Mini-Road Trips & Dressed Up Dogs

Happy Thanksgiving! Long road-trips over the last couple of days for us all. But, enough of that. On to what's important. Cooper! Here he is, wearing his Thanksgiving Day outfit. Note that Keith had nothing to do with this, as he was in Jersey and Cooper was in New York. Renee is the one to thank for this...

And here's how things are going with training... pretty good! Wondering what should be next... spin the other way round? Get me a beer from the fridge? So many possibilities.

Let's Visit Hillsboro!

Alright, so that title doesn't seem very exciting nor to make sense when this entire blog is devoted to taking a cross country trip. But after you plot all the Hillsboros (including Hillsboro Mountain, VT and Hillsboro Beach, FL) in this country on a U.S. map, you get a different picture all together. Though the two NH ladies on this trip will claim there is a Hillsboro in every state, there is actually only 30 states represented. Which to me is still a strong showing.

So, which ones do we visit?

RVer Profile: Renee

Did someone say road trip?!! Count me in. I can’t wait to get the show on the road. East coast to the west coast baby that’s what I’m talking about. This trip has been a long time in the making. I can remember planning my trip across America back in elementary school. I was a pioneer, a wagon leader I was guiding my party of settlers to Oregon.

Well it’s time to hit the trail again, but this time I’d like to trade in the 4 axel wagon for luxury RV and a group of my closest amigos. You have already gotten to know the rest of the gang so here is a little about me…

I grew up in New Hampshire “live free or die” and moved to Boston after college “go sox!”. I spent the last 9 years working in marketing. I started working as a promotional sales representative for Guinness, Pilsner Urquell, Amstel Light, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Jack Daniels. I quickly learned that I loved marketing and I wanted to start a career of it. My first full-time gig was for zipcar. I was responsible for growing the brand in Boston.

After many ziptrips I left for a job at glaceau…the makers of smartwater and vitaminwater. I was the Southern New England Marketing Manager. I educated, entertained and hydrated consumers with samples of the most delicious electrolyte enhanced water on the planet.

I recently moved to Charlottesville, Virginia with my awesome bf Keith and put my zipcar hat back on to launch the largest car sharing program at UVA.

I also work at Veritas, a local winery and vineyard. I’m learning everything there is to know about wine…in vino veritas!

As you can see being the brand is what I am all about. I take a brand and put it on my back. Does your brand need a piggyback? I’m ready for my next brand challenge!

In my spare time I like to travel, attend theme parties, make pottery, dress my dog up in silly costumes, go bike riding, hiking and hit the slopes.

The reason for the trek

So I thought it would be nice to show "the why" behind this trip. It's not that we want to drive across country with two dogs in the hopes of driving each other crazy with our personal habits and increasing the risk of losing one other as friends. Not that all. It's because some of our closest Everyday Friends (I think Hannah may have a trademark on that name) Thereasa and Shane are getting married in Oregon next July.

To give you a better idea who Thereasa and Share are, you can check out their engagement video:

 

If you want to know more about Thereasa, you can follow her blog about her life on the East Coast after moving to Boston from San Francisco too.

RVer Profile: Hannah

Hello all…RVer Hannah here….for as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to drive cross country…I think it started when I was a kid and my friends dad showed us half a dollar bill that he and his friend had ripped in half on their trip cross country and both had kept half as a reminder of their trip for the rest of their lives…seemed so cool when I was a kid…SO, it’s only taken me about 20 years after hearing that story to actually be planning to drive cross country…I’m so excited to see what the rest of this expansive country has to offer….I’m certain that there are some interesting corners of this country that will change the way I see things and I am certain that there will be lots of laughs along the way…and tons of documentation along the way…did we mention that we might be “shutterbugs”....the last wedding the RV crew was at amounted to over 200 shots in one day...all quality! Here’s a taste of our photojournalistic style…

I’m sure that there must be a brand out there that wants to take advantage of all the skills this group has to offer…so what do I bring to the table additionally…while I can’t say that I’ve had as much screen time as my husband, I have had the opportunity to be in a few commercials myself…I’ve had plenty of experience as a brand ambassador for zipcar, which in its early stages was about as grassroots as you can get…people talking to people trying to get a message out about a great service…I’ve also experience a wide variety of beverage promotions over the years…I am currently in selling dental implants, so while I have extensive marketing experience, my recent years have been spent trying to close sales…which is always a challenge…but something that every brand needs in order to survive!


The thought of spending a few weeks with some of my best friends in a house of wheels is slightly frightening but very exciting as well…the last time I took a trip in an RV was when I was about 12 years old and my family drove from NH to Virginia with another family, this time it was 5 kids, 1 dog and 3 adults...our family friend, Joyce Maynard, was writing an article for a family magazine about travelling by rv and visiting some of the different sites along the way…by far the most memorable part of our trip was making bricks in colonial Williamsburg by stomping on mud with our bare feet…but a close second would be when one of the “adults” managed to pop the tire of our rv while making a tight turn…although what I think I remember most about this trip was that the magnets on our cabinets in the rv didn’t work very well and every time we turned a corner we all stood up to hold the cabinets shut so our supplies didn’t come flying out…so perhaps there’s a magazine out there looking for a new article about travelling the country in an rv? I hope so…


I’m not as organized as Paul but am having my mom dig up some pictures of that first RV trip…stay tuned!

RVer Profile: Millie

greetings.

im millie and i am a 4 1/2 year old vizsla/beagle mix. i was born somewhere near richmond VA but got adopted in boston when i was 8 weeks old. it was orginally believed that i was a bassett hound because my ears looked so much bigger than my body.

take a look:

some would say i was a handful the first few years of my life but since those tumultuous early years i have matured into a much more trustworthy dog. at times i can be very high energy but i'm also cool with just lying on the back of the couch staring out the window and keeping an eye on the neighborhood.

though i love to take hikes and wrestle with paul, i'm most comfortable when i'm lounging on the couch with hannah.

while i've seen most of the states from virginia to maine, ive not gone very far west. i've yet to meet my soon-to-be best friend cooper and i really am looking forward to doing lots of traveling with him, running wild in the woods and sniffing every inch of this country.

RVer Profile: Paul

hey everyone, i'm paul.

so the last time i made a cross country trip was in 1995. i was fresh out of college and thought i had the world all figured out. that trip 14 years ago had no purpose other than for 6 guys to celebrate their graduation and to see the country a little bit. we slept in campgrounds, ate meals from gas stations and had the time of our lives. i have always wanted to make this trip all over again as you don't really get a sense and feel for the united states until you have spent some time traveling on its roads.

here i am during those innocent days back in the mid-90s

so post college had me spending some time in northern virginia then atlanta and finally in boston. along those stops i spent time working in various sales, marketing and advertising jobs. while in atlanta i even worked for a talent agency and got my first (small) glimpse of the world of acting/modeling. while working at this job i was able to get myself into some local tv ads and print magazine pieces as well as doing a bunch of promotional marketing for various products including winston, craisins and surge.

when i moved to boston i worked for an ad agency where i was also able to get placed in some national print ad spots. the biggest exposure for me was my most recent experience which was auditioning for a national wheaties ad and actually making it on tv during monday night football! it's very strange to see yourself on tv when it's not home movies.

perhaps i missed my calling to go to hollywood, who knows?

my move to boston was supposed to be temporary as i had grand plans of moving west. (perhaps that's why this cross country trip is more appealing to me?) however, i now have a great job in pharmaceutical sales and met the girl of my dreams which helps to grow some roots in new england.

when i'm not landing in random ad spots, you can find me doing pretty much anything sports related -- basketball, softball, flag football, 5K runs, triathlons, snowboarding. our fellow RVer millie and i love to take long hikes in the woods in the greater boston area as well.

even though this trip is over half a year away, i get giddy just thinking about it.

RVer Profile: Keith

Here's Keith's profile... from the question "write a little blurb about yourself"...

"I’m a second year MBA student at the Darden Graduate School of Business in Charlottesville, VA. I spent the five years prior to business school working for Monitor Group, a strategy consulting firm based out of Boston, MA. Most of my work was marketing related with Fortune 500 clients, focused on consumer buying process, segmentation, segment profiling & messaging. With each project I took on increasing levels of responsibility, most recently acting as a project manager with overall responsibility for the client relationship & project team.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the project based nature of consulting, and the marketing focus of my work, I became increasingly frustrated with the lack of ownership over the final deliverable. I came to business school to hone my general management skillset, with the knowledge that I would transition into industry for a career in a consumer packaged food company. I spent the summer of 2009 as an Associate Marketing Manager Intern at General Mills, in the Pillsbury Totino’s division. I have an offer to return full-time, and will most likely be moving there next summer.

Outside of work / school, my passion is off-roading. I have a 2003 Jeep Wrangler with about seven inches of lift, beefy tires, and a whole bunch of other goodies… hence the desire to visit Moab, Utah and check out off-roading on the red rock out there!"

RVer Profile: Michelle

Five faces up top on the banner - what about the people behind those faces? First up for their blog profile: Michelle! Here's her response to "can you all write up a little blurb about yourselves?"

"What to say about me.... hmmm...

I'm a VP of the U.S. Asset Servicing branch at BNY Mellon, mainly working on Foundation and Endowment clients. I manage a staff of 30 people. I've worked here since I graduated college, for about 9+ years now. I communicate with my staff, clients, investment managers and internal groups on a daily basis. I travel about once a month to see clients face to face, for due diligence, to work on new projects or to promote new products/services. I also like long walks on the beach and am always down for grabbing a cocktail!

Does that work? ;-) ha ha! Let me know if you need me to explain more. I don't have any marketing experience, I hope I'm not kicked off the RV."

RVer Profile: Cooper

As of October 30th, Cooper is a four month old chocolate lab... a great little guy with an awesome personality - inquisitive, friendly, a little crazy at times. He's one of the two pups that will be on the trip. Check out the following video!