Thursday, March 31, 2005

Day One... still in St. Louis

I'm waiting for the finishing touches to be put on my sweet ride. I'm four hours past when I was hoping to be on the road, but I'm still determined to sleep in Elvis' room tonite... even if it means arriving in Clinton, OK at 2am.

My location right now is Craftsmen Industries. This is the maternity ward of some of the most famous mobile marketing vehicles on the road today. Most famously, the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile is built here. This is a true Monster Garage, where the trained mechanics, weldsman, and overall artisans are able to make a functioning vehicle look like anything, from a tube of toothpaste to a giant, working grill.

Wondering around the shop today I saw a mobile arcade for Playstation 2, a Boeing trailer that has a mini-museum inside along with a professional flight simulator, and a vehicle for Planters Peanuts that make it appear that a Kong sized Mr. Peanut is driving the thing.

The coolest vehicle is a retrofitted 50s era Miller High Life (the champagne of beers) bus - on the inside is a vintage bar set up.

Well, not as cool as MY vehicle, with a treadmill that slides out, hi-def plasma monitor, and flying abilities. Okay, one of those is a lie, but its still cool.