track_080218_110501.kml

Hi, the image above (if everything goes as planned there will be an image) shows the route i’ve taken this morning from the ANWB office (to get an international drivers licence, which is, in fact, nothing more than a piece of paper with a lot of translations on it).
Hope this works!

Update: Added a GPX version to check for differences.

track_080218_110440.gpx

Quintijn was so kind to write a little story about me a while back so with this post i’d like to return the favour. Many years ago (Quintijn says about 3 and i’d like to believe him on that) Marloes and i considered buying a BMW. So we looked around in the showroom until suddenly this guy pops up telling us what not to buy. Quintijn has a very strong opion (which he often calls the truth) about everything with regards to appearance. He’s the only guy i know that is not gay (at least, i’ve seen strong signals that that is not the case) AND has more than 12 pairs of shoes. Furthermore he actually enjoys ironing and folding his clothes.Because of his selling skills, we actually bought a BMW, then, after a while, we bought two mini’s for in our company, and later on even more cars followed. During that time our friendship growed and today i consider Quintijn one of by best friends.

The whole buying BMW’s and Mini’s thing got way to expensive to i asked him to come and work for us at IC&S and, without much hesitation, he joined the club. Which brings me to one of the most important bases of our friendship; Quintijn is a crazy as i am. Impulsiveness and taking risks is a big factor in what we do and how we do it. Instead of telling how we are alike, i think it’s more interesting to tell in what ways we are different. Quintijn is religious, i am not. Quintijn has this BMW, Clothing and everything with a brand fetish, i have not. I’m being inspired how to dress by my wife, Quintijn had a very strong opinion how his girlfriend should dress (don’t listen to him Nadine!). Quintijn is very opinionated by things, while i’m not

The best way to describe our relation is by a striking example (at least, that’s what they call it at the office). They tell us that we’re like Richard Hammond (Quintijn) and Jeremy Clarkson (me) from Top Gear. Both in height as the way we (inter)act.

I’m looking forward to our trip!

We have only three weeks to go and then we will be cruising the American highways. Before we leave there is still a lot to do. Eelco will be leaving on the 25th of February because he will visit the TED conference. Which, by the way, is sponsored by BMW, but that’s a total coincidence.

I’ll be flying to Las Vegas on the 2th of March, but because of the fact that Eelco will be leaving earlier, we do not have that much time left. Of course the most important preparation is already done. The Car is ours and the insurance is arranged.But there’s also still a lot to do!

From our colleague Costyn at work, at IC&S, we will get the GPS Tracker.

This is a nice device he uses when he is skydiving. But this nice piece of advanced technical equipment still has to be integrated in the Google Maps API. Because Eelco is the technician of the both of us, this will be his job.

Besides this we still have to find an electricity splitter for the cigarettes-lighter (which i do not have any use for anymore ) to multiple points of electricity for the GPS Navigation, GPS Tracker, I-Pod, I-Trip and our I-Phone adapters. Before the 25th of february we have to go to Amsterdam to buy some “I Am-sterdam“-T-Shirts, pick up our new sunglasses and buy some cd’s to put on our I-pods.

And we have to upload the roadmaps of the US states we are crossing into the navigation system. We must not forget all the cables and plugs to make all our equipment work. If we have all the gear we can make a more detailed drivingschedule which will include places to see, cities to visit and cities to pass, and ofcourse a list of hotels and gas stations on our way. On what statue, building or other thing can we put our LasVegas2Miami-stickers without being thrown in jail for it? So, enough things to do the next couple of days… Oh yes, and ofcourse, get the stickers!

Thanks to the very user-friendly program BackPackit we can plan our whole trip without forgetting anything. Well, that’s the plan!

So, my good friend Jurgen decided to sponsor us in our great quest around the USA. Since Jurgen is in the Sunglasses business he managed to get each of us a pair, to both match our sleek car and our stunning appearances. I’m going to be wearing the left one, Quintijn the right one. Aren’t they cool?

Thanks Jur! Don’t forget visit http://www.jurgo.nl!

As i stated in one of my posts earlier, we’re working hard on completing our merchandise package. For now, i’ve been working on the bumper stickers and since i ran a bit into trouble with the previous banner i’ve made a new one (as you can see above). I actually like it and now we can start the development of the actual stickers.  So, everybody who want’s to have a bumper sticker, please let us know! We’re going to print about 100 of them and you’ll have to sent u a picture with yourself pointing at the sticker while in use.

Pre-order for the tank- and halter tops are also open. As I said, they’ll probably be with our heads up front and the Las Vegas 2 Miami brand on the back, a must have if i say so myself. Pre-order price is 45 euro’s (that’s 4,95 discount!).