's called motion sickness.
		The Roadtrip Philosophy I Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 1:20 PM We had about an hour and a half between "America's Stonehenge" and "The World's Largest Mission Back Chair" in Gardner, MA. So, we decided to film more footage in the car. Thus, we began a very in-depth discussion on why we love roadtripping so very much. Unfortunately, we didn't have space to send this footage to Pontiac.
		The Roadtrip Philosophy II Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 1:35 PM This footage goes on for probably over 20 minutes and it was hard to choose two pieces to use. Roadtripping is very near and dear to our hearts, because we feel that it is the only true way to experience this great country and to meet the fantastic people who live here. We'd be happy to tell you more if you email us. But, if not watch these two clips for a general outline.
		The Chair is That-A-Way Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 2:05 PM Arriving in Gardner, we kept calling out, "I recognize that!," which was inevitably accompanied by the other Roadchick saying, "Really? I don't." After taking every branch of the rotary except for one, we stopped at "Burke's Country Store" for some directions.
Coming Soon - Maybe (I think we lost it!)		Roadchix: The Final Cut Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 2:05 PM Alas, we made it to the chair and after many out takes, mistakes, miscues, banged knees climbing the chair, cold fingers from the weather, and noise from the traffic, we have a finished product.
Then What? We Wait. So finally in mid-February, I came home to a package wedged between my screen door and front door. Inside were two Pontiac Pass It On t-shirts and the following letter: "On behalf of the Pontiac team, thank you for being a part of the Pontiac Pass It On casting process. Unfortunately, we only had openings for a few driver groups. At this time, all current openings have been filled by other applicants. If another opportunity arises in the future, we will keep your entry on file so there is no need for you to reapply. As a token of appreciation for your effort, we are enclosing Pontiac Excitement Pass It On T-Shirts for you and your team. We hope you will continue to share in the fun and check out what other groups are doing with their Pontiacs at Pontiac.com. Again, thanks for being part of Pass It On. Hope to see you on the road soon."
And Thus, We Journey On, Minus One Pontiac Everyday - Enjoying the Journey So what are our final words on this? Was this worth a plane ticket to Boston at the last minute? Was the canceling of our weekend plans worth it? Was the work, the recruiting and the planning worth it? The answer is a resounding "Yes!" It doesn't matter where we go, it doesn't matter who we go with, it doesn't even matter if things don't go as planned. We approach every trip, every plan, every detail as an adventure, so even in the midst of problems, we're having a blast. We just want to thank Pontiac for giving us a chance to "Enjoy the Journey" unexpectedly and for giving us an excuse to visit our favorite roadside attraction (the World's Largest Mission Back Chair). Many, many, many thanks to Cara our mysterious camera woman who you'll occasionally hear on the clips. She did a fantastic job and was an absolute blast to have along on the Journey.