I Am a Motorcoach . . .

. . . Two Seven Eight with you this week, with a long-over-due Logo-Rubbing blog. For those passengers who only recently came aboard, Logo-Rubbing is the motorcoachblog version of “rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous.” It’s all about brand schmoozing, hobnobbing with the fabulous and iconic of roadside pop culture. More important, Logo-Rubbing lets you the passenger in on some essentials of motorcoach identity. I am a commercial entity, part of a larger commercial endeavor, the name of which I boldly bear like a tattoo on my red skin while getting around in a dynamic world of interacting enterprise. And that, for a motorcoach, is most important of all: being out in the mix. The following are more than just famous brand selfies; they are commercial encounters in specific places along my travels.

Selfies

(which by definition means I’m in them . . . though you might have to look for me)

NASA! Wow, I’ve been looking forward to this photo-op since my odometer was in double-digits. Travel with a mission, space-age sophistication . . . I rolled off the assembly line with that attitude! I didn’t actually go to a NASA facility for this one. I was in Cleveland Ohio, along the shore of Lake Erie at Great Lakes Science Center.

Right next door to the Great Lakes Science Center is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Appropriately right out front, adorning the very classy motorcoach that served the travel needs of Johnny Cash, is the original MCI logo – my own make of course. My passengers gathered round and gawked, perhaps some imagining they could hear the strumming of Johnny’s Martin D35 coming from the coach. Meanwhile, my admiration focused on a proud legacy of fine motorcoach manufacturing.

Football season is here! And here I am in Ada, Ohio, at the Wilson Sporting Goods football manufacturing plant. Yes, right here is where Wilson makes the official footballs of the NFL, along with footballs for the NCAA, the CFL, and many other leagues. Here also, let me point out, we have the first ever Logo-Rubbing photo-bomb. Along with the intended pose featuring the Wilson logo and my garage family logo, in the foreground we have the updated (and somewhat football-shaped) MCI logo.

At a Holiday Inn – Ontario, Canada – part of my branding is reflected in that of the hospitality giant. Here are two industries that serve one another well: transport and hospitality. We bring them travelers; they provide a home away from home for a night or two.

And for those who prefer their own home on the road . . . Airstream. A common experience on the highways of America, this Airstream and I pass one another in the parking lot at the Airstream manufacturing plant in Jackson Center, Ohio.

You may recall the English Bulldog with the name of international prestige from a few blogs back. Here is the logo of the company after which he was named. Also at the Airstream lot in Jackson Center, Ohio, this Mercedes camper had just received its deluxe Airstream interior.

Where there are campers, there are people into fishing and other outdoorsy stuff. And almost assuredly they have something in their camper or tackle box purchased at this place. Bass Pro Shops are often part of tour itineraries. This visit was part of a tour with destinations throughout Arkansas.

And finally, high quality products as useful in the home as in a camper are made in this manufacturing facility in Greenville, Ohio.

MEETING THE NEWS on the roadways of America, first-hand, real time, real world news—going out and discovering the news . . .

FOOTBALL NEWS: The official NFL football has been made by Wilson since 1941, originally at a Wilson plant in Chicago and at the Ohio plant since 1956. Every Wilson football has tiny W logos embossed in the hide, distinguishing them from counterfeits. Twenty footballs are made from a typical cowhide. NFL and collegiate footballs are made from the area along the backbone where the hide has been sun and weather toughened. Youth league footballs are made from the softer underbelly part of the hide. U.S. high school and collegiate footballs have a thick white line that goes half way around the ball at both ends. On CFL (Canadian Football League) footballs the line goes all the way around the ball. NFL footballs have no line.

AIRSTREAM NEWS: The distinctive Airstream rounded aluminum design has aviation origins. It was the brain-child of aircraft designer William Hawley Bowlus, previously the Construction Superintendent of the Spirit of St. Louis aircraft famously piloted by Charles Lindbergh. Airstream’s association with famous flights does not stop there. In 1969, after completing the first trip to the moon, Apollo 11 crewmembers were quarantined in an Airstream until it could be determined that they had not returned as “Lunar Pathogen” carriers. And NASA utilized Airstreams for decades in transport of astronauts to launch pads.

ORBITAL NEWS: Speaking of NASA: have you ever wanted to feel like part of the team at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration? The International Space Station is the third brightest object in the sky, and NASA will notify you by text or email when its orbit combined with favorable conditions make for good sighting opportunities in your location. To sign up, Just Google: Spot the Station.

(Unlike selfies, these are not about me, but about travel discoveries I think you’d like to know about.)

Part of a “Made in America” manufacturing plant tour, the Clabber Girl Baking Powder plant and museum tour in Terre Haute, Indiana scored high marks with passengers. The highlight of the visit was the cooking class, complete with tasty instruction handouts and samples of each step-by-step creation. (Location: 900 Wabash Ave., Terre Haute, IN; and for tour and cooking class scheduling: 812-232-9446)

Quote Of The Day samples

“Football is like life – it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and respect for authority.” – Vince Lombardi Jr.

“We’re all in this together if we’re in it at all.” ― Johnny Cash