After mentioning our near cross-country road trip last week, did you find yourself wondering how we entertained ourselves for over forty hours of driving? Well, we filmed a lot of it with our trusty Flip video camera. And we spent this past weekend not in the car (hootie hoo!), but trimming down all that footage into a little musical montage video of our road-trip-on-steroids.
For those curious enough to take the journey with us, we can promise you’ll see:
- Some less than healthy drive-thru decisions
- A bit of behind the wheel dancing
- Grade A nerd behavior in the form of a geographic-tastic driving game
- Sherry in bed with another woman
- Obligatory Burger footage
- Absolutely zero footage of Sherry driving (because it never happened)
- Fast-food inspired decorating ideas (we didn’t say they’re good)
- Sherry with her hair down (yes, for all you why-don’t-you-lose-the-ponytail peeps)
- Visiting cultural attractions – scratch that, visiting a Pottery Barn Outlet
- A preview of our adventures with the Bowers and my cousin’s wedding, which we’ll share more of soon.
So, without further ado, please enjoy the virtual road trip below…
And while we’re on the subject, tell us where we can get a sneak peek at some of your summer travels. Got any good road trip stories to share? Photos posted somewhere to view? If anyone else has iMovied a little road trip video, we’d love to see it. Long live long drives!
Allison M says
Love Love the Video! I might have to go get me a Flip today after seeing that! Glad you got to see a little bit of Birmingham..my city! Yes, it’s hilarious to the “locals” also that you can see Vulcan’s fanny! Keep up the wonderful work with the blog and go on another road trip soon!
JenO says
Awesome video! I never thought about it before, but Sherry your hair looks totally awesome down.
And the map idea is brilliant – my family went on tons of road trips when we were kids and managed to hit all of the continental 48, but we never thought to make a map! We had to go back and think about all the trips we took over 2 decades of family vacations and list them out.. that was not easy!
@Amanda – they can’t pick them up yet! They won’t have time to update their blog! (and also I don’t have a TV so they would have to demand of the station that they post full videos online!)
YoungHouseLove says
RIPPY’S! Of course! Thanks for helping us out, Mandy. We also love to get matchbooks from all the restaurants we eat at but Rippy’s only had blank ones – hence our total brain fart on the name.
Christen L, stay tuned for another quick video we made on our trip about traveling with a dog. Since lots of people asked after our last trip we decide to tackle it while we were on the road this time.
Lisa, the Pottery Barn Outlet is part of Prime Outlets located in Gaffney, SC. It’s right near that “Giant Georgia Peach” so be sure to sing the theme song Sherry made up when you see it. :)
KT, we realized we should clarify that the Bowers actually live outside of Atlanta. They just kindly planned a weekend trip to Tennessee to coincide with our road trip.
Jeannine, thanks for tip on Kimpton hotels. It’s always nice to find a hotel that’s does more than just “tolerate” guests with dog.
And thanks to EVERYONE for your kind words. So glad you’re enjoying the video!
-John
Jacci says
Hey, y’all! That was AWESOME :) Super fun and some seriously snazzy editing work there. Dig it.
I’m off line for a few weeks, but I’m looking forward to a chunk of time to catch up on all of the upcoming posts I’ll be missing! “See” you soon!
XO,
Jacci
abby says
the quality isn’t good, but this was the best road trip of my life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo657ifh670&feature=channel_page
and the strokes were our soundtrack…
Kimberly says
Very fun video! I am inspired to make one the next we have to drive forever in the car! We’ll see if I remember that when the time comes.
So the big peach in SC…I grew up going by the big peach on the way to Grandmama’s house in Wake Forest, NC. I LOVED the big peach. And then I got to high school and Coach Boroff was teaching 9th grade geography and he referred to my beloved peach as “the big butt on a stick”…needless to say my childhood innocence was taken from me in that moment and I could see what I’d missed for years: that my beloved peach did in fact look like a big butt on a stick…thanks a lot, Coach Boroff. By the way, SC produces more peaches than GA which gets more peach hoopla exposure…weird, huh?
Sarah says
That was sooo much fun to watch!! It almost made me want to film my next road trip. You guys are great, thanks for sharing :O)
Kristina says
No big trips this summer. :( But lots of little ones that have been documented on our blog. Also, we have 2 more coming up! We LOVE road trips!
Lacey says
GREAT video! You guys are hilarious. I live in Birmingham, AL and I love that you guys stopped and visited Vulcan. My boyfriend’s father, Scotty Howell, was in charge of Vulcan’s restoration a few years back. Vulcan’s restoration took place at Robinson Iron Foundry, in Alexander City, AL (my hometown).
Love the blog!
Lacey
Abby says
This video was so great! :) It’s made me add a Flip video camera to my birthday wish list. And I love the postcard idea — my fiance and I always forget where we go to eat / what we did while on vacation, and the postcard idea is such a cute solution!
kelly says
You guys are so cute! You really need your own tv show.. maybe it could be like “Diners, Drive Ins & Dives”, but instead you can travel the country making over people’s homes :)
Shannon says
Thanks for sharing the video! Looks like you guys had so much fun!
And Sherry–you should def wear your hair down more often! Love it!
Lilli says
This video was great! I loved it! I’m always on a weekend roadtrip somewhere and I think I will start recording them now! Thanks guys!
Magchunk says
Ok, I caved and watched it at work (shh!). So stinking cute. It was like watching “Elizabethtown” without the sap and contrived plot (ok, I’ll admit I kind of like it anyway). Love the soundtrack, love the mix of pictures and video. Ryan and I were going to roadtrip to Yellowstone next week (!) but decided to go apartment hunting instead cause we’re moving in together in October! Decent trade off, now I have time to practice my video taping skills before we go :)
amber says
Question,
What did you do with Burger during the wedding and other events that he could not join? I would like to travel with my dog but wonder if I can leave him safely in the Hotel room for hours at a time…
Love the video..thx, Amber
Jill says
What fun. I live in Nashville, by way of East Tennessee, have family in Pulaski, VA and Memphis and went to the real UT in Knoxville. It was a little like your first day and a half of driving was my block. By the way, there is a PB outlet in Memphis and in northern GA. I think you could have stopped at both of them too the way it looks on your map! Maybe that should be your next road trip, PB outlets, every Ikea location, something like that!
Amanda says
First off, love your video editing skills- tying in all the great music and photos… wish I had just a smidge of your talent!
Second, your road trip looks kind of like ours when we drive back to Illinois (from Denver) for the holidays… Brian does all the driving and Ries does all the sleeping (in my lap), and we eat obnoxiously bad McDonald’s or Taco Bell too! I have a flip but have never put it to very good use.
Somehow, I just don’t think we could be as funny and charming as the two of you, so I’ll spare my (few) readers from having to watch our roadtrip… don’t look for an Amanda & Brian Production anytime soon!
Thanks for sharing and love your Pottery Barn Outlet find!
Megan says
I loved the video! I don’t know how you did that drive in so little time. Glad to see you kept yourself entertained. Just wanted to add that my little kitty sat next to me with her arm propped up against my laptop watching the ENTIRE video with me. I think she was intrigued by Burger :)
lindsey kaye says
I love this!
It inspires me to break out the video function on our camera more often – especially on long road trips.
We took our own this summer, to NE Tennessee where my parents live now. It’s about 18 hours round trip from our home in Gainesville, FL. You two make me optimistic that we can make it even farther next time!
Check out a few of the photos here:
http://lovelindseykaye.blogspot.com/2009/07/southern-summer-2009.html
We stopped at a farm stand for fruit and they had dahlias growing outside that were as big as your face.
Literally.
Sarah says
I second that comment, you two totally need your own show, like on HGTV or DIY network! Or event STYLE for that matter. I’m sure I wouldn’t be the only one to watch it. :) Loved the video…!
Christina Meadows says
Ok here’s a tip for the next roadtrip (if you drive down 81 into Tennessee again): You HAVE to stop at the best fast food joint in the southeast. It’s called Pal’s Sudden Service. It’s drive through only and it’s a gem of Northeast TN and Southeast VA. I am from Kingsport, TN originally (the Tri-cities area) and will drive the 5 or so hours from Nashville, where I live now, just for Pal’s. It’s THAT GOOD! I would suggest the Big Chicken, a frenchie-fry, and a sweet tea. Check out their CUTE website for more info: http://www.palsweb.com/
patti says
wow, you guys rock. that was so cute and entertaining. thanks for sharing with all of us!
Amy E. says
i am a huge road trip fan. i grew up road tripping across the country with my family every summer. in 2007, my then boyfriend, now husband and i went on what we call “the epic roadtrip”. we drove from daytona beach florida to dallas/fort worth texas to wichita kansas to denver colorado to boise idaho to minneapolis minnesota then back down to daytona beach florida. we spent almost 2 weeks with his parents in idaho and a little less than a week in minnesota with my family for a grand total of 3 weeks away from home. we had a great time and did a lot of the same things you guys did to make the hours pass quicker: pictures of every state line, license plate hunting, and things like that. and like you two, my man did most of the driving (i did about 2 hours on the final leg from minnesota to florida).
congratulations on all your successful road tripping! and thank you for sharing with those of us who may not have the time away from work to do something like that right now! and i love the music choice for the montage!
Vanessa says
Love your blog! Glad you stopped by AL- that’s my homestate. Hope you enjoyed your time there. What a fun road trip! Last year, my husband and I traveled from CA to TN (we live in Nashville) with my 3 year old and 5 year old. I was also 6 months pregnant at the time! What memories! We took pics and videos like you did, but have never finished the video. You’ve inspired me to do just that! Thanks for sharing!
Julie says
I see I’m late to the punch on this one, but SC apparently produces more peaches than GA. I’ve made the drive on 85 between RIC and ATL more times than I can count and usually call home when I reach the big peach! Thanks for the fun video.
Shannon says
Wow, that was a lot of driving! But it looks like you had a blast! Great trip! Thanks for the video!
Molly says
Loved watching your video! My husband and I took a road trip in May from L.A. to the Grand Canyon. We followed Rte.66 and it made for the best road trip we’ve ever taken! We had a great time stopping at all the little towns, enjoying the retro architecture and learning a little bit more about this part of the country. The Grand Canyon was amazing, but it was the drive there that made the the trip :)
Ellen C says
Love the video..wish I had your editing skills! I love how you used the stills in the video. I live in Charlotte, NC so I am pretty close to the Prime Outlets in Gaffney and have stopped there a few times.
Random story, but a friend once told me that while driving through Gaffney one day his daughter Sophie (2 years old) looked out the window, pointed and said “Big ‘ole peach!” It still makes me laugh thinking about that whenever we drive by the big peach!
Erica says
Love the video, you guys are too cute! I wish I had your editing skills, we haven’t mastered adding in videos and pictures like you have! And I should tell you, we have a 6 month old puppy that we love, love, LOVE and you’ve inspired us to take him on our future vacations!
Sherry – I never even thought “why-don’t-you-lose-the-ponytail”…you look great with your hair down but don’t ditch the ponytail! A lot of people (myself included) wear ponytails but just can’t pull off looking good while wearing it!
Jarman says
My boyfriend (now fiance) and I went on a road trip at the about same time as you two. We also based it off of a wedding we had to go to-in Kentucky. With the recession and all, we decided a deep south road trip was definitely in order. Our loop was Lexington KY to Memphis TN to Jackson MS to New Orleans LA to Savannah GA- with a brief stop at the Okeefenokee Swamp! Even though it was August, in the SOUTH, it was totally amazing and filled with both historical and designer fun (I am a graphic designer). We both agreed it was the best we have ever been on and -due to that legendary southern charm- we met plenty of cool people on the way. Top that off with a proposal on the balcony of our hotel in the French Quarter in NOLA and it was definitely the trip of a lifetime!
Road Trips=AWESOME!! Thanks for sharing yours. =)
Julia says
great video! We just took a trip from Kansas City to the Smokies in N.C., about 14 hours each way, ick. Went faster with books on cd (Blink on the way there, A Long Way Gone) on the way back. We posted some highlights on our blog, the first picture is the best, a motorcyclist wearing nothing under his chaps!
http://pugsnotdrugs.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/vacation-highlights/
Shelley says
You two (and Burger) are the most cheerful road trippers I’ve ever seen. The longest road trip I’ve ever been on with my boyfriend was 14 hours round trip; I can’t imagine 41! My Boston Terrier (Hamlet) and I are looking forward to the video about traveling with a dog.
suzanne says
you guys sure know how to make a road trip fun…..you just didn’t spend enough time in TX…..it can take a whole 10 or 11 day trip just to get from one side of TX to the other! There’s all kinds of things to see, and blog about….do come back sometime! It was fun to follow you guys!
Bye,
Suzanne
Melissa says
Too cute! This video became my lunchtime entertainment at work today :)
Also have to point out it is hilarious that at one point, you can totally see some paint “swatches” (for the life of me cannot remember what they’re called.)
April in CT says
I seriously hope my hubby and I can make our next road trip as much fun! And I hope I can figure out how to look so ‘fresh as a daisy’ like you guys for it! LOL
We’re Georgians living in CT (hubby is military) and we make a 40 hour round trip home every year to visit family. My dad threw a wrench in the engine last year by moving to Arkansas though so now we go from CT to GA, do whirl whind visiting of everyone then leave GA and head to R-Kansas (as I like to call it) then head back to CT! Our first few trips we did it all in one shot and let me tell you 21 hours of straight driving is just about the stupidest thing one can do. Now we stop over midway at a pet friendly hotel when we feel ourselves getting tired. Gotta love a GPS for hunting down hotels to call to make sure they take pets!
Burger is just the cutest thing. We travel with our dachshund and he’s amazing on trips. He curls up in his bed and snoozes the whole way. Well, at least until he smells french fries.
Christie Stearns says
WOW guys, LOVED the video!!!!!!! We laughed so hard at the Georgia Peach “make an arrow and point to it” that we had to rewind and rewatch it 3 times!!!!! :-D So hilarious. I love when you guys post videos and this one was super fun!!
Emily says
I’m a charlotte girl so I loved when I saw the big peach pop up on the screen, I knew where y’all where. I’m sorry I’m going to have to correct you on the name though, for us Carolinians it’s so lovingly referred to as the big butt. And Pottery Barn Outlet is amazing! Several years ago I bought a very coveted china buffet for real cheap. Great to see y’all post about familiar ground!
Nancy says
Seriously you guys are adorable, thanks for taking us along. I think this should be a new segment on your blog, only next time you should travel to Utah and decorate a room in my house, I’m serious, let me know if you’re up for it, I have plenty of rooms that need decorating! Here’s some love for young house love!
Kayce says
That video just made me smile! Thanks for putting a little extra happiness into my day. Your trip looks like it was so much fun! You guys rock!
Jessica J. says
OMG that was amazing!
It is so funny to hear you two talk. I when you only see photos of someone you create an image of how they are in your head, and to hear to speak totally changes things. Not in a bad way, it just is different that I’d pictured.
Love the video. It looks like you guys had so much fun, I’m totally jealous. I do have to say, there aren’t any pins in your map up in the pacific northwest. I live in the Seattle area and highly recommend you visit Seattle or Portland. You’d love it; it’s so beautiful here. If I wasn’t already married, I’d definately invite you to my wedding :-)
I’m looking forward to the tips for travelling with dogs.
Marilyn says
Love you guys. I’m going to nickname you Pam and Jim!!!
Sunny says
Ha! Thanks for taking me along on your trip. It was just the thing I needed to watch during my lunch break. Funny that I’m sitting in a building that you can see in your shot since I work in downtown Birmingham! Glad you got such a big kick out of Vulcan. I’m a transplant here from Ohio & I have to take all our out-of-town guests there. My sister loved it and took all sorts of pictures of his behind to show everyone up north how he’s mooning half the city! I have a question about the video editing program you used though. Is it something you bought or is it something free to use?
Devri says
Great video! I live in Northern Virginia and will be moving to Dallas in November, so this was great sneak peek into what the 20 hour drive will be like. Which leg did you enjoy more in regards of ease of traffic, scenery, etc.? Any suggestions you have for a plan of attack on the route would be greatly appreciated! Love your blog – thanks!
Lindsey says
My last real road trip was driving from Boston to LA with my best friend in 2007…took us 5 days, and I flew home by myself.
That summer I also made the trek with my husband to Charleston, SC, which takes 17 hours each way…an awful, awful drive down 95.
heather s. says
I remember that big peach! When we lived in GA we drove past it many times on our way to visit other states. Loved the video…very fun!
Jen @ homeinthecountry says
Loved the video – how fun! That makes me think I should video my cross-country adventure with the husband and doggy – Michigan to Philadelphia – leaving on Friday! On Sunday, we’ll fly to Ireland and drive around there, which should be twice as entertaining since a)they drive on the other side of the road, b)we rented a manual vehicle – my hubby doesn’t know how to drive manual and the last time I drove manual was 3 years ago in Germany. I drove for 5 minutes and my mom and sister banned me from driving the rest of the trip. I’m taking bets on how long it is before we pay the additional $500 to get a rental with an automatic transmission… :)
KK says
My favorite city you visited: Buck Snort, Tennessee. (Fo real?!)
Two things:
1. There’s a HUGE welcome sign/area when you drive into Texas from Louisiana. (Only way I’ve ever been.) In fact, it’s where I learned the Texas flag is the only flag that can be flown as high as the US flag.
2. YOU ARE IN TROUBLE for driving right past our house, only 30 minutes from the Pottery Barn outlet, and not stopping to let Burger say hello to the pups! We’d love to see you next time. Maybe once we finish that front room you can come back down to sneak a peek.
One more thing: You guys deserve your own show. You’re the best.
YoungHouseLove says
Let’s see if I can tackle a bunch of replies at once:
Abby – Thanks for sharing your cross-country video. 32 hours straight in the car!?! That’s incredible – and we’re totally jealous that your scenery was a bit more varied than ours. We were dying to see a tumbleweed in Texas, but I think we were on the wrong side of the state.
Kimberly & Emily – Got it, “Giant Georgia Peach” / “Big Ole’ Peach” is now officially nicknamed “Big Butt on a Stick” to us. Hilarious! I’ll get Sherry working on a new theme song asap. It will probably sound much like the original (i.e. will end in “we’ll make an arrow and point to it.”)
Julia – I’m relieved to say that all of the bikers we spotted did remember to wear something under their chaps. Thanks (I think?) for sharing. :)
Melissa / Caroline – Yep, those are paint swatches that you spotted. Sherry never leaves home without a paint deck handy. We almost threw in some footage of Sherry sifting through them to answer a blog comment, but it ended up on the cutting room floor for being “too boring.”
April in CT – Burger and your daschund would get along great on a road trip. That is, until they have to fight over french fries.
Amber – Burger stayed put in the hotel during the wedding and other less-than-dog-friendly adventures (though, to my cousin’s credit, she did invite Burger to the reception- but he would’ve cramped our conga-line). Stay tuned for an upcoming video with more info on that…
Lindsey Kaye – Thanks for sharing your pics! Glad you got to enjoy the outdoorsy side of Tennessee. We would’ve loved to have squeezed in a mountain hike.
Christina Meadows – Oh man, soooo bummed we didn’t stop at Pal’s. We’ve never been and I’m tempted to drive 5 hours for it just to see that goofy looking building in person!
Nancy & Jessica J – We certainly are lacking in our Western states, at least those that we’ve gone to together. I have family in Seattle so I’ve been there a few times, most recently just a couple of weeks after Sherry and I started dating (for my uncle’s wedding, though I was sans Sherry). Getting out there together is definitely on our list for the future.
Sunny – We did all of the editing in iMovie 09, which came free on the refurbished MacBook we recently purchased. It’s not the fanciest video editing software out there, but it does the trick!
Devri – Good luck with your move. We’d definitely suggest the I-81 / I-40 route (the one we did on the way to Dallas). It’s bound to be shorter for you than going through the Carolinas, plus you get to go through more mountains… which is always a plus in my book.
KK – Is it any consolation that we waved and yelled “hello” as we drove through Charlotte? And yes, Bucksnort was a real town. It’s there that we actually noted how grateful we were that you can’t fly the McDonald’s flag as high as the American flag. We’ll leave that up to Texas. Let us know when that front room is done and we’ll make it a date!
Quatro Mom – You totally win for roadtripping with quadruplet boys. Way more complicated than a chihuahua. We bow down to you.
Amy – Thanks for the postcard offer. We may just have to take you up on it later! We didn’t get to do a whole lot in Dallas since we were absorbed in wedding festivities (weddingtivities?) the whole time. We did get to walk around West Village (?) a bit, which seemed nice. Most of the family got into town Saturday morning and did more sightseeing without us, including the 6th Floor Museum. So I would say our main feedback is that we would have liked to have more time there!
Karen – You can see our little dashboard mounted contraption for the Flip in our roadtrip teaser post. It was just a mini tripod (from Target for about $15) that we taped to the dashboard using white duct tape. Nothing fancy.
Hopefully I got everyone. Sorry if anything was missed. And again, we’re so glad you guys are enjoying the video!
-John
Quatro_Mama (Mom to Quads) says
LOVED this video! LOVE. LOVE.
Thanks for letting us join you, Roadies!
Glad you asked for our own road trip videos. If you’d care to watch our Ventures with Quads on a Roadtrip with a broken down van we have it all video documented for you here. No make-up, rainstorm, a man named Maurice…it’s all there!
http://www.murraycrew.blogspot.com/search?q=venturous
Erin says
Very cool Youngsters!
In July we took a road trip and I was able to document the drive on my blog, sans video camera unfortunately. You can see it here. http://ruleroftheelves.com/?p=279 Obviously it isn’t as cool or as detailed as your sweet little vacay, but blogging from the road/car can be pretty neat!
Hailey says
Loved the video!!! I was wondering if you guys were posting from the road….sneaky sneaky!!
Makes me wish I had video from all my travels!
LeilaMac says
Your video was super fun! What a great way to commemorate your trip!