The Las Vegas Bowl

I was lucky enough to be in Las Vegas when the Las Vegas Bowl Game between Arizona and BYU took place. The Wienermobile made quite an impression there and we are happy to report that Arizona, who is in ketchup red, won the game.

There is only one Mini Wienermobile, so Molly Mustard and I were pretty excited when we found out we were going to get to spend time with LTL LINK and the mini team; Bunderful Beth and Meaty Magaly. We traveled together through Dallas, TX, Little Rock, AR, and Memphis, TN. OHIWISH and LTL LINK worked side by side spreading miles of smiles at various retail events, the Little Rock Zoo, The Ronald McDonald House of Memphis, and the Children’s Museum of Memphis. We were also privileged to become Duck Masters at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, tour Graceland, and see many exotic animals in Arkansas.

My favorite roadside attraction- Giant T-Rex Gift Shop found in the desert near Palm Springs, CA

Here is a list of greetings that make our day in the Wienermobile. Although this interaction may be quick it’s our way to connect with people on the hot dog highways. So go ahead, roll down your window and say “Hello!” to the Wienermobile.

1. The Standard Wave

On our way to Wyoming there was a traffic jam lining the opposite side of the highway. The traffic went on for miles and miles. To cheer everyone up we decided to slide open our windows and wave. Even though everyone was miserable while waiting in the traffic we counted 47 waves in about a 5 mile spread.  Talk about spreading miles of smiles!

2. The Rock Fist

The rock fist is a favorite among bikers. When on the road we, Hotdoggers, have an understanding with the bikers and truckers. There are times when it is only the three of us on the road so receiving the rock fist from a biker is a proud moment for us. It’s our little way to connect with our fellow long distance hotdog highway travelers. Rock on!

3. The Peace Sign

Surprisingly we get the peace sign a lot on the road, but when we do they always manage to come as a surprise. We are usually expecting a wave, a point or the hard-core rock fist so when the peace sign is shown by admirers it’s really, ummmm….peaceful!

4. The “Oh, my gosh!” Point

Definitely a favorite, the “Oh, my gosh!” point captures a moment of pure shock and disbelief that a 27-foot-long hot dog is cruising past. It is also a moment for Hotdoggers to realize, I’m driving a huge hot dog on wheels! Believe it or not driving the Wienermobile starts to feel normal, well until you receive the “Oh, my gosh!” point!

5. The Salute

This was saved for last because the salute is a rare occurrence.  In our 10 weeks on the road we have only experienced it twice. It is quite the honor. The first time it happened we were at a red light in Lexington, KY. All of a sudden someone popped out of the sunroof, stood tall, and gave us the salute. What an honor. We saluted back, of course!

Side note: Hotdoggers also like to do all of the following to passers-by! So make sure you check and see if we are waving, rock fisting, pointing, or saluting in your direction!

Henry Ford Museum, Michigan — Me, in front of the 1952 Wienermobile in the Henry Ford Museum. This Wienermobile is much smaller than WEENR, a 2004 model, but very shiny!

Being on the road for a full year means that you get the pleasure of celebrating your birthday in the Wienermobile. My partner, Alana Pickles, had her birthday take place the other day and I decided to give her a surprise by decorating the Wienermobile for her. She was pleasantly surprised.

Lafayette, LA – a town two hours west of New Orleans – has weathered its fair share of hurricanes.  But this giant oak tree outside of St. John’s Cathedral has survived them all. Said to be around 500 years old, the tree provided us some much-needed shade when we visited Cajun country in August with the Wienermobile. It also looks really fun to climb; guess that’s why the church roped it off!

Check out that trunk!

Happy “Beefday” Brian!  From the Wienermobile, Hamanda Cheese, and Lil’ Brian.  You have some pretty “franktastic” friends.  Not only did they make you a puppet in your likeness, but they brought him to the Wienermobile for a photo shoot.

San Bernardino, CA — While working one of the events in San Bernardino, California we had numerous people tell us they had seen a Wienermobile for sale close by. On our travels we have heard numerous stories of people who know somebody, who knew somebody, whose brother had bought a Wienermobile but had no pictures to show us.  

So naturally we were skeptical the first and second time we had heard the story but when one of the people was able to give us directions to this “Wienermobile for sale” we thought there might be something to this one. What we found was this:

It’s not an official Wienermobile but it does appear to be modeled after one, and while ours doesn’t cook hot dogs this one apparently did. It had a full kitchen inside but it was pretty run down and doesn’t look nearly as nice as the official Wienermobile. From what I could tell it was a converted trailer, so unlike the real Wienermobile, it has to be pulled wherever it goes.

A pretty good fan made a hot dog taxi, but make sure your Wienermobile always had the trademark yellow band!

      While traveling with the Mini team, we were lucky enough to be sent to gorgeous Taos!  Although there was not yet enough snow for skiing, the Taos Pueblo was open and so we paid it a visit before work one day.  

Meaty Magaly, Alana Pickles and Bunderful Beth inside the 1,000 year old Taos Pueblo.

         The Taos Pueblo is considered the oldest continuously habited community in the United States; people have been living there for over 1,000 years! After walking around, meeting wonderful bakers, jewelry makers and habitants of the pueblo, all knew what was awaiting us in the parking lot (I think our ketchup colored fleeces with Wienermobile embroidery gave us away).  Someone suggested that we bring it inside for a photo op.  This picture was taken in front of the Hluuma, the north house, which was made sometime between 1000-1450 AD.  Hopefully the reign of the Wienermobile will have a similar lifespan!

         After giving out whistles, one of the jewelers we met earlier wanted to thank us for visiting, and give us a token to remember the pueblo by.  So Meaty Magaly, Bunderful Beth and I all got to pick from a set of beautiful jewelry!