Ready to start their engines: Five teams selected for Best of the Road contest

The five competing teams in the Best of the Road contest, sponsored by USA TODAY and Rand McNally, have been selected and are eager to take off on a cross-country jaunt aimed at ferreting out the best towns along the way.

The teams will take off from New York on June 23 armed with directions to six towns each and suggestions for stops en route at standout barbecue joints, fishing holes, oddball sites and other notable attractions.

The towns were selected by popular vote in five categories: most beautiful, most patriotic, friendliest, most fun and best for food. Each team will visit towns in a themed category, but they won’t know which one until they’re about to depart.

You can follow their progress on the Best of the Road, where they’ll be blogging about the trip and posting photos and videos of their adventures.

After the teams arrive in Los Angeles on July 15, a panel of judges will name a top town in each of the five categories, along with a winning team, which gets a $10,000 prize. Winners will be announced July 22.

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Gone with the Wynns

Here’s a snapshot of the teams:Gone with the Wynns: Jason and Nikki Wynn of Dallas traded in their urban lifestyle, bought an RV, and hit the road in February to tour the country for a year. He’s a photographer. She’s a make-up artist. They both love road tripping.

Their road-trip philosophy: It’s more about the exploration than the destination.

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The McNavigators

The McNavigators: Daniel and JoAnne Schaub of Cary, N.C., made a major shift in their lives in 2009 when they quit their jobs and hit the road. They returned home in January and are exploring ways to sustain a roving lifestyle. He’s a mechanic. She’s an empowerment coach.Their road-trip philosophy: Since we began traveling in 2009, we feel drawn to a simpler, yet adventurous, way of life outside the hustle and bustle of big cities.

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Captain and Clark

Captain and Clark: Christopher Staudinger of Pasco, Wash., and Tawny Clark of Bremerton, Wash., recently returned home after living in South Korea for two years and are eager to get reacquainted with the USA. They consider themselves “modern cartographers,” mapping their travels via video.Their road-trip philosophy: Road tripping is not just the best way to see America. It’s almost like the American pastime. It is the American pastime.

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Traveling Jules and Traveling Joan

Traveling Jules and Traveling Joan: Juliana and Joan Broste of Denver are both well-traveled. They’ve been to Asia, Africa, Europe. Just never together. Now the mother-daughter team is looking forward to spending time on the road in tandem. Joan is a retired teacher. Juliana is a freelance video journalist and snowboard instructor.Road-trip philosophy: (We’re) so excited to hit the road together for the first time. (We) share a passion for travel.

Fun Finders: Jim and Bonnie Parr of St. Petersburg, Fla., met in 1995 and upon retiring took a 10,500-mile, 45-day road trip through 39 states. He’s a retired mechanic. She’s a retired teacher. They’re both volunteer clowns.

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Fun Finders

Road-trip philosophy: We love shopping for bargains (which they donate to homeless charities), sightseeing and seeking out interesting and fun places. We make the most of our time on the road and have fun every minute of it.

by Tove Tupper and KREM.com

KREM.com

Posted on May 31, 2011 at 6:48 AM

Updated Tuesday, May 31 at 7:10 AM

A journey of communication will take Olympic High School grad to Galapagos

By Allen Hoye

Originally published 05:53 p.m., June 5, 2011
Updated 06:03 p.m., June 5, 2011

BREMERTON — Tawny Clark will be traveling by sail, road and air with boyfriend Chris Staudinger around the world. The 2004 Olympic High School grad is gearing up for an adventure that will document a form of communication that is dying out.

The reason for the trip involves a 300-year-old unofficial post office in the form of a whiskey barrel, located in the Galápagos Islands. Years ago, sailors would place letters to home in the barrel and other ships would deliver any letter headed in their direction to the indicated address.

To this day, the tradition continues. Travelers are still able to place letters in the barrel and deliver ones headed in their direction. This is where Clark and Staudinger — “Captain and Clark,” as they like to be called — come into play. The couple will fly to the Galapagos and retrieve a satchel full of letters to distribute to their intended addresses. The couple will deliver letters by trains, cars, boats and any other forms of transportation they can manage.

Staudinger, a Spokane native, has always dreamed about executing a trip of this magnitude and finally had his dream become a reality.

“For the past 10 years, this trip has been on Chris’s mind,” Clark said. “These past two years, we finally found it feasible to do so with the resources available to us.”

Clark and Staudinger spent the past two years teaching in Korea allowing them to meet a number of people around the globe, many of whom have offered a place to stay should they find themselves in the area. They’ve also taken to the Web for fundraising purposes. Indiegogo.com is a website that allows anyone interested in the adventure to make a donation and become recipients of autographed DVDs, letters from the couple or have your own letter placed in the barrel. The site has already raised $1,661.

Fans can also keep up with them through their website, CaptainandClark.com, where they will provide a series of blogs and videos documenting their adventure. Tripfilms.com also is contributing by providing accommodations across the globe to any destination they don’t already have a place to stay.

“Hopefully, all goes as planned and we can raise awareness about communication and tell our story at the same time,” Clark said.

Understanding and acknowledging the original basis of communication is the theme they plan to focus on throughout their adventure. By stressing the importance of communication through personal letters, Clark hopes to inspire people to delve into this personalized type of communication once more.

“We would like to focus on communication and how it is no longer personal,” Clark said.

Both explorers will also look to volunteer in the countries they visit and are open to almost any aspect of helping a community.

With no set timeline, Clark says, the trip could last anywhere three months or longer. The idea of embarking on a long term journey appeals to Clark, as she would like to possibly write a book, organize seminars or compile their videos into a movie.

The main purpose though is to share their belief that personalized communication is possible.

“I think it would be great for my fellow Olympians to get back to personal letters,” Clark said. “I would also like for everyone to experience how travel can change your life.”