a few FiestaMovement refelctions

A few people are now announcing that they have been selected in the last group of 50 agents and our name not yet called, or interviewed, it appears we haven’t made the cut for the new and improved FiestaMovement. Obviously when all of the names are posted, and if indeed our team is missing, we will be saddened to not once again take to the roads in a Fiesta (or even the FiestaST!)

Our time with the first FiestaMovement was fantastic. We not only had a wonderful experience with missions and adventures but with meeting new people and friends. What a great opportunity it was to see the amazing things all over our country. To us, this is what will last long after even this Movement ends. Naturally we felt we contributed greatly to the FM and wanted to showcase our skills once again. However, we are not YouTube celebs, nor are we internet superstars. We are hard working, dedicated ‘civilians’ of the American way. I think our adventures and contributions from the first FM showed that the common person could compete with the so-called superstars and web celebs. FollowtheFiesta was one of a handful of teams/agents that was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, one of a few that made the Fiesta dealer brochure, and one of a few selected to have a winning mission video. We always pushed ourselves with new adventures, like our trip to the Las Vegas Speedway, a self-created mission, and of course our trip to touch all 48 states with the Fiesta in a single month. Not only did we create strong content, but we also cared about the realities of the car. What’s the biggest concern to those buying a car? To us, gas mileage was a huge one. So, for 90+ fill-ups we tracked the gas mileage on Fuelly. Actually, we still continue to this day tracking gas mileage in both my Ford Escape, and Emma’s Honda CRV. We would have loved a chance to compare the two models and to see how this car could stack up in the long run. I think what America wants to see is how a car will hold up over time, how it will maintain it's re-sale value, does it live up to the specs of what the manufacturers claim?

When we turned in our car, Vortex, we rolled into the hotel (a second time) with exactly 25,000 miles. It was a bittersweet moment. And years later, we discussed the pros and cons of even auditioning for this new FM after receiving the invitation from Mission Control. A decision we did not take lightly. We understood the time commitment, the hard work, and the dedication needed to be successful with something like this. Of course, success is rated by your own standards and we constantly push ourselves. Both Emma and I believe that if you are going to do something and put your name on a project you must do it as well as you can. Don’t get me wrong…it was a blast and we wouldn’t trade our time with the Fiesta, Mission Control, or Ford -- it was a huge time commitment, and one we were willing to make again.

It will be hard to follow the excitement and energy of the new agents as they travel the country to go on missions that we wish we were on. And, if our name is not in the final list of the 100 we wish each and everyone of them great success in the program. It will be an adventure you will never forget. Good luck to everyone on your, trainings, adventures, and your missions.

We hope to see you on the road!

 -Brad (and Emma ☺)

It's all in the name. Why the #FiestaMovement needs a home here in medFORD!

Enjoy!

Here's the route we took in our 48 state trip for the first FiestaMovement! Help us get selected for the new and improved Movement! Give a shout out to @fordfiesta and @ford to let them know it won't be the same without us!

We're back! It's the FiestaMovement revisited

Well, here we go again.

Ford has kicked off the FiestaMovement once again.

We can't believe that it's been four years since we took 'Vortex', our Ford Fiesta out on the road for 25,000 miles! We had a blast in the first installment of the FiestaMovement and can't wait for another chance. Here's our latest audition video. Please share and comment. We'd love to hear from you.

Enjoy!

And don't forget!

Follow Brad!
Follow Emma!
FollowtheFiesta!

Please join our Facebook Fan Page too!

Mission 6: Raider Nation

Check out our final FiestaMovement Mission! We see how the Tailgating action holds up in Raider Nation. We had a blast! Thanks to all of the fans that worked with us on the video and for sharing the incredible food!

Enjoy.

What we learned at the LVMS

He's 14 and Rocks!
Originally uploaded by followthefiesta

We had a great time at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for our 5th Fiesta Movement mission. One thing that we didn't get in our main video was our interaction with a 14 year old driver named Dylan Kwasniewski.

Dylan, the #3 driver at the LVMS, is one of the most impressive kids that I have spoken to. He not only has talent for racing around the track in the Pro Legend (LVMS track holder) and Trucks (for the first time Labor Day weekend) but has the personality to back it up. His attitude is not that of a budding superstar as one would expect -- there is no apparent 'I am the world attitude.' He is well-spoken, gracious, and very down to earth.

I think if the world was full of kids like Dylan, we would all feel a little better about our futures. Check out the video interview with Dylan HERE. (Just ignore me, I was taken over by a California surfer and could only spit out the word awesome over and over again.) And if you haven't seen the full LVMS video you can find that HERE.

Enjoy.

Home from the trip

IMG_7441
Originally uploaded by followthefiesta

This sums up how we felt when we returned home from our 48 state road trip in July. All in all we drove 12,000 miles in hitting all the lower 48 and D.C.

Fiesta Meets Nascar at the LVMS

Our latest installment from the FiestaMovement is now up. Check it out. Leave a comment on YouTube and rate it for us. We would love to hear from you. We had a blast! Enjoy.

A Ferry Ride on the Mississippi

A week into our 48 state road trip we were able to take a ferry ride on the Mississippi River. It was a fun adventure from Dorena, MO to Hickman, KY (round trip really.) It was pretty funny the ferry operators had picked up a dog on the KY side on the first run that morning and he rode the ferry all day back and forth from MO to KY. Check out all of our pictures of the ride on our Flickr site HERE.

Enjoy.

A Day with Dogs for the Deaf

We spent a day with Dogs for the Deaf in Central Point, OR for mission 4 of the Fiesta Movement. Learned about the different ways they train dogs to help out people. What a great organization. Thanks to the Fiesta Movement for donating $500!

Check out our video and make sure you sign into YouTube to leave your comments and rate it for us as well.

Enjoy.

The Roadtrip

It appears we are about half way through our roadtrip now! We have traveled about 5600 miles so far and hit 20 of the lower 48. The Fiesta is doing great so far! Even the pot hole in South Carolina (the size of the Fiesta) couldn't stop Vortex (that's our Fiesta.) We've hit some fun places along the way including George Washington Carver National Monument (Nat Mon), Vicksburg Nat Mon, Louisville Slugger Bat Tour, and many other great sites.

The humidity is what is getting us in the South though! Being used to the Pacific Northwest, we are constantly running the A/C in Vortex. It seems the Fiesta is fine with this and keeps on motoring along.

Next up is North Carolina, W. Virginia and then heading up North. We have found it to be very challenging to keep up to date on posting pictures and blogs on our travels and have decided to post things when we have more time. Please keep up to date on our travels on our Twitter account HERE and our Facebook FanPage HERE. Leave us a message at either one to let us know what you think.

Enjoy!

A Sirius Mission for the Fiesta Movement

Our 2nd mission for the Fiesta Movement is now up! Check out 'Vortex' getting Sirius radio installed. Thanks again to Mike and Darren, our installers. If you are ever in the Sacramento area these are the 2 guys to see when you want the latest technology in your car. (Best Buy - Natomas)

Make sure you go to YouTube by clicking on the video a second time to leave a comment, rate (5th star to the right!) and favorite. Next up Style and Design...

Enjoy!

Another Blog...Another Fiesta Fan

We were featured in another blog this week!

Our newest Fan of the Fiesta: SubCompact Culture 

Andy invited us along for a trip up Mount St. Helens during the third annual cruise. This is an event in which small car owners (mainly Scion owners) travel the 50 mile road up to see Mount St. Helens.  It was a great trip...stay tuned for our very own blog about that and more. 

We need some sleep first after an exhausting, but eventful, weekend!

Mission One: The Donkey and the Fiesta!

Please click on video to go to Youtube. Rate and and comment!



Enjoy!

The Swingle Singers and US!

Stay tuned for our first mission video coming soon! In the meantime here is a 'Nugget' with our newest friends. Enjoy!

Flickr Photos - All our pictures

We have been uploading pictures from the past week onto out Flickr site. Check them all out HERE! It's easiest to click on the Sets on the right hand side to follow one adventure at a time.

Enjoy!

Sunday- The Drive Home

Exhausted from our adventures the few day before, we slept late into Sunday morning.  Brunch with Doug and Rachael and then began the remainder of the journey from the north end of Oregon to the Southern most. We were making very good time just south of  Portland when we saw a large sign that we had seen 100 other times on the I-5 corridor. 'Tulip Festival'  It was the last day of a month (or two) long festival.  Thinking this would be fun to drive to and  imagining the Fiesta amidst a colorful Tulip background we quickly exited the freeway. After what seemed like hours (about15 minutes) we finally made it to a 'ginormous' Tulip field.  The entrance fee was a bit high, so we cruised the road outside the field and 'temporarily' stopped on the side of the road to get some great pictures.  

Continuing our journey home, we decided to make several other stops.  Our first stop, the capitol of Oregon, Salem.  We stopped in Salem to introduce 'Fiesta' (insert name here...yes, we will name our Fiesta soon. We didn't have anything picked out for a Magenta Fiesta) to the Capitol building.  The rain began again, almost sensing that we wanted to take outdoor pictures and video.  (A very nice group from Oklahoma asked about our car and snapped a picture for us.)

We jumped back in the car and planned out the next few stops. Joes Sporting Goods (to see if any clearance prices were actually clearance yet) and Eugene, for dinner and coffee with friends. After refueling with some coffee, and gas for the Fiesta...the coffee was for us, not the Fiesta...we continued on to Southern Oregon. The trip that usually takes four hours, took us about nine. It was a very eventful weekend. Stay tuned for more of our Fiesta adventures at the Fiesta Movement Live Feed site!      

Saturday-The drive to Portland

After leaving training and receiving our brand new Fiesta, we made our way to the Space Needle, just to say that we saw it.  The rain that had visited us during our 'test drives' had now completely departed and the sky was amazing. The Space Needle looked almost like a painting against the fluffy white clouds and brilliant blue sky. We took some pictures of the Fiesta in front of the Space Needle and a few other shots around the area, bought a few souvenirs and then began our long ride home to Southern Oregon.

It took us about 20 minutes to finally find an on-ramp and get on the road to Portland. Forty minutes outside of Seattle, the weather suddenly changed and the freeway was now better used for boating.  Everyone slowed to about 30mph.  The Fiesta handled it great, even with the summer tires.  Our favorite feature had to be the windshield wipers (automatically) kicked into high speed and changed with the weather variation.  The monsoon like weather continued for about 10 minutes and then it was like it never stormed at all.

After driving for about three plus hours we decided to stop over in Portland to visit Brad's brother and show-off the car. He was pretty impressed, which is hard to do with him. He and his girlfriend, were both wary of all of the technology in the car. They much prefer the hand cranked windows and door locks that only work when you press them. 'Less that can go wrong,' they said. We tried to convert them to the 'modern day conveniences' and showed off the automatic windshield wipers which again was a big hit.

We ended up staying overnight in Portland, after enjoying a great meal and telling stories about our two days of adventure so far. Couldn't wait to get back on the road and see what else the  Fiesta could do!

Fiesta Training Day 2: The Magenta Miracle

We didn't have to be at training until 8:45 so we decided to get an extra adventure in before the Fiesta Fun started.  We walked back down to Pikes Place Market, where they were just setting up for the day, and got coffee from the 1st Starbucks... It burnt Brad's tongue! Training started a little after 9am and was mostly about the car and its features.  We packed our bags, checked out of the hotel, and then hit the road!

On the bus ride over to get our cars we discovered an interesting fact. Apparently, in the year 2011 Silver is a much brighter redder color! In fact, as the saying goes, Silver is this years Magenta! After trying to cope with losing the 'Silver Bullet/Vortex/Streak/Warrior' we tried to welcome in the Magical Magenta special changing Silver color edition. 

We arrived at the unveiling, after a few wrong turns by the shuttle driver, to two rows of sparkling Fiestas! We were allowed a short introduction to our cars and a few photos before we all sat down for a yummy boxed lunch.  After lunch, the manual transmission "pros" got to drive around a bit while the newbies got a refresher course.   After receiving some great driving lessons (like don't keep the car in 3rd when leaving from a stop sign on a hill)  we felt very comfortable with the 'peppy little beast.' When we were all done we were handed our second key and very cool sunglasses and sent on our way. 

Pulling away from the training in a shiny new Fiesta (without even stalling) we reflected on the overall experiences in meeting the fellow agents and Mission Control: This is going to be an exciting and adventuresome six months! 

First day of Fiesta training

Our Fiesta training weekend started with a 12pm flight out of Medford International Airport and our pilots becoming out newest followers. The landing into Seattle, at around 3pm, was a little bumpy due to high winds, but we had some great views of the bay and city. Trying to stay on a very tight schedule we headed straight to the baggage terminal to look for the other Fiesta Movement agents and the shuttle driver to take us all to the hotel. It was pretty easy to spot the other agents because we were all walking around with video cameras and other equipment but we couldn't find our driver anywhere. After wandering around for about 20 minutes Emma finally walked up to a man who had been standing off to the side the whole time holding a sign that said "Donaldson" and asked if he knew anything about the Fiesta Movement. It turned out he was our driver and "Donaldson" was the last name of one of the agents who showed up later. After stopping briefly at the hotel we all boarded the bus to go to dinner and our first training. That evening we were given Addidas shoes, Fiesta Movement shirts, and a Webbie pocket video camera. After our scheduled events we all went out for drinks. It was fun getting to know a little about 12 other teams and the people behind Mission Control We called it a night around midnight exhausted from a full day of travel and excitement, knowing that the best was still to come.

-emma