1st Car (Dodge) Visits All Counties
Donation protected
We have been traveling across the US and Canada over the past nine years in our 1999 Dodge Intrepid ES as members of the Extra Miler Club. Recently, we completed our journey of traveling to all 3,108 counties in the 48 continental United States. According to our club, we are the first travelers to ever have driven a single car to all 3,108 counties. Now we would like to complete the journey to all 3,142 counties in the US (we are at 3,122) and are asking for your support.
Why should you help us?
By completing this journey, we hope to inspire others to:
1) Travel throughout this great country, break stereotypes, and enjoy the many diverse elements that make upt the United States.
2) Appreciate American engineering by supporting an American car as the first car to acheive this feat.
3) Not postpone travel for some "better" time. Even if you can only afford a small road trip to some local destination you have not been to, do it now and let it inspire you to travel more.
4) In addition, there are many rewards for the various funding levels. If you would like something else in exchange for your donation, let us know and we will try to accomodate your request.
This has been an inspirational, life changing journey for us. We have met many good people, seen many great things, had many crazy adventures, and most of all had the chance to explore the vast and beautiful country we and 320,000 others call home.
After many news stories (links below) and much encouragement from friends and family, we are continuing our quest to reach all 3,142 counties in the 50 United States with our car. We are currently at 3,122 (including 14 in Alaska), all with our Dodge Intrepid.
Our next objective is to reach the five counties of Hawaii, increasing our total to 3,127 and all 50 states (along with DC) visited with one car. We've priced out the journey which will involve shipping the car to Hawaii and shipping interisland to reach all five counties.
We are seeking your support to reach the current goal and travel to Hawaii this summer. This is an important milestone which we hope will instill pride in Americans (with our American car being the first to complete this journey). We also hope this will encourage others to decide to enjoy the beautiful country they live in through a classic American road trip.
About the car:
Bought used in 2002 with 70,000 miles
Original 3.2L engine (never rebuilt and no major components replaced!)
Transmission rebuilt with minor repairs at 370,000 miles and remanufactured (original transmission) at 530,000 miles
The car is currently at 541,500 miles
Also visited 77% of Canadian Census Divisions
Also been to 3 states in Mexico
Our trip will begin at our home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and will last 38 days. We are trying to be as reasonable as possible while still fully enjoying the trip, so we have priced it out to be $15,000 (full cost breakdown available on request). Here is a quick overview:
Days 1-3: Drive from Michigan to LA
Days 4-15: Ship car (and ourselves) to Honolulu County
Day 16: Ship car to Kauai County
Days 17-19: Explore Kauai County
Day 20: Ship car to Hawaii County
Days 21-23: Explore Hawaii County
Day 24: Ship car to Maui County
Day 25: Enter Kalawao County
Day 26: Ship car to LA
Day 27-30: Explore Maui County
Day 31-34: Explore Honolulu County
Day 35: Fly to LA and pick up car
Days 36-38: Drive from LA to Michigan
Stories of our county travels:
Original Cape Cod Times Article
Daily Mail Article
Yahoo News Article
Daily Mining Gazette Article
MLive / Grand Rapids Press Article
Detroit NBC News Interview
TV6 Interview
Michigan's Big Show Interview
California Association of Counties Blog Entry
Our 2012 Wedding/Honeymoon Trip Blog
See the donation reward levels below and make your donation if you would like to support us. We'll let you know what portion of the trip your donation is going towards and give you the reward listed.
Please support the Intrepid Explorers!
Why should you help us?
By completing this journey, we hope to inspire others to:
1) Travel throughout this great country, break stereotypes, and enjoy the many diverse elements that make upt the United States.
2) Appreciate American engineering by supporting an American car as the first car to acheive this feat.
3) Not postpone travel for some "better" time. Even if you can only afford a small road trip to some local destination you have not been to, do it now and let it inspire you to travel more.
4) In addition, there are many rewards for the various funding levels. If you would like something else in exchange for your donation, let us know and we will try to accomodate your request.
This has been an inspirational, life changing journey for us. We have met many good people, seen many great things, had many crazy adventures, and most of all had the chance to explore the vast and beautiful country we and 320,000 others call home.
After many news stories (links below) and much encouragement from friends and family, we are continuing our quest to reach all 3,142 counties in the 50 United States with our car. We are currently at 3,122 (including 14 in Alaska), all with our Dodge Intrepid.
Our next objective is to reach the five counties of Hawaii, increasing our total to 3,127 and all 50 states (along with DC) visited with one car. We've priced out the journey which will involve shipping the car to Hawaii and shipping interisland to reach all five counties.
We are seeking your support to reach the current goal and travel to Hawaii this summer. This is an important milestone which we hope will instill pride in Americans (with our American car being the first to complete this journey). We also hope this will encourage others to decide to enjoy the beautiful country they live in through a classic American road trip.
About the car:
Bought used in 2002 with 70,000 miles
Original 3.2L engine (never rebuilt and no major components replaced!)
Transmission rebuilt with minor repairs at 370,000 miles and remanufactured (original transmission) at 530,000 miles
The car is currently at 541,500 miles
Also visited 77% of Canadian Census Divisions
Also been to 3 states in Mexico
Our trip will begin at our home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and will last 38 days. We are trying to be as reasonable as possible while still fully enjoying the trip, so we have priced it out to be $15,000 (full cost breakdown available on request). Here is a quick overview:
Days 1-3: Drive from Michigan to LA
Days 4-15: Ship car (and ourselves) to Honolulu County
Day 16: Ship car to Kauai County
Days 17-19: Explore Kauai County
Day 20: Ship car to Hawaii County
Days 21-23: Explore Hawaii County
Day 24: Ship car to Maui County
Day 25: Enter Kalawao County
Day 26: Ship car to LA
Day 27-30: Explore Maui County
Day 31-34: Explore Honolulu County
Day 35: Fly to LA and pick up car
Days 36-38: Drive from LA to Michigan
Stories of our county travels:
Original Cape Cod Times Article
Daily Mail Article
Yahoo News Article
Daily Mining Gazette Article
MLive / Grand Rapids Press Article
Detroit NBC News Interview
TV6 Interview
Michigan's Big Show Interview
California Association of Counties Blog Entry
Our 2012 Wedding/Honeymoon Trip Blog
See the donation reward levels below and make your donation if you would like to support us. We'll let you know what portion of the trip your donation is going towards and give you the reward listed.
Please support the Intrepid Explorers!
Organizer
Jon Riehl
Organizer
Hancock, MI