North Carolina! We made it! My friend Tina lives in Charlotte so it was nice to have a real bed & shower! we shot some really great things in charlotte also-good worky things. It was 100% all leads that Tina gave us. Tina is the best! I’m going to caption these photos, I’m starting to forget what is what & where these days. so much traveling! I asked Eric & Nick how long they keep this up and Eric said “indefinitely” I liked that answer. I could do this for awhile longer. In my perfect world I’d like to park the RV longer in one spot & get out the bikes more. We’re so go! go! go!
Waffle House in North Carolina. Leaving Greensboro to get to Charlotte we saw the waffle house. I was so excited! Since this waffle house i’ve seen like 59 more. i’m not as excited anymore. but but but….they were nice to us. most people are. but we’re nice back. so there’s that.
This is Jamie! He is an electrician. I liked him. Easy to talk to, easy to hang out with. Like most of the people we’ve interviewed on this trip. Oh & the best thing about him is that he (for reals!) keeps on older rayovac flashlight in his front pocket all the time. he’s had it for 4 years now. He works out of his house & we went with him to a local barber shop to get photos of him doing some electrical work. 
Tina took us to the downtown Charlotte! Mostly we were excited to drink a beer but we first went to take photos of iconic-ness Charlotte for work. we’re hard workers. uh huh. We went to a sculpture garden by the art museum. It was really cool stuff. we took a group photo. I love a group pyramid. people should do this more often. The world should have more sculptures you can climb on. i hope it was ok we climbed on them. 
we look like this a lot. sometimes we might just run out of things to say to each other. 
This is Chris from Sign World. Chris is the middle of making a Coca Cola billboard. It’s huge! & it’s 3D-ish made of tin or something. he has a giant press like tool that doesn’t even need electrical cords. that’s a real tool! He is one of two people that work in the production part of Sign World. It was nice….he had some music going & a garage door open off to the side….fresh air & working with his hands. seems like a good gig. 
Right across the street from Sign World was a boat sales & repair place. So we strolled on over to see if they would be interested in trying out or flashlights and putting them to the test. We talked to a repair guy for a few minutes and took some photos of an engine he was working on. He’s cute with a nice smile. Oh, & this is a rare boat. There are only some left. Whatever the some number is….I guess it’s not very many. you know I think 5 is not very many but i’m sure it’s more like 5,000. I wish i had stars on my car. oh, 
Pittsburg was a bit of a bust for finding people to talk to for the Rayovac project so we did a quick stop in Richmond, VA! Nick got some leads! It does seem like you need an in to get people to talk to you….hey, does anyone have any friends in Memphis that would be good for this project??? We drove into Richmond and hung out with Carter right away. He has the cutest house in a hip part of town. Richmond feels good, I might go back. Then we went & met some hard work’n boys who do water & fire damage restoration work. They were great! Enthusiastic and fun! The best part was that they wore these alien-like white suits. & the coordinated their look with a pop of pink! it’s a dream come true really. I think we were in Richmond for like 4 1/2 hours. oh, & i fell again in Richmond! Now my already bruised knee is bloody. Gross. I don’t think i wrote about the first fall. i was a little embarressed. I feel down a half a flight of stairs. i’m a mess sometimes. it hurt.
So Richmond was a hit! GOOOOOO RICHMOND. That’s my richmond, va cheer.
nick doesn’t sleep much. this is where nick is when i go to bed & wake up. I think he takes a nap sometime during the night.
we ran out of water. i bartered some rv water for batteries. everybody wins.
This is Carter. He is a woodworker & music man. I think in Richmond he is famous.
downtown Richmond! ok, i don’t really know if it’s downtown. a cute neighborhood in Richmond!
Eric went into the crawl space with with the workers. He saw spiders.
we stopped in west virgina to take photos. we maybe got yelled at for being close to someones property. i wasn’t quick enough to get that photo.
RV camp ground! They have all the fancy amenities that the truck stops don’t have. like water and a sewage drain. oh, & the fancy rayovac flashlight is lighting this! Did you know there is a RV culture out there. i might get into it. 
I think i can finally write Indestructible without spell checking it. Day 5. Right now we’re headed to Greensborough, North Carolina. But i’m still a day behind in Pittsburgh. So Pittsburgh was great. We went out of the town one night & had the greatest time. The people were nice to us! We were at this bar sitting in a booth and kinda looking at each other and I think Nick was like, “we’re not gonna meet anyone sitting in this booth.” yeah, ok, nick. I agree. By the end of night I had traded some face masks with some girls and was playing some cards with them! I heart Pittsburgh.
We spent some time in Braddock, Pennsylvania. There is a famous John Fetterman who is revitalizing the town. It’s looking good, a little down & out…but look’n good. I think the pbs or sundance people made some movies about this guy. I will netflix them. oh, what makes this Fetterman so famous is that he looks super tough. I think.
ok, i should caption some of the photos, might make more sense.
this is the tallest statue made of steel. according to my new roadside app. i don’t know if i believe it. but still a very nice stop in niles, ohio. 
we had lunch at a delightful little lunch place in Youngstown, Ohio. I had tofu! 
those boys love the live cam. we haven’t been into it the last few days. good. yeah, i said it. good. i don’t need people listening to me when i forget their there. 
we stopped & talked to some nice firemen in Pittsburgh, PA
We met this guy in Braddock, Pennsylvania. He works for Grow Pittsburg! they plant urban gardens. 
Professor Eric! He will be in every blog post. i’m sure.
This is a strange place to live-by the amusement park. Everyone who lives by the amusement park has a dog. it’s what they do.
hi! we’ve been to chicago. we had adventures in chicago! Our first stop was to talk & hang out with John Slavik, a scupture from right outside of Chicago. I just googled him & I think he must be pretty famous. here is a link to some of his work. http://www.opgallery.com/artists.php?artist_id=29
here are some facts: 1.during the interview with John kept talking about the wild turkeys and coyotes that he sees & years on his land. hey, that’s pretty cool. 2 he let us park our RV in the neighbors driveway. it was very nice! 2. we use my verizon hotspot to get the internet. the internet was not working very well so we put it on top of the rv. ….does this really work? apparently.
I kept imaging the coyotes wold be using my new cellular iphone to call their other coyote friends across town. i think coyotes might have a lot to say to each other.
The next day we went to chicago to some exploring and do another interview with Paul who is in the band Mr. Bloto. His studio is at this great location for Professor Eric to do some Rayovack flashlight tests! During the Paul interview I was in charge of the audio so I didn’t take too many photos. We took a tour of his tour bus. Mostly it smelled like boys but i bet those boys have a really great time!!
Eric is passionate about steel mills and steel. pass-ion-ate. for sure. I learned some facts about steal from him. I told him a steel mill to him is s pink town to me. i hope there is one. ok, right, so we went to Gary, Indiana to use the steel mill as a back drop for the flashlights. we got kicked out of the parking lot. those steel mills have better security than the mall!
I’m working for rayovac the next two weeks! This is probably the most awesome job i’ve ever gotten! (unless you’ve hired me…then this is my second favorite job. ever.) I’m traveling in an RV with Nick Berard & Eric Tadsen. We’re going to Chicago, Pittsburg, Charlotte, & Memphis promoting Rayovacs new Indestructible flashlight. It really is indestructible. i’ll post a link to a movie we made throwing cinder blocks on them. it’s very awesome. We’re also interviewing people along the way….talking to them about why they are awesome & making short little movies. So far we’ve done chicago and we’re on our way to Pittsburg right now. I don’t have to drive the rv. Maybe it’s because i’m a girl. maybe it’s because I don’t offer. It really seems dangerous….so i’ll sick back here in the RV editing photos & blogging. and drinking redbulls.
There is so much computery & camera stuff in this RV! The boys hooked up a live cam. I will never tell you where you can see it. I sorta don’t want people to be looking at me all the time but they spend most of their days singing to it. Well, that’s nice, isn’t it.
My first blog is going to be very similar to the Rayovac blog introducing us but i’ll try to post different things than they do…you know cause it’s more fun that way.
here are some links. you can look at them or not look at them. the rayovac blog: http://rayovac-indestructible.tumblr.com/
& it is fun. it’s a short little movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIEo8USPokg
Nick Berard is a Freelance photographer based in Madison, WI. He has been photographing professionally for 20 years specializing in editorial, advertising and catalog work. “My work has always been people oriented. Collaborating with Rayovac has been an awesome opportunity, with the quality of their latest product it is really something we can get behind.” Our goal is to create a great campaign that extols the virtues of the flashlights and also features the great people that make, use and appreciate great equipment.
Sharon Vanorny is a photographer from Madison, WI. She mainly photographs people and the fun things they do! Sharon loves an adventure so this trip is a dream come true. For the indestructible tour she is the blogger extraordinaire and will be bringing you daily updates about the people they meet, the flashlight mayhem and the fun adventures! In her free time Sharon loves to ride bikes! Sometimes to the bar and sometimes to the library.
Sharon’s Blog | Sharon’s Website
Eric Tadsen is a freelance photographer, adventurer and general trouble-maker. Eric is along on the journey as a tinkerer and AV technician. He will attempt to damage Rayovac’s virtually indestructible flashlight with all of the mischief at his disposal. Including, but not limited to, techniques involving pyrotechnics, great crushing forces and hypnotism. After the tour Eric plans to return to a quiet life with his three cats and various houseplants.
I do photos for the isthmus sometimes. I did this assignment on first dates. This girl Lorri went on 5 first dates, which sounds super exciting! she has a blog about her life. you should check it out: http://your-illfitting-overcoat.blogspot.com/
Right-so the part of the assignment I got was to take photos. But not photos of Lorri & her dates but people I can talk into going on a date. or a sorta date while I take their photo. I went on 4 dates. It was a great week full of adventures! Adventures are my favorite. I talked Heather & Eric, Kristel & Mike, Kristel & Bryan, and Andrew & Jennifer to go out with me. Kristel went on two dates! Ok, so the first date was at the gallery with Eric & Heather. Mostly this date was successful except the gallery people got mad at us for taking photos in the gallery. After they said we could….I even got a little badge that said visitor or something. It always kinda throws me a bit when I get a talk’n too. So we left & got a drink at the Pauls Club.
The next date was a night walk at the Arboretum with Kristel & Mike. I learned some valuable lessons this night. Taking photos on a night walk is not easy. We were with a group. I got yelled at again for taking photos on a night walk. I get it that my flash was disruptive to the night part of walk. AHHH!! & trying to keep up with the group-talking photos-not talking photos-cold. When we the walk was over we got drinks at the Mason on Park Street. Super cute bar!
The third date was contra dancing at the Gates of Heaven Synagogue at the James Madison Park with Kristel & Bryan. Bryan was nervous so i think he had a few drinks before we went. or he was really thirsty. maybe he was just thirsty. The contra people gave Kristel & Bryan a little dancing lesson before the real dancing started. It wasn’t enough. In the middle of a dance I think Bryan got really nervous and left. & it’s scary to do all these moves and everyone else has them down……& then it feels like people are mad at you. I didn’t have to experience any of this-but I get it. Life feels like that sometimes. Then I think someone yelled at Kristel cause her dance partner left the group. It wouldn’t be the same if someone wasn’t irritated with us. This was for sure my most favorite date! It was so so funny! Kristel & Bryan had some melt down moments in the basement where they yelled at each other for a few minutes and then i took some photos of them dancing. Disasters bring people closer together. right? i hope so. Then we went to the Mickeys and had some drinks.
The last date was with Andrew & Jennifer! We went to the Union to see a free movie. The movie was Catfish. This movie was great! See it.Sooooo…..by now I feel like i’ve got this down! We showed up early early early to take photos in the theater without bugging anyone! Mostly I just had them eat popcorn & look cute while I took their photo. They were good at it. Nothing terrible happened. It was smooth! You can even get a beer & drink it during the free movie. I feel like I found out a Madison secret.
My little sister lives in Ashland, Wisconsin. She has a friend Shinano from Minneapolis. We are friends too! Shinano takes photos, really fun photos! And she’s a delight to hang out with. http://blog.somesortofescapade.com/
Right so my story is a little incomplete. We were both in Ashland at the same time. In Ashland we do things like go for walks & eat at this restaurant called The Good Tyme in Washburn. It’s great, they have this Moscow Mule drink with the ginger ale. I always get it there, I should drink this more. Oh, and we go to the Black Cat coffee shop, the Bargin Hut, & Army & Navy store. Consistently this is what happens in Ashland. I like it.
Shinano is cute as a button, as you can see in the photos. & she has a green suitcase! she’s lucky.
I shot Margaret’s senior photos last summer. She was a natural in front of the camera! Her mom came along & they were a hoot.
I’ve been doing some photos for the Capitol Brewery lately. Mostly photos for their website- but I just looked & they are not on the website yet….so maybe check out the http://www.capital-brewery.com/ in a week or two. They do this event Bockfest to celebrate beer & the brewing of the Blonde Doppelbock beer. The Capital Brewery people throw beads off the roof of the brewery to people below. And then at 3pm they throw fish. real fish. dead fish. i totally saw someone take a bite of one. nasty!
& people love it. like with all their heart.
I will probably go next year & drink. I look forward to it.
