[Above: Just a few of Jay Leno's cars in his Burbank garage.]

Start: Upland, California
Finish: Upland, California
Notes: Team attended the Tonight Show in Burbank with Jay Leno. We were able to meet him and take a photo together. Afterward we went to his garage and toured his car collection. The team also picked up carnets and visited the Red Bull office.

Start: Las Vegas, Nevada
Finish: Upland, California
Notes: In a sign that our efforts at SEMA were worth it, Justin Mounts finalizes a cash sponsorship with Leading Edge Cryogenics to use Pure Power sparkplugs during the expedition. Team returns to the Los Angeles area to make final preparations for leaving the United States.

By Colin “Corndog” McAuliffe

So here I am, in my Land Rover/ Drive Around the World standard issue North Face-supplied safari shirt, sitting in the pressroom of the Las Vegas Convention Center, working the SEMA auto conference. We, as in the entire drive around the world crew, came here to raise more money for our expedition. There is plenty of free coffee and spokesmodels for the various mufflers and speakers that are being expo'd here to distract us. I must say I'm having a blast. Let's take last night for example:

Adam, Neil and I (that's the documentary crew) were not very excited last night because we wanted to go out and gamble like most people do in Vegas, but we had to go to this B.F. Goodrich press event. We had no idea what it was, all we knew was that there was free food, which -- enticing as it sounds -- did not rival the idea of a long, adventurous night on the town. So we piled half the crew and a Land Rover exec named Bill Baker (who by the way is an interesting guy) into our Discovery, and we head over to the Las Vegas raceway expecting the standard schmoozefest that we've grown so accustomed to.

Boy, were we wrong. Believe it or not, we rolled in, were handed really nice sweatshirts to keep, fed some great food, and then folks, then, they let us drive racecars. Yep, racecars. Mustangs and everything. We got to ride in (not drive) stock cars going 120 miles and hour. We rode in off road super trucks launching 20 feet in the air. We drove 350Zs and RX8s around an auto cross tracks, and drag raced Rausch Mustangs. It was great, really great. I mean, the idea of going out and dropping a hundred dollars at the Blackjack table pales in comparison. My only regret was that I didn't get to ride in the stock cars because the line was way too long, but hey, waddayagonnado? Regardless, a good time was had by all, and after the fact we still went out a-gamblin' anyway. At least for a little while. (I won 15 bucks from a slot machine, but all the tables were lame).

Oh I almost forgot, I have a new nickname: Corndog, I'd explain it now, but it’s a long story and I think I'll save it for another entry.

Rock on and email me,

-Colin

colin@drivearoundtheworld.com

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.

By Justin Mounts

Beep. Beep. Beep. The alarm’s going off. Ugh. It’s 6:30 AM, and it’s time to go to work….

Welcome to America’s playground -- Las Vegas, NV. It’s day 3 of the expedition, and the team is piled into 3 hotel rooms in Sin City for the SEMA auto show. Our goal here is very simple — raise funding for the expedition by walking around and talking to companies about donating money to offset our expedition costs. It’s a pretty good deal for them because they get exposure all over the world.

Now, if you’ve never been to SEMA or never even heard of it, that’s okay. It stands for the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer’s Association. And you should know that it’s huge. And I mean HUGE. There are 9,100 exhibitors at the show. SEMA is filled with any type of auto product you could ever hope to use. From flashing lights that go on the rims of tires to cryogenically treated spark plugs, it’s all at the show. Not only is the show filled with auto parts, classic hot rods, and the latest full-bore racing modifications, it has showgirls. Not the kind that dance in rhythm on stage under lights, but short-skirt, knee-sock, low-cut blouse wearing girls that will flirt, cajole or pose for you just so you stop in their booth for 3 seconds. But we have to stay focused. No short skirts for us—well, not yet anyway.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. I was saying that not only is Vegas full of distractions, but the task of working out team logistics and getting everyone from point A to B can give you an ulcer, or a migraine, or a desire to cause great bodily harm to people. But no one on the team has time for any of those things. We have to get in, get the lay of the land, and get to work. Easy, right? Let’s see—it should take us 20 minutes to get from the hotel to the convention center. About another 20-30 minutes to register and pick up our badges, and about 10 minutes to find our booth and get busy. At least, that’s what was going through my mind after I finally had a cup of coffee and started thinking about the day ahead. Here’s how it actually happened.

We fought traffic for about a half hour. It took me over an hour and a mile of walking to get permission to enter the convention center. I was tired, sweaty, and a little pissed by the time I got inside, but I didn’t have time for that. I got dropped off early so I could put some more stickers on the vehicles inside promoting our sponsors. There was only 30 minutes left until the show opened. Once I was there, I was able to get to work quickly. I was finally able to meet up with half of the team around lunchtime. We tried to schedule a group lunch so we could review the list of companies at SEMA and create a game plan for talking to them about sponsorship. Unfortunately, it just didn’t happen. The film crew was held up a fair portion of the day trying to get their press passes and permission to film inside the convention center. Nick and Chanda were knocked out of action trying to get internet access to work on the www.drivearoundtheworld.com website. The rest of us were just tired, hungry, and overwhelmed. So, we went separate ways.

After lunch, the team was finally able to focus on what we came here to do. Pick up girls. Oops…that was the film crew’s goal. (Just kidding). Sponsorship! We’re here to raise money. So, off we go. The film crew’s going to hit up all the mobile electronics manufacturers, and the rest of us will split of among tools, car care, and SUV accessories. The rest of the day followed the same script for all of us.

“Hi, I’m with Drive Around the World. I was wondering if you had a few minutes…” You get the picture. We didn’t have any luck today, but there are 4 more days and about 9000 more booths to visit. We have our work cut out for us.

Now, where’s that bikini contest that’s supposed to be held every day?

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.

Start: Upland, California
Finish: Las Vegas, Nevada
Notes: Reception at Land Rover headquarters in Irvine, attended by about 150 people. Team shot video footage for Land Rover and met with the media. Team departed for Las Vegas, to promote vehicles and sponsors at the SEMA auto show.

Start: Upland, California
Finish: Upland, California
Notes: Team dinner at Chez Jay’s in Santa Monica. Guests included bar owner Jay Fiondella, explorer Ralph White, and Justin’s parents Milam and Alice Mounts. The team was presented with a bag of Chez Jay’s peanuts, which we will drive around the world.

Nick drives out of the Parkinson's Institute lot in Vehicle D1 as Chanda waves from the back seat.

Start: Los Gatos, California
Finish: Upland, CA
Notes: Official launch at Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale. Approximately 75 people attended. Interviews with KPIX, KCBS, and an article about the expedition appeared in the San Jose Mercury-News.