Amtrekker

Hey Team,

Lots of stuff going on. Plenty of adventures around the corner. A new literary agent. A book proposal to write. But MOST importantly…everyone’s favorite videos are BACK! Today it’s the horse through through the covered bridge, the video of the party will be out in a few days and then it will be back to the old Wednesday at 6pm Pacific schedule! Ah, the good old days.

There are literally a TON (okay, not literally…it’s all digital so it really doesn’t take up much space) of videos still to come! Things will take on a slightly different format now that I’m back but there are still a lot of “Tales From the Wayback Machine” I’ve yet to show you guys! I’m pretty excited to be able to sit somewhere for an extended period of time without being kicked out so I can ramp up the production quality as much as I can.

Okay, less talk more action. Here it is:

“Amtrekker travels to Atlanta, GA where with the help of Grayson from CNN’s News To Me team, Betty Ann, Ginger, Chase and a horse named Danket he finally gets to live out a cartoon!

Flaming pumpkins ensue.”

And here’s the YouTube link.

Thanks Team!

I’m done.

Brett.

Just for the record. Bookingbuddy really is a pretty rad website if you’re looking to plan a trip. It actually allows you to search most of the top website from one location. Pretty handy! But more importantly…our new affiliation with bookingbuddy.com means all you have to do to help out Amtrekker is click on one of their ads and sign up for an awesome newsletter filled with travel deals! Thanks everyone!

Thanks!

Hey Team,

Wow! It finally happened. For the last week and a half the awesome team over at CNN’s News To Me has been scrambling to try to put me, a horse and a covered bridge together at the same point in time and space. I can’t tell you how many calls I got from the Associate Producer, Grayson, that went something like this:

“Brett, that horse contact fell through but I think we might have another one…maybe.”

“Brett, there’s no way that bridge is going to work. It looks like we’re back to square one.”

“Brett, the other bridge I wanted to use is under construction right now…”

Meanwhile I was trying to get in touch with everyone I know in the Atlanta area in the hopes that someone could help out while watching the days on the calendar tick away. And yet, after almost a year and a half of similar situations working out time and again, even with the deadline of the Amtrekker party looming, I kind of felt like Geoffrey Rush’s character in Shakespeare in Love.

“Brett, I’m so sorry this isn’t working out. I feel terrible for getting you all the way out here and not being able to get you on a horse. How worried should I be? What happens if we can’t make this work?”

“Don’t worry about it, man. It will all work out. I trust you.”

How? I don’t know. It’s a mystery.

Final, yesterday, I found myself standing next to a creek down the road from a BEAUTIFUL covered bridge. It was only five minutes before Betty Ann was supposed to meet us with her horse and things were STILL up in the air. Would she be able to get the horse trailer to the location? Would the horse tolerate all the traffic? Would it walk through a covered bridge? (Something I never considered but have been told repeatedly in the last year is that horses strongly dislike walking through low covered spaces.)

Then Betty Ann showed up with her daughter, Ginger, and Ginger’s Appaloosa, Danket a.k.a. the sweetest horse ever (and possibly most disproportionate).

Grayson and Betty Ann blocked traffic on either side of the one lane bridge while I hopped up on Danket and Ginger helped lead him through the bridge while Chase (another member of Team Amtrekker that I met almost a year ago when I hitchhiked to his house) filmed the goings on.

I opted out of wearing the flaming pumpkin on my head and threatening passersby a la The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (the inspiration behind this item making the list in the first place) figuring the last thing I need to do at this point was complicate matters further and scare Danket.

Betty Ann, Ginger, Grayson and Chase were all awesome out there and I love seeing people come together to make something like this happen. Especially when it’s so clear that everyone is enjoying the adventure. It’s really the backbone of why this trip was possible (and I never really knew for sure that it was) but it’s an important lesson to learn and I’ll toss out a few theories after this adventure officially closes.

I’ve learned a LOT about people in the last 476 days and I can’t wait to share it with everyone.

Thanks SO MUCH everyone. See you Saturday!!!

I’m done.

Brett.

Just for the record. Bookingbuddy really is a pretty rad website if you’re looking to plan a trip. It actually allows you to search most of the top websites from one location. Pretty handy! But more importantly…our new affiliation with bookingbuddy.com means all you have to do to help out Amtrekker is click on one of their ads and sign up for an awesome newsletter filled with travel deals! Thanks everyone!

Thanks!