No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn + HardFork Stunt CONTEST
I couldn't help but include a little nod to the Beastie Boys (the first concert I saw as a teenager) in the title but it's not entirely true. Thankfully, we slept every night of our five day road trip.
Last Sunday my wife, Amstel, and I left St. Paul in the new Prius...destination, Brooklyn for two solid weeks of work on HardFork with @dougkarr and @bakerchristopher. What better way to break in a new vehicle than a thousand-plus mile drive?
The Prius was beyond impressive, averaging around 52mpg for the trip in Eco-mode, most of which was driven at around 75mph. The car has a 1.8L four cylinder engine paired with an electric motor, which proved to have far more combined pep than my old Honda Fit, which only averaged 32mph on the highway.
We stopped in foggy Chicago the first night and Amstel slept in style in Greektown.
After another full day on the road brought us to Johnstown, Ohio to spend a few nights with my parents. We hadn’t seen them since May. Although it was a short visit, it was one that I cherished. A trip home always is a potent reminder of where you came from and how important those roots really are.
Two more days on the road and we rolled right on through the Holland Tunnel to our final destination...Brooklyn. Amstel is still trying to get used to the big city and something completely new for him...elevators. An authentic NYC pizza from L'industrie Pizzeria was the perfect way to round out our first day in the Big Apple.
For those of you who've never had pizza here in NYC it's not like anywhere else in the world, beyond delicious. There are many theories as to why pizza is so much better here...I tend to believe it's the water.
There’s nothing like a thousand mile drive to make you think. So many ideas swirled through my head as the tires droned and the mile markers blurred together as one from the vast expanses of the Midwest to New York City. Some of these ideas will end up in the HardFork series. The main reoccurring thought kept coming up during the past few days is I care about this HardFork series project more than anything I've ever worked on in my entire career.
Speaking of HardFork, we announced a crazy contest yesterday on our @hardfork-series Steemit page! It goes like this...
HardFork Contest! We should all dream up a crazy stunt activation to coincide with the release of the @hardfork-series and make it happen. You can never start planning these things too early. This is the perfect community to engage in this kind of wild and crazy activity. Click here to read more details on the contest.
We’re very excited to see what ideas you come up with! Our team will have our thinking caps on too. Let's create something amazing together!
Yours in the chain,
Eric
Please follow our official Steemit account for the film series @hardfork-series. Did you miss our last post? If so CLICK HERE to read it!
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I really believe in this project and this team. So I spent a couple hours pondering on how to help with this particular contest. Here is a post I made with a 13:45 minute video of a midnight brainstorming session for Hard-Forked promotion possibilities.
https://steemit.com/hardfork-series/@quinneaker/midnight-brainstorming-session-for-hardfork-series-contest-submission-video-4-juicy-inspired-ideas-for-hard-forked-stunt-type
This is your really wonderful road trip. I really enjoy this story and especially glad to see you with your parents. They are looking so much happy to meet you. And also happy to see your Amstel sitting in beautiful car. Congratulations for your safe journey and eco- testing cars. All the photos are really amazing and beautiful. Thanks for sharing your wonderful moments with us.
Dude I have Prius plug in 2012 and its by far the best car I have ever owned! I love EVERYTHING about it besides that it doesn't fly.....haha
Loving the photos, I can feel ur experience in them. So exciting to see your passion for @hardfork-series ! I really have so much passion for it also and believe I have a lot I can bring to it. I have a meeting with @dougkarr on Monday, hope to talk to you more in depth one day soon also.
Full Steem Ahead to the New Paradigm∞§∞
Dear @ericvancewalton,
You got nominated in my latest article TOP 5 trending Poetry Accounts you should follow today!
Feel free to check it out:
https://steemit.com/poetry/@bestmemes/top-5-trending-poetry-accounts-you-should-follow-today
Thank you for your upvote! I appreciate it, I would be really happy if also read my article. Thank you very much! Have a good day, my dear friend :)
Great post, great journey... and NOW YOU'RE HERE!! These next couple weeks are going to be amazing Brother!
Thank you, Doug! It feels so great to be in the city again and I have a feeling our collective muses will be singing like a choir in these next few weeks. So excited, my friend!
You guys works soooo well together and I am already excited to see the manifestations!
EXCITING!!!!!!!
Yes, driving does make you think because you have no choice on a long drive. I agree the water is good in Brooklyn. We have good water in Canada and it tastes the same! The pizza is unforgettable.
The water is so good I've been drinking it unfiltered. Amazing for such a huge city. Oh, and the pizza! It's incredible!
I was just wondering if Amstel came along....maybe I'll get to meet him?? Please??
Beastie boys is a helluva first concert, that's impressive....mine was Jgeils band and I don't remember anything about the music at all, that's how impressive it was, lol
I think that could definitely be arranged Ruth! I was pretty starstruck to see the Beastie Boys live when I was 15 years old. In retrospect though it was a horrendous performance, they were drunk...so drunk in fact they didn't even know what city they were in. Fishbone opened for them and they put on a wicked performance but no one there appreciated it because the were there for the Beastie Boys. It's such a good memory though. I used to really like JGeils!
can't wait to meet the pup for sure ;-)
I too used to love jgeils...but they are definitely suited for the maturity of a teen. Too bad the beastie boys were so drunk, I've been to shows like that and it just sort of turns you off. I saw US3 and they were my fav band and once I saw them live I never listened to them again.
Being an opening band is kind of a bummer and so many amazing bands are overlooked! Of course though it gives them prestige and does help them grow.
Eric, u the man.
Thanks, Raj. You were such a positive influence for me, I thank you for that!
Well a thousand miles is certainly a really long drive.
My car only gets 16 miles per gallon so that would have cost me a fortune
Your dog is a real trooper to be able to hang in for that long of a drive.
I will check out the details of the contest although I'm usually not very good with that kind of thing.
It was way too long @jeezzle. We were never so happy to see a skyline in our lives. Amstel is an amazing traveler. It's stressful for him but it would have likely been worse if we left him for two weeks. Cool! Thanks for checking out the contest and if you have any ideas please let them in the HardFork Series post comments!
a very interesting story, I wait for the rest of the story
HardFork Stunt CONTEST its better way to providing @hardfork-series. I'll check it out how to participate.
Congratulations for your eco-testing cars. Nice family vacations; nice fun with them. Dash board pretty cool.
Best meals and Your dog is pretty smart looks. Inspiration me again sir.
Cool, thanks for your comment! I hope you have some unique ideas for the contest!