T minus... Friday, Saturday, Sunday

I just received an amazingly thoughtful gift from a good friend from high school. It's a journal to write the stories behind the stories we uncover. It came with a set of pens! I can't wait to use them, but the one bad thing about having a journal is my handwriting haha. Thanks Dave... for all the support!!

If you want to follow our trip on twitter my account is http://twitter.com/frederickmedia

Well, the itinerary is set. We arrive in Chicago late on June 7th, and start shooting on the 8th.

Our first interview is on June 9th in Morris Illinois. It's with a man and wife who have traveled Route 66 several times, most recently with a group of tourist from the Czech Republic. The road is very popular in Europe.

We have to be in Litchfield, Illinois by June 13th to shoot at the Skyview drive-in. It's only open on weekends so our window of opportunity is small. If we miss this window we'll have to catch it on the way back.

We will have to stay over night in Litchfield since the movies don't start until after 7:30pm. It should be a late night. Letters To Juliet and The Back Up Plan are showing until June 6th. I'll let you know what was showing the night we were there.

After Litchfield, we have five days to get to Oklahoma for the convention at the Downstream casino. That's about 330 miles. In between, we hope to come across many small towns (some ghost towns) searching for those hidden stories of survival, hope and the American dream. We'll spend 2-days at the convention, and leave on Father's Day.

That leaves five states to traverse in about 8-days. We have an interview set up with a young women who moved to Arizona with her family when she was in 8th grade on June 25th ish. She now runs the Grand Canyon Caverns. The Grand Canyon Caverns boast a "hotel room" set up in the caverns... some 200 feet underground. She has offered this up to do the interview in. Sounds pretty cool! I'll let you know.

Another stop will be Needles, California. The Peanuts creator, Charles Schulz, moved here with his family when he was six. They stayed for a little over a year. If you remember Snoopies hipster cousin, Needles, this may shed some light on how he got his name. Thanks to Debbie for that little bit of Peanutology.

Then onto Santa Monica by June 28th. We have a permit waiting for us to shoot on the Santa Monica pier. And maybe a day off to enjoy the beach before we turn around and make the return 2448 mile trip back to Chicago.

That would be a round trip of 4896 miles. I hope my little Honda can make the trip without too many problems. I know there is one oil change in it's future. Probably in California.

Whew, I'm tired just thinking about the trip, but I know it will be worth every mile.

Thanks for checking in!!!