Thank you to everyone who voted – its so good to see such passionate voters! This was one of the most exhilerating votes in the history of alexandluke.com, and it had us on the edge of our seats all the way to the Utah border. Idaho – we really do regret that we didn’t have the opportunity to see more of you – but you have certainly left a very very good impression on us, and I suspect both of us will return one day. Utah – looks like we’ll be spending a little quality time together this weekend – hope you can handle it!

a&l

*There was some difficulty closing the vote properly at the Utah sign. If anyone is questioning the validity of the victory we have complete photo evidence of the vote being closed with Utah being victorious at the Utah border. What’s crazy is that in the short period of time from when we drove from the ‘Welcome to Utah’ sign to an area where we could update the website with the victory. Idaho received enough votes after the poll closing which would have made it victorious. It’s crazy to think that had we stopped at the Dairy Queen to get blizzards we would be driving back to Idaho right now. Instead? Off to Salt Lake City.

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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:

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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

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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:

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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!

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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.

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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.

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Luke’s good friend, and Alex’s moderate friend Mike is coming to visit on Wednesday August 25th. Although his name is Mike, no one really calls him Mike and in the videos that we make while he is with us you will probably hear him referred to as Cher or P.O.P. pronounced: pee-oh-pee!

Riding the airplane is expensive, so we want to give P.O.P a heads up as to where to meet us, and that’s where you come in! We will be in Sacramento, California tomorrow and depending on where you vote us to we will start driving North, North East, or East!

The 4 city options are:

Portland, Oregon
Seattle, Washington
Salt Lake City, Utah
Boise, Idaho

We have thoughtfully attached a map above so you can see the effects your vote will have.

If you vote for Portland, Oregon:
We will drive north up the California coast and spend a lot of time exploring Oregon before we pick Cher up at the airport on Wednesday and immediately start driving to the next destination you vote for. Portland is 580 miles away from Sacramento.
Click #Portland to let people know you vote for Portland on Twitter.

If you vote for Seattle, Washington:
We will also drive north up the California Coast, and do a very quick exploration of coastal Oregon on the way. We will attempt to arrive in Seattle on the day the P.O.P arrives and pick him up before exploring the city. Seattle is 753 miles away from Sacramento.
Click #Seattle to let people know you voted for Seattle on Twitter.


If you vote for Salt Lake City, Utah:
We will drive east and end up driving across the entire state of Nevada on our way to Salt Lake City. It will be a hot desert filled drive taking us back inland, and will push us the furthest away from the Ocean. Salt Lake City is 649 miles away from Sacramento.
Click #SaltLakeCity to let people know you voted for Salt Lake City on Twitter.

If you vote for Boise, Idaho:
We will either drive through Oregon or Nevada to Idaho depending on what the more popular option is. If voted to Idaho, the next directional vote will be quite the battle as Idaho borders 5 yet to be visited states (and, a Canadian province). Depending on the route we take to Boise it is between 500 and 700 miles away from Sacramento
Click #Boise to let people know you vote for Boise on Twitter.

VOTE NOW BELOW

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VOTE CLOSES at 5:00pm Eastern Time on Friday August 20th!
or when a city receives 100 votes

If you want to see how the P.O.P is voting, and vote accordingly you can see this information on his Twitter stream by clicking here.

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This time around we need your votes to help us place our bets.  Thats right – our bets. This directional vote will include a little gambling (we are in Vegas after all).  Nothing illegal – we just thought we’d throw a game of roulette into the mix.  So here’s how its gonna go down:

There are four states bordering Nevada: Utah, Idaho, Oregon and California.  Some are easier to get to from Las Vegas then others, but they are all being given a shot at winning this vote.  We need you to vote for the state you want us to go to next by participating in the poll below.  At 4:00pm EST the poll will close and we will head down to the nearest casino where we will find ourselves a roulette table.

We will be placing four bets.  One on black, one on red, one on 0 and one on 00.  The state with the most votes will represent our bet on black.  The state with the second most votes will represent our bet on red.  The state with the third most votes will represent our bet on 0.  And the state with the least votes will represent our bet on 00.

Voting is Now Closed

The roulette dispersion is as follows

California – Black – $10 bet
Utah – Red -$5 bet
Oregon – Number 0 – $3 bet
Idaho – Number 00 – $2 bet

Update in the next hour informing you of the outcome!

Let people know how you voted on Twitter by clicking the hashtags below:

#CALIFORNIA
#UTAH
#OREGON
#IDAHO

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Because of this we need you to vote! For either: California, Nevada, or Utah

This outcome of this vote will make us miss some cities that you may find interesting, read the following three descriptions carefully

Nevada

A vote for Nevada is a vote for Las Vegas. If Nevada doesn’t win this vote we won’t be going to Las Vegas. Instead we will be entering Nevada from either North-Eastern California, North-Western Utah, South-Western Idaho, or South-Eastern Oregon. All of these options are fine by us, we understand there is more to Nevada than Las Vegas!

California

A vote for California is a vote that has us in Los Angeles by tomorrow night. We have an absurd amount of suggestions, people to meet, and interviews to do once we arrive in California. A vote for California is a vote that will take us up the coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco, before we put up our next directional vote.

Utah

Poor Utah. We aren’t sure how Utah has a chance against these two powerhouse States, but we didn’t think New Hampshire could ever beat Massachusetts and it most certainly did. A vote for Utah has us enter the state from the South. We will travel through Mexican Hat and start driving north where if Big Love has taught us anything we will be driving through polygamist compounds before arriving in Salt Lake City.

In case you are under 30, FTW stands for: For The Win! That means, the first state to receive 50 votes wins. Vote below:

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Click on the hashtag below of the State you voted for and the let the Twitterverse know how you voted. The more you talk on Twitter, the more likely we are able to meet people and do fun stuff!

#CALIFORNIA
#UTAH
#NEVADA

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