Should Utah walk the plank?

Posted on September 3rd, 2010 in Idaho, Utah, vote by alex and luke


As you know, we are heading back to Seattle to embark on a seven day cruise up to Alaska, thanks to Carnival Cruise Lines, which is a massive help because it gets us one step closer to accomplishing our ambitious goal. Our departure date is Tuesday, September 7th. Today is Friday, September 3rd. We are presently in Boise Idaho, as that is where the last vote and suggestions had sent us before we found out the news about Alaska. So, the big question that we pose to you is whether or not we should drive down to Salt Lake City before making the long trek to Seattle. Here are some facts to help you make up your mind:

  1. Utah has been put up for vote numerous times and has always lost, and maybe that’s a sign that it should stay that way.
  2. We have never been closer to Salt Lake City before, and never will be this close again.
  3. If you vote against us going to Salt Lake City, we will drive to just over the border of Utah so that we can tick it off the list, but we will not see or do anything there.
  4. If number 3 happens, Utah will never be put up for vote again.
  5. It is a heck of a long drive from Salt Lake City to Seattle, but if you vote us there, we will be making the trip early next week.
  6. If you don’t vote us to Salt Lake City, we will inevitably be spending more time in Idaho.
  7. More time in Idaho means more time to take suggestions that we might not be able to fit in if we book it for Utah (and more consumption of potatoes too).

Give this one a little thought – then vote for our fate below:

Should we visit Salt Lake City?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

THE VOTE CLOSES WHEN WE CROSS THE IDAHO-UTAH BORDER

Click here to encourage people on Twitter to vote for us to visit Utah
Click here to encourage people on Twitter to make Utah walk the plank

We’re Going to Alaska… on a Carnival Cruise!

Posted on September 2nd, 2010 in Alaska, Carnival, Cruise by luke

Burt Reynolds will be taking a seven-day vacation while we set sail on the Carnival Spirit, a vessel we have code-named ‘Burt Reynolds II’. We will be travelling from Seattle, Washington to these Alaskan destinations: Juneau, Glacier Bay, Skagway, and Ketchikan, before returning to port in Vancouver, Canada.

Over the past month we have become really worried that we will be unable to make it to Alaska on this trip. We set out with the goal of travelling through every province, state, and territory in Canada and the United States but based on the visa we were issued at the United States border, we only have until October 19th to visit every state, before we are expunged from the country. This poses a massive problem for us because we still have 11 States left to do: Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Alaska, Hawaii, and poor Vermont. This means that we would have to somehow drive 50+ hours to Alaska, explore, then drive 50+ hours back to the us border in order have a chance of achieving our goal within the allotted time. Given the amount of other States we still have left to visit, this investment in time would make it near impossible to drive through the areas of the continental US we have yet to visit. Throw in winter road conditions and it becomes even trickier.

But just this week, Carnival heard about our problem and offered us a solution. They have a very small amount of availability left on the Carnival Spirit and they offered us a cabin on the vessel! When we read the e-mail containing this offer we were such a mess of emotions that we were jumping on our beds, crying, and typing a thank you letter all at the same time!

We can’t possibly thank Carnival enough for helping the alexandluke.com project achieve our goal of visiting every province, state, and territory in Canada and the United States. A small gesture that you could do that would mean a lot to us is to also thank them on Twitter on our behalf! If you click here, a Tweet will be automatically generated to do so!.

We depart from Seattle on September 7th – that’s next Tuesday! If you have been to any of the Alaskan cities mentioned above and have any suggestions for us, leave them below. And if you have ever been on a Carnival cruise (maybe you have even voyaged on the Spirit before) let us know your favorite thing to do whilst on board. If you have never been on a cruise (like Luke), look forward to the content we will be making on the Spirit to help give you a sense of what life on a cruise is like!

Alaska!!!!!

a&l

The Winner Is…

Posted on August 31st, 2010 in Idaho by luke

Directional Vote: BC or Idaho

Posted on August 31st, 2010 in Alaska, British Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, vote by alex and luke

The results of this vote might not send us in the winner’s direction just yet, but it will matter eventually – let me explain.

We are currently in Washington State, which directly borders two regions we have yet to visit – Idaho and British Columbia. However, Seattle is also a prime location for departures to Alaska via cruise ship and Hawaii via airplane.  We have always hoped to visit both of these American states, but getting to them with Burt Reynolds (our car) may not be entirely feasible (we would need a barge for Hawaii, and we could drive to Alaska, but by the time we get there, the roads might be too treacherous for poor Burt). So, we have reached out to the Hawaii and Alaska tourism communities to see if anyone could help to get us there (unfortunately Burt will have to stay behind this time).

If we don’t find ourselves on a cruise ship or an airplane this week, we will head to the winning region you vote for instead.  If we do manage to get to Hawaii or Alaska, we will be returning to Seattle in about a week, where we will then head to the winning region and start exploring.

Make sense?

Basically – vote on where you want us to drive next, and if  we end up on an airplane or a cruise ship in the mean time, the winning region will simply be pushed back a week or so.

One more thing to consider… as you may know, British Columbia is a Canadian Province, while Idaho is a State. We are required to complete our tour of the United States by mid/end October (as stated on our Visa’s), so if we are voted to Canada now, it might severely limit the amount of time we are able to explore the remaining states (unless customs is nice and re-issues us new visas). That said – British Columbia has plenty of Tim Hortons and Swiss Chalets and people who sound like us so we won’t turn it down, eh!

Vote Now:

Idaho!

  • Idaho (71%, 89 Votes)
  • British Columbia (29%, 37 Votes)

Total Voters: 126

Loading ... Loading ...

Click #Idaho to let people know you vote for Idaho on Twitter.
Click #British Columbia to let people know you voted for British Columbia on Twitter.

This vote closes tonight (Tuesday August 31) at 8pm ET so tell your friends!

Monday Evening with Alex and Luke: Ep 18

Posted on August 30th, 2010 in Monday Evening, Oregon, Washington by alex and luke

a seattle birthday

Posted on August 29th, 2010 in Washington, photography, photoshop by alex

Favourite Follower Friday

Posted on August 28th, 2010 in FFF, Oregon, Washington by alex and luke

because he is currently filling our third seat, because he has embraced the unpredictable spirit of life on the social media controlled road with open arms, because he brought new music for us to listen to and because he is the perfect pin-ball and arcade partner… our favourite follower this week is the one and only @harperdudevice from montreal canada!!!

Washington Wins

Posted on August 25th, 2010 in Washington, vote by luke

Directional Vote – Washington Vs. Idaho

Posted on August 25th, 2010 in Idaho, Washington, vote by luke


We’re keeping it short and sweet this week. Should we drive to Washington or Idaho?



Washington

We will drive West until we hit the ocean and take the long oceanside drive on the 101 from Oregon to Washington.
Click #Washington to let people know you voted for Washington on Twitter.


Idaho

We will drive East along Highway 84 towards Idaho. We will be exploring what rural/forested/mountainous Oregon looks like on our way to the Idaho border.
Click #Idaho to let people know you vote for Idaho on Twitter.

The first State to receive 50 votes wins.

Washington Wins

  • Washington (68%, 50 Votes)
  • Idaho (32%, 24 Votes)

Total Voters: 74

Loading ... Loading ...

a&l

PS
Although it doesn’t affect this vote. We need to firm up with the United States customs department about whether or not we will be able to start criss-crossing between Canada and the United states for future votes. The nature of our Visa is making what appears to be relatively easy to do by looking at a map surprisingly hard.

Monday Evening Episode 17

Posted on August 23rd, 2010 in California, Monday Evening, YouTube by alex and luke

Show Me Older Stuff »