Amtrekker

Hey Team,

I was on a morning show called The Daily Buzz this morning! They gave me a call a couple days ago from a San Diego number but I didn’t have my phone on me. When they called again yesterday I couldn’t answer because I was in an attraction at EPCOT. Eventually I called back, apologizing for remaining in “O’Canada!,” when they called…

“What?! You’re in town!”

“No, I’m in Orlando. Wait…what do you mean?”

Turns out The Daily Buzz tapes right her in “The Sunshine State!”

I even got to help host the weather!

Here’s the link: http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/amtrekker.mov

In other news: I won’t be riding the horse through the covered bridge in Atlanta until Tuesday so it’s going to be a mad dash across the country to get to Amtrekkapalooza in time!

AND, there are a few people that were a big part of this adventure that would love to make it to the big finish on October 25th but have limited funds so if anyone has any connections with airlines that can maybe get a few of these folks some cheap standby tickets let me know!

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 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!

Hey Team,

Guess who went SCUBA diving in the Atlantic…

Hmm…this is a dumb game. I can’t even hear you.

Oh well. The answer: ME!

After heading down to Sebring, FL with The Getaway Girl and meeting her family (Who, I’m told, were pretty leery of homeless folk crashing their lodgings…until they met me.) we borrowed her dad’s SCUBA gear and shot east to Fort Pierce.

The easiest option was to dive from shore so after lying on the beach for a while trying figure out how I wanted to shoot the madness I handed the camera off to GG and started to suit up. It was a nice change from the Pacific Ocean in that stepping in the water didn’t instantly make me cringe and scream like a little girl from temperature shock. I didn’t even have to wear a wetsuit, which was kind of a novelty for me.

Eventually I managed to get my gear on (including flippers) without falling down and high step into the waves like an idiot with the entire coastline watching the one guy in SCUBA gear wondering why he’s planning on diving in murky water with a lobster basket tied to him when there have been Bull Shark sightings all week.

Well, duh. Because he’s an Amtrekker.

The water was super cloudy and visibility was down to a few feet but the water felt incredible and it was such a beautiful day that it didn’t matter that much. I caught sight of a couple small fish, a drainage pipe and (just in time to have the surge throw me into them) rocks.

I came out of the water satisfied, dry mouthed and bleeding with a smile on my face at the thought that I’m literally, after almost a year and a half of the most time consuming “work” I’ve ever had to do, only ONE single, solitary item away from my first opportunity to see home again!

I am SO stoked people! Party’s at my place. October 25th. Clovis, CA. Be there.

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!

Enjoyed that? Donations please?

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

Sorry the updates have been so few and far between this week. With all the bus rides and the 14 hour days on set for “The Surrogates” (more on that tomorrow) it’s been impossible to find the time to get things posted. BUT, without any further ado…

“Amtrekker travels to the small town of Huron, SD (where he seems to be a really for real celebrity) and drives a race car for the first time!

Autographs and trophies are tossed around like candy.”

Thanks!

I’m done.

Brett.

If you enjoy the podcasts…why not donate?

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

What an incredible day I just had the opportunity to live through! Made even more incredible by the four days of hell preceding it. So in true Amtrekker fashion I’m going to go ahead and pretend all of the bad stuff involving trying to get where I am now didn’t happen and we’ll just focus on all the awesome.

Huron, SD is amazing. And they seem to love Amtrekkers.

When it looked like I wasn’t going to be able to make it to Huron in time for a practice session Friday night Karl (the guy that got the ball rolling on this little adventure) drove three hours each way to come pick me up in Willmar, MN (Which the residents will have you know is pronounced wilmer, one syllable. Not will-mar…like it’s spelled.) and MADE SURE I got where I needed to be to get familiar with the car I was supposed to drive.

After we pulled into the fairgrounds where the raceway is located we were quickly surrounded by a small audience mostly made up of people associated with the racing team that was allowing me to borrow their car. Mike owned the car and Michael, his son, is the regular driver (who is in first place in his class) while the pit crew is made up of Jason, Stevie and Jamie.

Michael showed me how to get into the car, buckle up and get things started (Don’t laugh, it was complicated. Well…different.) and then I took a couple spins around the parking lot area of the speedway because the dirt track had gotten too much rain that day. Even that was a ton of fun. Although having “so many” people watching took some getting used to. (Which I learned to get over really quickly today.)

The next day brought with it some geocaching (always nice to get one of those out of the way) with Karl and a trip to the local fireworks purveyor that resulted in, “Oh! You’re the Amtrekker! Take whatever you want up to ten dollars or so!” Again, I LOVE Huron, SD.

Eventually the time came to show up at the track for the big show. (Which quickly turned out to be much bigger than I ever could have expected!) Brad, the camera man from the day before, had made up some INCREDIBLE cards to hand out after the race car driving and everything seemed to be in order and ready to rock.

I got to squeeze in a couple slow laps around the track to get a feel for what it was going to be like to drive on dirt but it was still intimidating to know that the first time I was actually going to try to drive fast would be in front of THOUSANDS of race fans.

Shortly before the moment of truth I realized I didn’t actually know what I was doing. Asking everyone for advice seemed to be fruitless. Most everyone said something along the lines of, “It’s like driving a car.” And in fact: The best piece of advice I got all night was, “Drive fast, and turn left.” That seemed logical enough.

When the time came I jumped in the car, too excited to care that I didn’t know what I was doing. (Not only a recipe for disaster but also pretty typical in my world.) Lined up at the edge of the track I leaned over to Michael, the car’s regular driver, and screamed through my helmet over the roar of the engine.

“Is there ANYTHING else I should know?”

*Blank stare* “Just go have fun.”

“How far down do I push the throttle on the straight-aways?” I screamed right before I was given the flag.

*Puzzled look* “All the way!”

Oh! That sounds simple enough.

I had one lap around the track before I was given the green flag (The cue to “start the race” after coming around turn four.) and pushed the pedal down as far as it would go. Needless to say that worked out well until I started approaching the next turn and almost peed myself. Michael had given me a quick rundown earlier but I had never taken a turn approaching anything that fast on the dirt track.

It was a blast!

I can’t even describe what an intense feeling it was be that focused while driving a car by yourself in front of thousands of onlookers. In fact…I was so focused I forgot to keep my eye on the flagmen and before I knew it they were waving the checkered flag!

And as intense and incredible as that was it mostly served to make me jealous of the guys that get to actually go out there and compete. Man! That must be the rush to end all rushes. No wonder they go out there every weekend for one of the world’s most expensive hobbies.

I passed beneath the checked flag and took one more “victory lap” before coming in under the flag and in front of the grandstand. As I’m slowly pulling up I see through my helmet that Orville, the guy in charge at the speedway (who, by the way, put a TON of effort into setting this thing up), is holding a GIANT trophy.

I laughed to myself and thought, “That’s an awesome prop! Way to be thinkin’ guys!”

I jumped out of the car and the crowd started cheering. I go to shake Orville’s hand and I hear him say something along the lines of, “You may have to ship it. I don’t think it’ll fit in your pack.” Just as the announcer starts asking me questions I glance down and notice the plaque on this waist high trophy reads “Dakota State Fair Speedway; Amtrekker – 1st Lap” I’m sure the adrenaline helped the process along but I started laughing hysterically while trying to focus on the announcers questions.

(Wow this is a long post. And there was EVEN more!)

After I took the car back to the pit a guy on a 4-wheeler pulled up and said, “They want to know if you’d be willing to go back out front and say hi to some folks.”

“Cool.”

Little did I know that meant: spend the next half hour in an ever constricting circle of people asking me to autograph shirts, hats, programs, scraps of paper and a never ending supply of those cards Brad had made up! It was totally surreal! (Slash awesome)

So that was my weekend in a nutshell. I’m sure the video will be awesome. (Thanks again, to Karl and Meagan for hanging out, filming and generally being great people.) I can’t wait to cruise through the footage. Things have been going a mile a minute all week though so I’m still going to have to find a way to get that kiteboarding video up.

And here’s the most important thing…I LOVE Huron, SD. It was hell getting here but it was one hell of a ride once I made it.

I’m done.

Brett.

P.S. LOTS of pictures are on their way.

Like reading about the adventures? Want to donate?

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

The live Internet Superstar/Diggnation show on Wednesday was a blast. As it so happened I ended up being the first guest on the show and showed up to Mighty in San Francisco JUST as my phone died so there wasn’t much in the way of twittering going on.

Maybe you wouldn’t think it (or maybe you would…how should I know) but Martin and Gator (the hosts of Internet Superstar) did a MUCH better job of preparing me for the interview than anyone else has managed to so far. Some of the stand outs would be Canada AM when I was told to sit in a room alone with a camera until something happens or Happy Hour when admittedly the lack of preparation came from the threat of a hot dog eating contest….but the fact remains.

When I first got there they did a super quick run through of when and where I would be entering. Which doesn’t sound like much but it’s always nice to now when and how you’re coming on camera instead of just standing around with your hands in your pockets until someone suddenly shouts, “You’re on!”

As far as I know the interview went fine. Much looser than TV but that may have just been because NONE of us could hear what the others were saying. I guess we’ll find out in a couple weeks when it airs!

Regardless, it was a fun interview and after the Diggnation show I made a quick lap and talked to some people (Even saw Tom, a guy I originally met at a trivia night in Boston of all places!) before getting hauled off to dinner with Martin, Jay (Gator), Molly and a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. A delicious dinner was on Rupert Murdoch while Leigh, the reporter, asked us a few questions about internet video.

Most of the rest of the night was spent out chatting with Jay about some of the epic traveling he’s done.

Sorry for the whirlwind update but 1. It was a whirlwind night and 2. I’ve got to get back to work on this week’s podcast! It will be up late tonight or early tomorrow. Either way, I think you guys are going to like it!

I’m done.

Brett.

An amtrekker in need is an amtrekker indeed.

Don’t let me stop you.