Hotdogger Blog

It’s the fastest sport in the country – NASCAR!  And OH I WISH, Nikita, and I showed up for the fun at Speed Street in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since the name of the game is racing, we decided to hold our very own Wienermobile  races. But we didn’t race the full-size dogs, we had eight little mini versions to tear up a 27-foot long track (that’s the length of the Wienermobile!)

Kids of all ages rooted for their favorite cars – and everyone walked away with an iconic wiener whistle.

Fun fact: The NASCAR Hall of Fame is in Charlotte, and 90% of NASCAR teams are based within 50 miles of the city!

Recently I have discovered what may be my new favorite feature on my cell phone. With the touch of a button, I can see the places where I’ve taken pictures this year!

I really am a lucky dog to have seen these places through the hot dog dashboard of the one-of-a-kind Wienermobile vehicle.

The employees at Kraft Foods in Rogers, Arkansas know how to have a good time. Nacho Cheese Nikita and I drove the Wienermobile to their company picnic and were delighted by the bounce houses, cotton candy, hot dogs, games, and most of all, we were intrigued by these sumo wrestling suits. As Hotdoggers, we’d never shy away from silly fun or a good, old-fashioned competition, so we sized each other up, and knew it was “on.”

After three rounds, I’m big enough to admit, Nikita ended up the wiener. But, no worries, no amount of rubber or foam could get in between the Southeast Team. We are a bunderful duo, like ketchup and mustard.

I was the lucky dog who got to work with Tate Yum one day when she flew down from the Midwest. We drove OH I WISH to Pompano Beach, FL and got to meat Louis and Joe, a grandfather and his grandson with some franktastic hot dog fashions. Their shirts modeled all the different types of  dogs you could imagine. And little Joe (I dubbed him Joey Bologna after a good friend of mine) even sported a hat with a mustard-topped hot dog.

Louis, also known as “Poppy” bought these outfits for Joe, or as the back of his shirt says, “Little Poppy” for his name day, a tradition of celebrating a name on a certain day of the year. If you didn’t guess this already, the shirts were inspired by Joe’s favorite food!

OH I WISH is a 2004 Wienermobile vehicle. This means seven years on the road, over two-hundred thousand miles, and years of Hotdogger history. Driving a Wienermobile comes with buns of responsibilities and perks, and one of the most exciting things to do when driving them is checking out what past Hotdoggers have left behind.

You can see Nacho Cheese Nikita is modeling an awesome, home-made, crocheted hat with pictures of delicious Oscar Mayer hot dogs. In her hands she holds a real, still functioning, Polaroid camera.

I found a fun fireman’s hat, a ketchup and mustard colored boa, condiment bottles, and a toy claw. Who knows what surprises we’ll leave behind for Class 24!

Just like a young butcher’s apprentice named Oscar Mayer went on to establish the cold cut and meat company America loves today, so can one idea grow into something special!

This Ft. Lauderdale group of friends calls it “Wiener Wednesdays.” It started almost a year ago with some left-over hot dogs they decided to cook up and share with their neighbors. It was such a hit, every second Wednesday of the month now continues the tradition. Kim, Brian, Cerise, and Rick cook up the hot dogs, and the guests provide unique toppings. They compete with unique entries like peanut butter and jelly, mango salsa, and guacamole topped ‘dogs. What’s your favorite way to dress your dog?

We’ve been on our coast-to-coast weenie roast for about ten months now, and Nacho Cheese Nikita and I are still experiencing unforgettable moments every day. While in South Florida we decided to take a tour of the unique Florida Everglades so we parked our buns and hopped on  a fan boat like proper tourists.

What was once considered “just a swamp,” the Everglades National Park is now a protected area and recognized for a unique ecosystem found no where else in the world. Not only does it provide fresh drinking water for Floridians,  it’s also home to many different species of animals, including over one million alligators like Bruce!

Little Bruce didn’t come from the swamps though, he was a rescue animal born in captivity. He’s only about six hot dogs long. Pretty soon he’ll be much too big to smooch – alligators can grow to over 14 feet!

We meat a lot of people with special memories of the Wienermobile while on the road. When I got to visit my alma mater, The University of Florida, with the Wienermobile I got to combine my great college memories, with my new Hotdogger ones to create even more special past times.

This is me and Nacho Cheese Nikita at Florida Field, otherwise known as “The Swamp.” It was built in 1930, just six years before the first Wienermobile hit the road. Born a Gator in Gainesville, FL I’ll always say, “Go Gators!” and of course,  ”I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener.”

Now that I’m cruising the Southeast with Nacho Cheese Nikita I’m getting used to seeing the different sights. It’s never a boring day traveling the scenic-krauts of America, and this day in Savannah, Georgia was no different. I had to pull over when we saw this:

Two over-sized dogs! I never saw sausage a thing! I had to stop and snap a shot of my favorite dog, a great dane, with my other favorite dog, YUMMY.

This southern Hotdogger has learned a lot in the past six months; namely, what a real winter is like. The first three pictures were taken after eleven inches of snow fell in Madison, Wisconsin – home of Oscar Mayer and the Wienermobile. You can see Joey Bologna scraping some snow off of OHIWISH.

And now, we can proudly answer one of our most popular winter questions: How does the vehicle handle in the snow? With the combination of our Hotdogger expertise, and taking it slow, OHIWISH has been great!

The last picture was taken along the scenic-krauts of Southern Minnesota. We couldn’t resist the temptation to take a picture at such a doggone’ beautiful sight!