After being interviewed for TV, radio, and newspapers in many different places around the world, the bulk of the content about the expedition has been pretty straight forward. Often the questions we are asked are similar, the topics are similar, and the photos or video is somewhat traditional. It makes sense, the story of the expedition is interesting and since most people have not heard of us before, the simple story will do.
After a great interview with Mary Beth Smetzer of the News Miner in Fairbanks, the photographer Eric Engman took us on a little tour of the town that ended up at the University on the hill overlooking the city. At the top of this hill was our setting for the series of photos for the article to be. It started out with more serious, we are cool world travelers type shots. We thought for sure we were going to look cool, calm and collected in the paper.
Soon after Eric had taken the traditional photos, he said a handful of words that brought a smile to my face, “Hey I have an idea for a funny photo, I just want to try it out.†He suggested that we do the classic Toyota jump that they used to do for all of their ad campaigns in the past. We all knew for sure that if we were to submit to his requests, we were in for it. We all do like jumping in the air though, right? All while I was jumping one most recent episodes of 30 Rock popped into my head…
So while we were not wearing silly masks or pretending we were birthing chickens, I still was jumping up showing my fat belly doing a full method, and it got us on the cover of our section. So the next time we are doing photos for the paper, be prepared because the first 9 words out of my mouth will be, “Can we do a funny photo at the end?â€
Thanks to Mary and Eric for doing such a great job on the article, and thanks to the rest of the nice citizens of Fairbanks that have been cheering us on since they read the article. We are officially on our way home and the encouragement helps for the long journey ahead of us.
