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Is de-plaided a word? After a really fun night at the Bar of Soap bar, and many Lone Star beers, we removed the Plaid from our van. Video coming shortly.

Surprisingly, no marks were left on the Avis van. The only remark from the Avis employee upon its return on Saturday morning was "4,068 miles. That' can't be right." Oh, it's correct, Mr. Avis. That's 4,068 miles of Plaid.

UPDATE:
Here's the video.

Labels: Day 19, van

posted by darryl ohrt at 4:05 PM 3 Comments

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In honor of Texas.

Labels: ryan, tshirtoftheday

posted by Make the logo bigger at 10:10 PM 0 Comments

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The last day of the tour didn’t involve clients but damn was it ever memorable. Planned as an agency-slash-“let’s meet bloggers we know” thing, Dallas was hands downs our coolest stop. First, we hit Dieste Harmel for a quick look, thanks to friend of the show Mack Simpson. Taco cart wondering their halls at 11:00 am, most impressive.

Then it was onward to yep, the best burger in Dallas at the Angry Dog. (This being the second of two great recommends from Mack, the first the night before at Chuys.) After a failed attempt to find the local 7-11 Kwik-E-Mart, we headed over to blogfest 2007 at Bar of Soap.

Words fail, but for sure, this is a real bar with real people and one of the most kickass places we’ve encountered along the way. They’re more than enough individual stories from there that we’ll be posting more on for sure. Check out the pics here. Thanks to an invite from Tanna pictured here, we hooked up with James from Yonder Ponder as well as Scott Baradell from Spin Thicket and Idea Grove fame. We missed Irene and Paul but that’s ok, (they owe us a beer now).

The end of the day saw us peeling the skin off the Plaidmobile, revealing an ordinary Ford. You can check out the sequence of that fun shortly.

Labels: Day 19, tour route

posted by Make the logo bigger at 1:36 PM 0 Comments

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...that they like our van. We met with Sarah (pictured) and fell in love with their conference room view. Sarah is filled with really fun stories, and hands down the coolest person in Alltel. Thanks Sarah!

Labels: Day 18

posted by Make the logo bigger at 6:42 PM 0 Comments

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We spent some time with Bill Clinton, at The Clinton Library, and got our pictures with Bill.

We splendored in the building's architectural goodness, and avoided the airport-like security search - by staying outside.

Rob, pictured at left, is completely surprised at actually meeting Bill at the Clinton Library. Ryan and I also got our pictures with Bill. What a day.

Labels: Day 18, lifeontheroad, photos, rob, ryan

posted by darryl ohrt at 6:31 PM 0 Comments

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Labels: Day 18, ryan, tshirtoftheday

posted by Make the logo bigger at 6:08 PM 0 Comments

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I guess you could say it’s Panera with a DJ basically. But when’s the last time you ate a Panini while someone spun R&B and jazz on real vinyl? A few internet bugs but otherwise we’re making out just fine here despite the Easy Bake oven outside.

posted by Make the logo bigger at 11:56 AM 0 Comments

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Prior to our visit to Elvis-land, we took care of business (TCB in Elvis-speak) with a ‘renegade’ meeting - showing up at a brand completely unannounced, where we believe we can make a difference.

This morning, we stopped at Buckeye Technologies. They’re a successful B2B brand, and an excellent example of where B2B branding is just as important as consumer branding. Absolutely a brand where Plaid power could make a significant difference in their business.

We met Anne, who was incredibly accommodating for an unannounced visit, and we reciprocated with lots of Plaid goodies. Overall, a good introduction. Here’s hoping for some Plaid in Buckeye’s future.

Labels: Day 17, lifeontheroad

posted by darryl ohrt at 9:17 PM 0 Comments

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After a really cool night on Beale Street downtown in Memphis, we couldn’t leave Tennessee without a stop at the mecca for all things Elvis, Graceland.

We bought tickets for the tour, and jumped on the shuttle-bus with a bunch of Canadian tourists and senior citizens. To ride across the street. (Elvis would have been proud that we didn’t walk the 200 feet.)

And the tour just dripped with Elvis excitement.
+ Audio tours, with skanky headphones, worn by other sweaty tourists.
+ More shag carpet than we’ve seen in a really long time.
+ Elvis’ tiki lounge/living room.

We hopped back on the shuttle bus to ride across the street. Feeling that a couple of postcards or an internet site might have saved the $25 entrance fee.

And then we discovered Elvis paradise. The Graceland OUTLET. Anything you can imagine, silk-screened in full Elvis glory. Plates, sun visors, rugs, purses, chapstick, and so much more. They even had a John Wayne section. (I guess Elvis and JW used to hang together at Graceland?)

We quickly loaded the van with Elvis magic and headed for the highway. Onward to Arkansas. With sideburns.

Labels: Day 17, lifeontheroad

posted by darryl ohrt at 4:04 PM 0 Comments

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Labels: Day 16, ryan, tshirtoftheday

posted by Make the logo bigger at 4:02 PM 0 Comments