2012 Best of the Road Rally

meet joe and debbie

They were good sports (no pun intended!)- at Wrigley Field yesterday. They happily agreed when I asked them to be on video. Joe was trying to channel some Harry Caray. Hilarious! And the chick in the background who pops her head in to make a face? Gotta love it. People hamming it up everywhere!

I love talking to strangers. Especially really fun ones like these two.

Thanks for voting for Team Blue Lollipop Road Joe and Debbie!

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coming in may

In these next few weeks of May, here’s what’s happening at Blue Lollipop Road and what you will see:

1.) The launch of an entirely new site.
*Yep! That’s right! We have redesigned BLR and will be launching the new site this month with some new bells and whistles. We have worked very hard and can’t wait to share!

2.) Announcement as to whether or not we were picked to go x-country on the road with the Rand McNally/USA TODAY teams for Best of the Road, Rally 2012.
*VOTE FOR US HERE and spread the word as to why you think my Mom and I would be a great team to explore Small Town America!

3.) The kick off of a fundraising campaign for “BLR Play it Forward” (The Blue Lollipop Road Reunion Soccer Weekend Event and travel scholarship fund giveaway) happening August 18, 2012 in my home town in Vermont.
*This event has been 9 months in the making and means so much to me personally. I am so excited to reconnect with former teammates, honor lost friends, give back to the community I grew up in and reward a travel scholarship to a young person from my old high school to help them go on an adventure travel trip of their dreams. P(L)AYING IT FORWARD is what BLR is all about!

This sure has been a busy winter. Blue Lollipop Road will celebrate a 4 year birthday in October. I love working at all this more and more every day.

As always, I am so thankful for the support and fun from all of you out there. So much more to come and the rest of 2012 is sure to be better than ever!

 

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guest blogger mom

A quick note from Mamma Peacock:

I am writing to ask you for your vote for Diane and me (Team Blue Lollipop Road) to be sent on the  Rand McNally/USA TODAY Best of the Road Rally 2012! I know that we will provide fun and fabulous adventures for you to journey along with us. Diane has the drive, enthusiasm, and ability to draw a smile and a story out of anyone. She is a go-getter and then some. On her past journeys with Blue Lollipop Road she has made you laugh out loud, and always makes you think- I want to do that! We make a dynamic team and will show you the hidden gems tucked away that you will not want to miss! Vote for us, so we can explore and find the pleasures, people, and places as we pioneer across America!

 

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we are your team…

…for the Rand McNally/USA TODAY Best of the Road rally 2012!

Why?

Because we can finish a Ben & Jerry’s Vermonster no problem!

The Peacock's at Ben & Jerry's

Talk about being able to hang!

Welcome to the world of the Peacock’s. Sure, Mom and I had some help on this giant bucket o’ goodness, but we are not afraid and we like a good challenge! We finished:

20 scoops of ice cream

4 bananas

4 cookies

4 brownies

Nuts

Various chocolate toppings and tidbits

Hot fudge

Whipped cream

Boo-yah!

Mamma Peacock and I are ready to take on whatever other buckets of goodness are out there in Small Town America, so VOTE FOR US! Team Blue Lollipop Road!

Where do you want to send us to find the good treats?

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the real deal

It’s been about 10 days since the good madness began for Team Blue Lollipop Road soliciting votes in hopes to be chosen for the Rand McNally/USA TODAY Best of the Road 2012. I have worked my tail off already and can barely sleep at night because I want so badly to go on this trip with my Mom. The anticipation and excitement of it all (and we are not even on the trip yet!)- is the energy I live for. I love it. I love “meeting” new travelers on social media, I love watching the videos from last years competitors, I love reading about small towns I have never been to and daydreaming about going to to them.

This competition and rally is particularly important to me because it’s about Small Town America. The people, the food, the fun, the everyday life. This is what I have always traveled for and what the whole point of Blue Lollipop Road is: It’s about spending time with interesting and fun people in regular everyday places. My favorite travel memories are the ones where I’ve done nothing big or “important”, just the times enjoying coffee shop chats with people like Jack Burrows:

Jack Burrows- road people

Jack sat down beside me as I typed away at my computer in July of 2010 and told me about his Inn that he owned on a little Island where I was in NC. Just a happy smiley guy excited to have a visitor to his town. (How could you not love that face?) Another one of my most favorite road times was meeting these little cuties near the VT/NH border in September 2011 when I stopped at their lemonade stand:

Cutie-pies at a lemonade stand

(It’s as if this was staged it was so incredibly adorable, but it was totally random.)

I was quite the lemonade stand entrepreneur myself when I was little. (Mom will tell you stories on that and how I tried to sell “rock pictures” at my lemonade stands too.) I always have to stop to support my fellow business ladies like these, and naturally I couldn’t leave without a photo, so I asked the moms and dads if I could take one and give the girls a blue lollipop which they happily agreed. I didn’t even have to ask these 4 to stick out their blue tongues. They were giggling and loving it:

Blue lollipop tongues!

This picture is one of my favorite I have ever taken in the thousands I have. The pure joy of a simple sunny day with a lemonade stand and a lollipop.

These are the kinds of moments I live for, and why I stay curious and travel. These are moments you can’t buy, force to make, or get anywhere else but on the road. That is why I want to go on this Best of the Road rally with my Mom. I want to share with her moments like these that are out there to be had because she is a huge reason why I’ve made such a rich and full life of adventure. She’s always encouraged me to go, do and be exactly what I want with no expectation or rule other than to work hard and follow my heart and that’s exactly what I am doing here.

So? In all the moments of butt-busting to get votes, vying for social media attention and nuzzling Team Blue Lollipop Road into a spot in the lead to be chosen as one of the finalists, my hope is that the authenticity of Mom, myself and the spirit of Blue Lollipop Road will always shine through more than anything else. Spending time in Small Town America and moments with people are where my heart and soul are. If I could choose how to spend a dream day, or a million dollars if I had it- being in a car on a x-country trip in the USA like the one that I am competing to get in on now, would be my absolute first choice.

Here’s to the road!

 

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reason #787

To VOTE FOR TEAM BLUE LOLLIPOP ROAD for the Rand McNally/USA TODAY Best of the Road rally 2012!

A special thanks to our Friday lunch waiter Joel for being a sport about this! Talk about jump right in when a stranger asks “Do you want to be in a video?”

What a cutie he was and super fun.

Thanks for helping Team Blue Lollipop Road Joel! We will be back for lunch soon! (And by the way I stopped on my way out and found your boss to tell him what a great server you are 🙂

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reason #478 to vote for team blue lollipop road

for the Best of the Road Rally 2012:

We find slabs of pizza and aren’t afraid to chow down!

Sicilian slab at Miccuci's

Welcome to the “sicilian slab” I found at Miccuci’s Grocery in Portland, Maine:

Micucci's Sicillian Slab

This slab was one of the freshest, most delicious, piping hot, squishy amazing melt in your mouth things I have ever eaten. (Translate: hosed.) Up close and personal when I was halfway through:

Micucci's Sicillian Slab

Mmmm….so, so good. This slab didn’t have a chance and was gone in 4 minutes or less. I actually stood up and ate the entire thing.

Want to feed me some of your best small town food? This girl is not afraid to eat…bring it! Vote for your town and maybe we will see you there.

VOTE FORE TEAM BLUE LOLLIPOP ROAD and put us on the tour of the best eats across the USA!

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best of small town america

Here’s what Rand McNally and USA TODAY are sending teams out in search of, for the Best of the Road Rally 2012. The:

  • Most Fun
  • Most Patriotic
  • Most Beautiful
  • Best for Food
  • Friendliest

…small towns in America.

This Blue Lollipop Road sure has been to plenty of small town stuff on that list, so how about some daily pix until the voting ends to inspire you all to VOTE FOR US?

Ketchikan, AK local Mike took me and another traveler from “the lower 48” out fishing and touring on his boat one day during my summer 2010 visit. We stopped at a few spots, did some hiking, saw black bear and had a blast. The nature around the Naha River Trail was gorgeous!

Hike around Naha River Trail Ketchikan, AK

I am not so good at fishing for what we were trying to catch though. Talk about a crack up when I caught these giant gelatinous things!

The "Deadliest Catch" in Ketchikan, AK

Just call me a fisherman on the Deadliest Catch.

Being serenaded by Fisherman in Ketchikan, AK

Speaking of, later that evening after a shower for $1.25 in a laundromat (if you’re ever road tripping to AK and sleeping in your car, don’t forget your quarters for your every few days shower at various places like marinas and laundromats. It will be the best $1.25 you ever spent!)- I walked into an empty restaurant and ponied up to the bar for some eats and relaxation. 5 minutes in chatting with the staff, I was bombarded by a crew of fisherman “fresh” off the boat. These guys claimed they were the ones who actually caught the fish for the deadliest catch to stage for the TV show. I don’t know what the truth is, all I know is they were ready to P-A-R-T-Y and they were so entertaining I stayed for several hours observing. (They thought I was some secret spy reporter.) They made me stand up on the piano when another patron started playing so they could serenade me. I laughed so hard for 2 hours my stomach hurt. These guys were characters and then some. Quite the stories these Alaska Fishermen who spend 22 days straight on boats have.

I’d definitely categorize Ketchikan, AK as some amazing small town fun, friendly and beautiful. I met the real deal people that night!

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hello from my chicago rooftop!

After talking to Mom this afternoon about the fact that the competitors that are hot on our tails to win a spot for the Best of the Road rally, I decided to make this video:

Who needs a shower to make a video? Who needs to see a video right side up? (Oops!) If you can’t laugh at yourself…

***(I like to roll with the first unscripted take. Just lean sideways! 🙂

Running up to the rooftop after the gym when you have 2 minutes before you have to be somewhere and start talking to the camera while your neighbors are tanning and drinking beer? Well it’s a conversation starter anyway!

Because Mom and I aren’t currently out on the road like some of the other teams vying for a spot to go on this rally, I have a few tricks up my sleeve I’m going to have to pull out to jump in the fun just as if we were. We have to get creative! Archives of road trip adventure are about to come out of the woodwork so get ready.

Have you voted for us yet today?

Get ready Chicago! This chick is going to be beating feet on the street to get your votes! We are so going to be one of the 5 teams on this Best of the Road 2012!

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