Great article on CNN

Stumbled across a blog post on CNN Health about kicking the smoking habit! Might want to check it out, along with some of their related posts.

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/03/change-your-thinking-to-kick-that-cigarette-habit/?hpt=C2

And the award goes toooooooo.........

Cory Erickson!

I know I speak for the whole PIU crew when I say Cory Erickson was absolutely invaluable to the success of our adventure.

The things you don't see: the grant writing, the eternal optimism, the dealing with criticism and set-backs, and all of the planning. Those all ended up being the responsibility of Cory. 

He will never take the credit. He will always say it was the kids, but the truth is, this time, it was mostly him. He made our dream come to life.

Now as the updates come to an end, I felt the need to update you all on Cory's awesomeness. 

Thanks Cory!

Love, Beth and the rest of the PIU crew.

Update on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 7:50PM by The "Pack It Up!" Crew

Beth is too kind when she gives me so much of the credit. It was a labor of love from many different sources. Pretty much everyone contributed to making this trip a success.

However, the people who really helped out are the great folks at ND AHEC and Sanford Health. Their trust in us and willingness to support something a little different that probably doesn't fall under any "best practices" means the world.

With their support, they reached out to an audience of thousands. 

The Pack It Up! Road Trip didn't end when we pulled into Bismarck, ND. We have lots of work to do from here, and we can't wait to get into the schools and communities with our message when we release the video!

-Cory

Final Trip Update coming!

We'll have our final trip update posted later today, including the winner of the $50 gift card and how we did on our $1551.25 budget!

See you then!

-Cory Erickson

Closing in on the last day!

Good afternoon everyone! Life has been quite crazy this morning. We are sad to say that it's the last day of the road trip. However, in high spirits, the trip's impact does not end today. Our morning was full of drving due to the fact of accomplishing the home stretch. We were up early again, our routine was normal. To be quite honest I think the cast and crew are a bit sad that it was our last morning together, but are excited to get ready for the day in their own homes tomorrow morning.

Our drive into South Dakota was very uneventful except for the one stop we had to make for some road construction. Otherwise we made a few gas station stops to use the restroom and purchase some snacks and water for the journey home.

The Pack It Up! crew and cast in front of the ND capitol building.Our tastebuds had a great experience at Applebee's in Dickinson! This was another reminder that our trip is really coming to an end. We had a blast chatting, making jokes, and talking about some favorite memories of our trip. We have had some great times this week! When our video comes out you will totally see what we mean by a blast! It really has been! :)

We are on our way to Bismark to end our trip and have our welcome home avtivity! Miss North Dakota plans on being there and a few other people who can't wait to see us! We will be at the capitol grounds so if you want to come see us feel free if you are in the area! We would love to see you!

P.S. More updates will be coming soon from yesterday and our farewell of PIU 2010! Our impact goes beyond today!

Lots of Love,

Paige

Day 6 Recap!

Ryan, Beth, and Rachael!We had an early wake-up on Day 6 at the Microtel in Kearney - everyone's first experience staying at a Microtel. I have to tell you... the Western Inn in Council Bluffs was a great experience, but the character of the Microtel surpassed anything any of us had ever stayed in. 

It was like a carpeted college dorm room, sans the discomforting stains on your mattress and the annoying neighbors down the hall blaring Dave Matthews at 1:30 in the morning.

And, if you're from the University of North Dakota, without the non-freshmen hockey players barging into your room late at night screaming, "I USED TO LIVE HERE!"

The rooms were bright and colorful with a large drawer-ed desk. The only thing missing were some UNK pennants (Go Lopers!).

As we got ready for our busy day of driving to Rapid City - a 6-plus hour drive - we discovered that we were no longer in possession the key to the support van. One of our male cast members had used the key the previous night to retrieve his Pack It Up! shirt from the van for a much-needed washing.

After several minutes of searching both the guys' and gals' rooms and outside around the car and van, we checked with the front desk. The conversation went something like this:

• Jeremy: "Did anyone happen to turn in a car key?"
• Lady: "What does it look like?"
• Jeremy: "It was just one key, and it was on a multicolored keychain."
• Lady: "What does the keychain look like?"
• Jeremy: "Pink and green?"
• Lady: "You mean this one?"

Crisis averted, we hightailed it out of there, now running a little behind schedule.

With our event location in Rapid City, we were to have games to entertain kids, so Beth's mission that morning was to find some prizes that kids would enjoy. Within our remaining budget for the road trip: approximately $400 (which needed to include gas and food for the remaining days of the journey).

We spent about $50 on bubbles, squirt guns, silly bands, suckers, balls, and sidewalk chalk, then rushed onward toward Alliance, NE for lunch.

While in Alliance, we stopped at the McDonald's for a quick to-go lunch. While there, we ran into one of the nicest ladies ever. She greeted people coming into the restaurant, and Ryan described to her the purpose of our trip. She thought it was a great idea. She also gave us a bunch of napkins. Thank you lady! I wish we could have taken her with us.

We took off from Alliance and slowly approached the majestic badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. 

On the way, we noticed a large thunderstorm just south of Rapid City. Reports had the storm dropping tennis- to baseball-sized hail. Being the adventurous souls we are we were tempted to make a B-line for the storm, but the group had an exciting commitment in Rapid City.

We arrived in Rapid City shortly before 4:00 pm and made a stop at the Dinosaur Park to waste a few minutes. The park provides a beautiful panoramic view of the city, though it is most spectacular at night when the city lights seem to extend far into the distance.

We were scheduled to have a booth in the family section at the Summer Nights Festival in Rapid City that night. Beth Ryan was in charge of booking this event location and she struck gold with the timing of our arrival. We had our most successful event of the trip.

The Pack It Up! booth drew a slew of kids and adults during the three hours of festivities and there was zero let-up. We held several activities during that time, and nearly every kid and adult who stopped by our booth came away with something to show for it. We had several kids sign a "No Smoking" pledge and several adults also made comments in front of the camera for our documentary, premiering this September!

When the event wrapped up at 8:30, we quickly left to catch the lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore. We arrived at 9:10, and just 10 short minutes later, Mt. Rushmore was cast in an eerie glow against the void of the South Dakotan night.

We were probably the last people to arrive to Mt. Rushmore that night, and among the first to leave. Our total stay? About 20 minutes. We were exhausted.

Our weary vehicles made the 45 minute trek from Mt. Rushmore to Sturgis after a quick stop at Little Caeser's Pizza. We tried to post an update, but it failed. So did our bodies. Everyone was asleep within about 20 minutes of entering our rooms.

The sixth and busiest day of our event was over and our final stage of travel loomed on the horizon with the morning sun.