Another day of driving; but it was the last leg of our journey. Today we drove through another three states…phew! We finally reach New York and are happy to be home. Our trip took a total of 6 days and we visited 12 different states. The trip gave us plenty of time to plan the next few months of summer fun; while letting us see some great places! 

Today we started in ‘Little America’. Touring around; there was a very distinct old English and Irish feel to the docks. After a quick look at the USS Constellation and the coast guard ships it was back on the road again. The rain started to come at us and we felt like we were in a torrential downpour. Our next stop took us into the first state to ratify the constitution of the United States. Because of this its nickname is appropriately ‘The First’ state. Although it may be named ‘The First’ state it is one of the smallest, coming in as the second smallest state after Rhode Island. That being said our time here was quick and with the pouring rain we headed on quickly to the next stop. 

Our next state was the last state we needed to pass through before hitting home. After 5 days on the road the travelling caught up with us. We had visited this state a few times on previous trips and decided that we were going to press on rather than stop. We can tell you that this state is known as the ‘Garden State’. It was originally called the Garden State as it was once likened to a giant barrel full of good things to eat; with Pennsylvanians grabbing from one end and New Yorkers grabbing from the other. This state is also known for its great hotels and fantastic shore line. 

For all of you playing our photo contest can you tell us which state we had previously been to today, “Where were we today?” Make sure you name the state only on your complete list. 

Today’s answer should complete your list of five answers. Make sure you email a complete list to info@skatetrucknyc.com. You will have until May 31st, 2012 to send us the complete list in order to win. Make sure you get it in on time as we have we have Skate Truck NYC swag, free skate rentals and free skate lessons to give away! Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life! 

Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life!

Today we drove through 4 different states. We started in the ‘Tar Heel State’ where we bunked down for the night last night. After a quick bite to eat we headed out into the oldest of the original 13 colonies. This state is known for producing presidents and after a quick history lesson you can tell why. Following close enough to the Appalachians for the view and not the hills we saw scenery that was very beautiful. As we continue to head North the landscape is slowly changing along with the food. Because of this we stopped for a bite to eat. This was the last chance in our trip to get some real home cooked southern food. Lunch was made up of a country fried steak along with some turnip greens. Goodbye Southern states we will miss you!

Leaving the South we crossed over into our Nation’s capital. The state contains some of the country’s most iconic landmarks including a very large obelisk (pictured above), the pentagon and white house. There is so much to see and do that we could not fit it all into the few hours that we spent here. The area containing the Smithsonian museums and institutes is huge. The streets are tree lined and you could spend a whole day walking around, let’s change that to skating around. Who knows there could be a Skate Truck here in the future?

We are so close to home that we can almost feel the vibe. With all of the signs telling us that NYC is only a few short miles away. We had to stop however; as with all of our travelling around today we had to call it a night. Tonight we bunk down in our 4th state of the day. This state may be called ‘Little America’ but it is actually the 9th smallest state. We look forward to taking a quick tour in the morning.

For all of you playing our photo contest can you tell us where the photos of the iconic landmarks and The Skate Truck (pictured above) were taken, “Where were we today?” Make sure you name the city and state on your complete list.

Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life!

The last couple of days have seen us do a lot of driving. There was no blog yesterday due to some technical difficulties…mainly the rain! We are back on track and will be in NYC shortly.

As we started our drive from our last location the mighty Appalachian Mountains rose up in front of us. The closer we got the road became more hilly and the truck started struggling to reach the higher peaks. With custom skate racks and over 200 pairs of skates inside it is not surprising we had a little trouble; and we had only just started traversing this amazingly beautiful mountain range. With some of its highest peaks reaching well over 6,000ft above sea level we decided to find an alternative route.

Yesterday saw us heading south to avoid the main part of the Appalachians. We headed through what some call the ‘Empire State of the South.’ Which we thought was ironic as we are on our way to the ‘Empire State.’ Stopping to eat some delicious peaches from a road side stall, we also though its other nickname the ‘Peach State’ was very fitting. From the ‘Peach State’ we continued on to a state which claims the Peach as its state fruit. The Appalachian hills still gave rise to a few steep roads but we kept on trucking. Tonight we reached a state where the Peaches were not so abundant but there were some similarities in the name. With 100 different counties there were plenty of choices for us to stay in.

For all of you playing our photo contest can you tell us where we ended up after are detour, “Where were we today?” Make sure you name the state only on your complete list.

Tomorrow we keep moving north. We are excited to think that our first day is less than two weeks away. We have everything lined up and ready to go for June 1st in Inwood Hill Park. Grab your friends and meet us there for a great day of skating.

Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life!

We are still headed east and we have come upon one of the best places on earth for BBQ and also Gypsy’s birth place. Checking the almighty Internet before we pulled into town we decided to head towards Toms BBQ. WOW! Some great pulled pork and rib tips were eaten faster that you could say B...B…Q! Followed by some of the best banana pudding we have ever eaten. It was a great stop!

Since we were in the neighborhood we made a stop by the king's house. It was a love me tender moment when we took a photo at the entrance of Graceland. What a thrill. Afterward we headed to the birthplace of rock n roll, The Sun Studio! This American icon is the place where Elvis and Johnny cash; to name a few got their start in the music business.

What does this all have to do with roller skates? Gypsy’s mom skated at Skate Haven roller rink which is a few blocks away from Graceland. She told stories about when her mom (Gypsy’s grandmother) worked at the same rink; and Elvis would rent out the skating rink for his late night parties. He was a prankster and loved to do the ‘shoot the duck’. He would trip people while they were skating. What we would have given to be there for that...Elvis a roller skater!

For all of you playing our photo contest can you tell us where we toured around all day, “Where were we today?” Make sure you name the city and state on your complete list.

Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life!   

Wednesday morning we made our way to collect the final skates for The Skate Truck NYC. The Inter Skate Outlet is one of the best for Roller and Ice Skating equipment. They have a great shop as well as one of the biggest online stores for Derby, Recreational, and Ice Skating. We met up with Jenny Fletcher a fantastic Roller Figure Skater who gave us a tour. After looking around we noticed GGRD paraphernalia, proving that no matter where you go NYC’s Gotham Girls Roller Derby always has a presence!

After visiting with the ladies at Roller Girls Skates, we headed North East away from the Lone Star state. We started to drive through the nature state, containing 600,000 acres of lakes. The drive was very scenic and beautiful. After 8 hours of driving we pulled into La Petite Roche to call it a night. Day 1 down and tomorrow will be great as well.

For all of you playing our photo contest can you tell us where we bunked down for the night, “Where were we today?” Make sure you name the city and state on your complete list.

Looking forward to the BBQ coming my way with a little hip swivel!

Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life!  

On the road to New York finally! Today we left Waco after a few hiccups but it all ended up the way it should be. A quick visit to our extended family in Dallas tonight and then tomorrow we head north.

Tomorrow we start our ‘Road Trip Photo Contest’. Every day we will be posting a photo of where we stop and visit during our road trip. Our blog will describe where we were and what we did as we go. At the end of each blog post we will ask the question “Where were we today?” We will ask this a total of 5 times during our trip. All you need to do is keep a track of where we where and email a complete list to info@skatetrucknyc.com with a subject of 'Road Trip'. You will have until May 31st, 2012 to send us the complete list in order to win. Now for the good stuff… The Prizes! We have Skate Truck NYC swag, free skate rentals and free skate lessons.

So keep track of where we are everyday until we get to NYC!

Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life!  

What a week it has been. The Skate Truck NYC staff made an official appearance at the Roller Skating Association’s annual convention in Las Vegas. This year was the 75th anniversary of the Roller Skating Association; proving that roller skating is here to stay! After checking into the Rio, we headed to the opening cocktail reception. It was great to see some old and new friends in the skating industry. Everybody was excited about our new venture and we filled everybody in on the exciting times coming up for the Skate Truck NYC.

After catching the red eye flight back to Dallas on Tuesday morning we went straight to work on the truck. The main construction of the skate racks and internal parts of the truck have been completed; after all the building that had been going on we cleaned her out so she could make the trip to Austin for a new face lift. Wednesday we made the trek south and dropped her off with Evolution Graphics. She should be completed later this week so look out for the new photos.

For the rest of the week we worked on the skates. New wheels and bearings have been put on the inline skates so far as well as polish and a shine. This coming week will be focused on the quad skates. By the end of the week we should have all the skates and the protective gear placed inside the truck. We will then be ready to travel back to NYC.

We are super excited to complete the setup and get started! The schedule has been set for our opening weekend as well! The weekend of June 1st to 3rd we will be in Inwood Hill, Prospect and Central Parks. Keep checking our website for dates and times as we get closer!

Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life!  

On Saturday we headed down to Austin to watch the Texas Roller Girls. Before the match we met up with Dave and visited the El Camino Casino on 6th street. This seemed to be the pre party place before the derby bout. With the official fan club of the Hell Mary’s, the Local 666, showing us all how it’s done! After having some tasty burgers full of Jalapeño’s; we headed to the convention center where the derby bout was being played.

What a show! The Texas Roller Girls in Austin (www.texasrollergirls.com) play mean and fast. The crowd was full of excitement and there was lots of fun to be had by all. The half time show was the most fantastic! With the Jr. Derby girls playing and showing us all how talented they are. The girls are between the ages of 7 and 15 and did a great job, with some looking like they are all ready for the big league!

Sunday we headed over to the Dell Diamond where the Texas Road Rash inline speed skating race was held. All levels of racers competed from the novices in the recreational league to the skilled professional division. It was a great turn out for the event and everyone was very pleased with the race results. At the end of the race we all met up at The Salt Lick (www.saltlickbbq.com) for some baby back ribs and brisket, yum! It was a great afternoon; and made the drive back to Waco easy. We are back, prepped and ready to go! This week we will finish up the skates and truck.

Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life.

Woo hoo today is Friday! After 4 days of very long hours this weekend will prove to be a welcome break. We have been working hard to get the truck and skates ready for NYC. The team has been working 15 hr days to get this far; now that the organization and plans are in place next week should go much quicker. The truck is progressing and we have the racks cut and built. In the process of doing so we are now on a first name basis with the folks at Home Depot in Waco!

We have over 600 pairs of skates sorted, only another 200 to go. All orders have been place for replacement parts and brand new wheels. Next week we will be replacing the wheels on the skates so they are outdoor ready and the truck will get the additional racks. It has been a very productive week so far and the finished product will be fantastic!

Tomorrow we head down to Austin for some R and R. While there we are going to the Austin Convention Center to check out the Texas Roller Girls play a little Roller Derby! Girl on girl action is a great way to wind down after the long week. There will be two matches played with the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers vs. Hotrod Honeys and Hell Mary’s vs. Hustlers. They should both be great matches.

Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life.

Today we started construction on the truck. We are taking a regular box van and converting it into a lean mean skating machine! The truck is a ’94 Chevy and needed a little TLC before we could start. So we replaced sections of the floor; fixed a hole in the box roof; added insulation to the walls; replaced the wall panels; inserted two air vents with suction fans into the box roof and finished by giving the cab a quick clean. Phew!

While the truck was being worked on the skates were being prepped and cleaned. We sorted and categorized over two hundred pairs of rental skates and still have another 600 to go. It was a full day and we could never have got through so much without the help of the team from Skate Country (www.skatecountrywaco.com) and Skate World (www.skateworldwaco.com) which consisted of: Charlie, Barbra, Mason and Mark. Now that the truck has had a little loving care tomorrow we start building the internal racks that will hold all of the skate equipment. NYC better look out because the skate truck is well on its way to you!

Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life.