While driving cross-country this year, I’ve become a big fan of state capitols–they’re stately public buildings that are totally free and endlessly interesting. Best of all, your state probably has one.  Here’s a smattering of shots from a few of the state headquarters the Wienermobile has seen this year…

Top Left: Boise, Idaho!

Top Right: Salem, Oregon!

Lower Left: Madison, Wisconsin!

Lower Right: Olympia, Washington!

Last summer, Class 23 packed up our suitcases, gave Ma and Pa a hug, and headed out on our year-long expedition in the Wienermobile. We rarely see our own hometowns, but we can still visit familiar neighborhoods by hunting down the houses from our favorite childhood movies. I’ve been lucky enough to relive old memories with my fictional friends of Hollywood. Come along for the tour…

While in Highland Park, Illinois, I got to visit my friend Cameron’s house from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. My senior year of high school, we took his dad’s Ferrari to Chicago and I ended up singing “Danke Schoen” on a German parade float.

We also stopped by The Goonies house in Astoria, Oregon. This one year, my neighborhood pals and I found a map in the attic and went on a quest to find One-Eyed Willie’s treasure to save our house from redevelopment. It was AWESOME!

One Christmas, my whole family flew to Paris without me and I had to defend our house from burglars using only paint cans and my brother’s tarantula. Diggity Dog and I visited my old Home Alone house in Winnetka, Illinois, but later discovered we weren’t the first Hotdoggers to visit. Here’s a gem from the YouTube vault, featuring Class 21.

Click on the image above to hear from our old pals Lunch Lovin’ Larisa, Mr. Beeftastic, Salchicha Selena, and A-Dog Adam.

The Oregon Coast is home to rocky beaches, epic sunsets, and the best high school mascots in the country (some favorites include the Astoria Fightin’ Fishermen, the Seaside Seagulls, and, all-time best, the Tillamook Cheesemakers). Smiley Kylie and I were lucky enough to drive the Wienermobile on a very rare trek up the incredible Oregon Coast, visiting grocery stores and communities that rarely ever see the Wienermobile.

Our route led us up historic Highway 101, winding and rolling along the coastline from Brookings in the south to Warrenton in the north. FUN FACT: The state passed the Oregon Beach Bill in 1967, making all 363 miles of coastline accessible to the public. Great job, Oregon!

I showed my love for the coast by throwing my arms around this gigantic, panicky sea lion statue in Florence, Oregon.

Today is my brother Michael’s birthday and, instead of sending him a material gift, I found it much more meaningful to dedicate this blog post to him. Michael is a student at Muskingum University, home of the Fighting Muskies, so here is a muskie-based blog from the World’s Largest Muskie in honor of his big day.

As the driver of the world’s largest mobile hot dog, I’m always searching for other oversized oddities to meat up with. Diggity Dog Drea and I visited this famous fish over the summer at the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin. A muskie is a fierce and carnivorous fish, so this four and a half story specimen would definitely devour the Wienermobile if given the chance.

IWSHIWR made a stop in beautiful Newport, Oregon–home of fresh seafood, epic murals of killer whales, and a whole crew of hot dog enthusiasts. 

While spending some quality time at the grocery store, we received a surprise visit from Newport’s very own Hot Dog Brigade–a social club of sorts for local folks who enjoy dachshunds, costumes, and camaraderie. Each year, they partake in a Hot Dog Brigade parade, marching down historic Highway 101 with their costumed canines.

Dogs dressed like hot dogs + kids dressed like hot dogs = an ordinary Friday afternoon for the Wienermobile.

We’re probably the only people ever to take a photo with this sign.

While making appearances at Beale, Travis, and McClellan Air Force Bases, we noticed a few other things that separate the military commissary from your everyday grocery store…

1. Customers often shop in flight suits.
2. The Air Force anthem plays across the base each day at 1200 (that means noon)
3. You drive through a military checkpoint to get to the store.
4. There may just be an airplane in the parking lot (see below)

IWSHIWR–no longer the big dog on campus.

Smiley Kylie and I started our Northwest trek in Olympia, the capitol of the great state of Washington. We were travelling between two grocery store events, but took a detour to meat up with this gigantic bust of George Washington in the capitol building and rub his nose for good luck. As you can see from his shimmery schnoz, we weren’t the first to find fortune on our founding father’s facial features.

Distance runs and hot dog puns are the Northwest Team’s two favorite things, so Smiley Kylie and I were frankful to be driving the Wienermobile around Eugene, Oregon, otherwise known as Track Town USA.

Eugene is a pilgrimage site for runners everywhere. The University of Oregon hosts Olympic Trials and NCAA championships at the famous Hayward Field, where Steve “Pre” Prefontaine, one of the greatest American runners of all time, had a record-setting career with the Oregon Ducks.

Kylie and I took a running tour of Track Town USA but, without our Wienermobile’s GPS, I got us horrendously lost and we ran way more miles of smiles than we originally intended. We finally found our destination–Pre’s Rock, the Mecca for runners everywhere. Visitors often leave a trinket behind at Pre’s memorial, from medals to shoes to coins. I left my fake moustache as a tribute to Pre’s famous facial hair.

On this Valentine’s Day, I wanted to express my love for the Wienermobile fleet. I’ve been lucky enough to drive most of the hot dog armada at some point this year, and I’d like to showcase the good times I’ve had rolling around the country with the lovely ladies of the Wienermobile fleet… I call them my fleethearts.

 Rolling with LTL LINK in Madison, Wisconsin;

  Splitting a dish with OH I WISH;

 A sunny day with BOLOGNA in Peoria, Illinois;

 Making snow angels with OUR DOG;

 Delivering flowers to IWSHIWR;

 A tender moment with YUMMY in the wilds of Wisconsin.

When it’s super-frigid outside, you can always warm up at the curling rink, as Diggity and I discovered in Mankato, Minnesota. We stopped by the Mankato Curling Club for a chance to try the franktastic winter sport of curling and learn some of the sport’s lingo.

We slipped into “sliders” and “skipped” the “sheet” at our very own “spiel!” Curling is the only sport where you can ”throw” a “hammer” at your “house” without getting in trouble with your parents (unless they’re on the other team). Of all the new terms we learned, my favorite was ”bonspiel,” the word for a curling tournament, because now we can add ”bunspiel” to our long list of hotdogger puns. 

The Midwest Team always wears matching team jackets and matching team intensity on the ice sheet.