The Wienermobile may be 11 feet high and eight feet wide, but that did not stop the Midwest Team from taking OUR DOG into the East Towne Mall in Madison, WI.  Tate-yum and I maneuvered our buns through the mall to help open up at the new Play and Learn site.

The Play and Learn site was designed by the East Towne Mall and United Way of Dane County with founding support provided by Oscar Mayer.  It is an indoor play center that will hold monthly educational sessions for kids.  What a bunderful way for kids to get out of the cold of the Midwest winter and get inside to have a franktastic time doggin around.

OUR DOG relished helping  debut the new Play and Learn site.

Not every Hotdogger gets to go back to their Alma Mater with the Wienermobile.  Growing up in the Northeast and traveling the hot dog highways of the Northeast has allowed me a stop in State College, PA and a visit to The Pennsylvania State University.  As one of the three Hotdogger alumni from Penn State in Class 23, it’s an honor to bring the Wienermobile back to my old stomping grounds.

Super Dog Sam and the illustrious Joe Paterno statue.

Meep! Meep! Maria, WNR MBLE, and I took part in some events in State College and were able to meat up with some of my friends at school.

WNR MBLE in front of Super Dog's fraternity house.

Don’t worry State College and Penn Staters, If you missed the Wienermobile this time, it will be back in late February to start the search for Class 24 Hotdoggers!

Abracadabra!  These was one word Meeps! and I thought we might hear while stopping by Salem, Massachusetts.  Salem is the home of the infamous witch trials that took place in the late 1600’s.

WNR MBLE in front of the Salem Witch Museum.

After a day of touring the city and checking out the museums, Meeps!, WNR MBLE and I were still ourselves and with no magic cast upon us we drove out of Salem just the way we came in, two Hotdoggers in a Wienermobile.

WNR MBLE next to the "Bewitched" statue.

During the first half of our Hotdoggin’ year, the East team traveled to 16 states.  We recently received exciting news that we would be heading to our 17th state, Maine.  Meep! Meep! Maria, WNR MBLE and I were all first timers in Maine.  Taking in the sights, we found the franktastic Portland Head Light.

Super Dog Sam and Meep! Meep! Maria in front of the Portland Head Light.

The Portland Head Light located on the shores of Fort William Park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine was completed and put in to service by the Federal Government under the Lighthouse Act of 1789.  The Portland Head Light was first lit in 1791 and stands 72 feet tall. The views of the Atlantic Ocean from the grounds of the light house were bunderful. 

The view from the Portland Head Light at Fort William Park.

Can the Wienermobile fly?  Can the Wienermobile go in the water?  As Hotdoggers, we often hear questions like these.  Although all six Wienermobile vehicles do look like they can pass as an airplane, with the gull wing door, or as a submarine, with its cylindrical shape, the Wienermobile is simply a 27-foot-long hot dog on wheels.

After a visit to the Navy Submarine Base in Groton, CT, Meep! Meep! Maria and I boarded the historic submarine, the U.S.S Nautilus.

The U.S.S. Nautilus launched in 1954 and is famous for being the first commissioned nuclear powered ship in the United States Navy.  The submarine has certainly traveled the wiener waterways of the world, logging over 300,000 nautical miles in her time as an active ship.  Her final journey to Groton, CT was in 1979.

Even though the U.S.S. Nautilus is 319 feet long, almost 12 times the size of the Wienermobile, we could not bring it aboard.  But we could still see WNR MBLE from aboard the ship.

Meep! Meep! Maria and I had to make a regular stop at the post office in Mystic, CT.  After parking the Wienermobile a man approached us and told of a franktastic place to stop for some apple cider and doughnuts.

Meeps!, WNR MBLE, and I took a short five minute drive down the road and arrived at B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill.  Built in 1881, the Cider Mill is now in its sixth generation of family ownership.  B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill still uses the same equipment that it used in 1881 when it opened up.  (1881 was only two years prior to Oscar Mayer opening up his first butcher shop in Chicago, IL)  The only difference in the equipment is the boiler is now oil fired as opposed to the original boiler which was fired by wood.

B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill is known for their hard cider and apple wines.  Meeps! and I also had to try some of their apple cider doughnuts topped with cinnamon sugar.  Unfortunately, we could not bring WNR MBLE in for a tour of the cider mill.

Meep! Meep! Maria and I were lucky dogs passing through Canton, OH. Being an avid sports fan, I knew we had to relishthis opportunity to check out the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Meeps! and I spent some time inside the Hall of Fame learning about the game of football and some of the game’s greatest players. Although the game can be traced back to the mid 19th century, the National Football League, which at the time was known as the American Professsional Football Association, was founded in Canton in 1920.

WNR MBLE hanging outside the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrines players, coaches and contributors to the game of football. The first class enshrined in 1963 and was a class of seventeen members.

Meeting my idol Dan Marino.

While inside, Meeps! and I had the chance to ketchup with our favorite teams!

Meep! Meep! Maria with her St. Louis Rams.

Super Dog with the Miami Dolphins.

Oscar Mayer hot dogs are not the only dogs who are banded together.  While at Remke Markets in Florence, KY, Meep! Meep! Maria and I were able to meat up with the Boone County High School band and some of their helpful parents.  To help raise funds for the Boone County High School Rebel’s band, parents grilled and served hot dogs at Remke.  The Rebel band even pracited and performed the “Wiener Jingle” too.

Boone County High School Rebel band performing at the Remke Markets.

Meep! Meep! Maria grew up playing the saxophone.  She felt like a lucky dog to pick one up again and play with the band.

Meep! Meep! Maria reliving her glory days with a saxophone. Super Dog Sam learning the tuba.

The Boone County High School Rebel Band.

I am a huge sports fan.  I love to sit back, relax and relish a good game.  When Meep! Meep! Maria and I were in Bristol, CT we took a tour of the ESPN facility.  ESPN does not only do a bunderful job televising sporting events, they also air my favorite television show, SportsCenter.

SDS and M!M!M sitting on the set of SportsCenter.

Being from a small town in Missouri, Meep! Meep! Maria has spent most of her life west of the Mississippi River.  Now that she is driving the Wienermobile throughout the scenic krauts of the Northeast, she had the opportunity to meat New York City for the first time.  Her first trip to the city was with my mom, Super Dog Deb, where they checked out Times Square and saw a Broadway show.

Meep! Meep! Maria's first time in Times Square.

Soon after, Meep! Meep! Maria and I went back to NYC.  I took her to the Statue of Liberty where she had never sausage a thing before.

Meep! Meep! Maria excited to see the Statue of Liberty.

The Statue of Liberty is 305 feet tall.  It would take almost 28 Wienermobile vehicles stacked on top of each other to reach the hight of the Statue of Liberty.  We couldn’t bring WNR MBLE to Liberty Island, but M!M!M and I still decided to size up to her.

M!M!M and SDS sizing up to Lady Liberty.

Even as our journey continues on, I know this is one stop Meep! Meep! Maria really relished.

M!M!M and SDS dogging around with the NYC skyline in the background.