Dodge Journey Search (Midwest)

/ Steven Barley

From the two introductory commercials, there are a number of clues that identify a 100-mile segment of the Dodge Journey (Midwest) route.

Find the latest on Dodge Journey Search (Midwest) Clues

Update #1: Two new locations added – Main Street, El Reno and Yellow Bridge crossing. Google map revised.
Update #2: One probable location identified – Hot air balloon ride, McKinney, TX. Google map route expanded.
Update #3: I was just contacted by someone who claims to work with Rohr balloons – “I can confirm that it was not our balloon or company used for this contest. Please stop overloading my phone with questions.” <- The power of social media (and a contest of interest)
Update #4: New clues added, part of the Midwest drive.
Update #5: New location added – Dairy Best, Clinton. Google map revised.

1. Yukon Mill & Grain Co, Yukon, OK

Yukon Mill & Grain Co

In the video, the Dodge Journey is traveling west along route 66 (the mill is on the south side of the highway).

Notes: Although you have a general location (Yukon, OK) and can google to find pictures and general information, the precise location took some detective work, via google street view (and the possibility that it could be along route 66, see next clue)

Yukon Mill & Grain Co - Google street view

2. Route 66 National Museum, Elk City, OK

Route 66 National Museum

In the video, the Dodge Journey is traveling west along Route 66.

Notes: A quick search in google reveals the location of the Route 66 National Museum and google street view can be used to determine location relative to the highway.

3. “Main Street” – El Reno, OK

Marching band

In the video, the Dodge Journey is traveling west along Sunset Dr (and old Route 66).

Notes: Revisiting the route and assuming that the Dodge is sticking to old Route 66, which cuts straight through El Reno, a virtual tour using google street view reveals this location.

Sunset Drive - El Reno - Google street view

4. “Yellow Bridge” crossing

Yellow bridge crossing

In the video, the Dodge Journey continues to travel west along old Route 66.

Notes: This was contributed by Jason Y. Many thanks for identifying and sharing. Google street view for verification:

Bridge crossing

5. Dairy Best, Clinton, OK

Dairy Best

Notes: This was contributed by Richard. Clinton, OK lies in between the “yellow bridge” and Elk City. Google street view to verify:

Dairy Best - Google street view

Google Map of partial Dodge Journey (Midwest) route using introductory videos.

Remaining Clues

These are the remaining clues for the Dodge Journey (Midwest) search, but there’s not much to work with:

Hot air balloon, location ??

Hot air balloon

Notes: Initially, a great prospect and contribution from Jason Y. Rohr balloons out of McKinney, TX provides hot air balloon rides and has the same hot air balloon. More pictures of the balloon here. A recent contact by Rohr balloons (or someone who claims to work with them) denies that their balloon or company was used.

Midwest drive

Midwest drive

Notes: Not much to work with but this seems to be the identifying image for the Midwest search (like Hangtown Motel for the West and Uncle Sam for the East searches). Observations: Both roads are unpaved (so Google street view will be useless) with a line of telephone poles and power line poles, running parallel along the road.


MB Ranch?

Notes: A number of astute observers (in hi-def) noted the letters MB, on the fence, to the right, which may represent a ranch or landowners. The road signs, unfortunately, cannot be read (although the first letter on the bottom road sign appears to be N)

Midwest drive #2

The introductory video has two other shots (0:06) and (0:31) that are most likely 1) part of the same sequence. Note the dirt road (dust kicked up by the Dodge Journey), ridge along side the road, general terrain, including contours, and position of the sun. The (0:06) segment was shot first, note the position of the sun, and lack of shadows (early morning).

This second sequence (0:31) should be fairly easy to identify by satellite imagery (although I spent a good checking the areas north and south of Elk City with no luck). More importantly, they are traveling North, if this was taken at sunrise (my belief) or south if taken near sunset.

Midwest drive (0:31)

It might be worth noting that the main Midwest drive was shot around noon (shadow directly beneath the Dodge) but may be a destination for these other two shots.

Given that the Dodge Journey Search (West) started from a landmark city like San Francisco, Dodge Journey Search (Midwest) will probably start from Dallas, TX, traveling north, toward the two known destinations (estimated route length: 290 miles), although that would not leave too much room for additional travel.

344 thoughts on “Dodge Journey Search (Midwest)”

    • Hi Karl and yeah, that was really disappointing. The funny is we had clues that led to Elk City, without any of the clues released today 😦

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  3. We came in off of 33 to 283 and then went to visitors center to buy a detailed map of the area. The ranger told me that the terrain from the live feed was not from the grassland area but rather looked like a few of the valleys south of there toward Elk City. He also told me there was no way it was in the park or else he would know about it. Because of those two reasons we left and went to Sayre. I am not a big fan of park rangers right now.

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  4. I would love to know who at Dodge thought that “Texola” was a great “exclusive” clue. We were “right there” probably within 5 miles of the exact location when we got the exclusive email clue. We did a 180 and headed due south to be “nearer” to Texola. Thanks alot Dodge…

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  5. We looked up Sayre on Wikipedia and it mentioned a balloonist from there. I figured it had something to do with it since there was a hot air balloon in the video. We jetted to Sayre from OKC…searched for a while before we got news that some lucky person found it! Good job! Sayre is close to Texola (the email clue) and on 66 so I figured I was on the right trail. Ran out of technology though and time!

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  6. MY question is that there is a big difference in giving real clues & and clues that where out right lies, the vehicle did not take the path as suggested by the video clues, the email clue was an outright lie causing people to spend more on gas, not a very honest game, not to mention that I heard the winner was a Police officer, who may have had state help from the sky’s, I Would like a detailed description as to how the clues were used by the winner and from Dodge as to how the clues were to add up, I am OK if it was just luck, but there are more questions then answers

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    • I agree Robert. They should not give out “false” clues. By the way, rumor has it that it was a Oklahoma State Trooper who found it, and he lives in Clinton, Oklahoma, and may have utilized air support. Only time will tell.

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  8. We actually live near there and went out. We were all over that area today. Saw what we suspect were other searchers. But the trouble with that area is that once in the grasslands, it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack!

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  9. We live not too far from that area, and we went out looking today. We came within a few miles and came across several vehicles that I suspect were searching as well. The trouble with the grasslands is that it is like looking for a needle in a haystack! To add to the challenge, the cell service is very patchy down there.

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  14. I was one of the people out searching today and had a great time. The clues actually made you think. Sadly, I feel there were too many people thinking literally. Take this for instance:

    The email clue told you about Texola. Great. Did anyone ever say you have to go TO Texola? No. Right around this same time, you see the blackboard talking how the Journey has 283 HP and is V6. Then, you get a clue about Elk City and at the end there is a fuel gauge that is HALF full. Hmmm. Well…. abstract thinkers would ask themselves- I see HWY 283 HALFWAY between Elk City and Texola, could this be the real clue? So we head to 283 (Sayre). Then, I get to thinking about the blackboard… there’s a HWY 6 that intersects with 283… too much of a coincidence. Let’s head up 283 towards HWY 6 then!

    Our downfall was that there were other very small details we misinterpreted as meaning the car might be just over the border in Texas so we searched a little on HWY6.

    Had we not done that, there might have been a different outcome and our faces might have been on the camera.

    Moral of the story? Never think something is absolute. You grow as a person and learn new things by thinking “outside the box”. Don’t always take things literally. Enjoy the ride in life… it’s all about the “Journey” 🙂

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    • I think a lot of people are upset about the Texola clue but don’t forget that fuel gauge. That is the key factor that most everyone apparently overlooked. The clues were fair.

      I am also interested to know how the winners arrived at the final destination though. I’m almost positive we were the 2nd people to make it to the car and it would have been nice had Dodge taken our information in case the first winners were DQ’d for some reason.

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      • Jessi,

        I agree about the Texola clue. We were out there on Saturday too. When we got the first clue we put together that it was somewhere near cheyenne. Around 11:00 we drove drove down the gravel road that connects on the winning road off of 33 (sign with the Dangerous Hill). For some reason we decide to turn around and check out further west. What time did you guys get to the car?

        Andy

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    • I missed the blackboard clue completely … bummer 😦 Worth noting: the Dodge Journey really is 283HP, V6. I think people with “exclusive” access to email clue were right to feel mislead, however. It said this isn’t the place but it’s close to the place. Well, guess what, Elk City was closer and we already had that … Glad you enjoyed yourself. Personally, I’d like to see who arrived second, and third … why not, you put in the time (and the rest of us are tuned in). Cheers!

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      • Yeah, it was a small but VERY meaningful clue! I’m a graphic artist so I look for detail/meaning in EVERYTHING. And I don’t really think people should feel misled. They had the same opportunity to sign up for the email. I did so last night and made sure I had my confirmation- I wasn’t about to miss out on something that could have potentially led me to the car. If someone offers you a secret clue shouldn’t you take it?

        That’s a very interesting fact! Maybe they’d chosen the location based on that and the fact that it was located in a National Park type place (as was the West Coast Journey).

        Did you catch on to the fuel gauge by any chance? I haven’t seen anyone else who thought that was worth noting or even noticed it!

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  17. Something I wanted to throw out there, it didnt play into the final result but I believe that the balloon shown was the Rohr’s balloon. I know that someone posted stop calling them as their phones were flooded but here’s what makes me think its one of theirs. 1. the basket. baskets can be tied to any balloon, this one has a weave pattern that matches one they use. you can see the basket in their facebook photo’s here:

    Heres a picture of the balloon from their FB page too. this album has tons of pic’s of it, the color pattern matches too, red, white and blue with a dark blue top band and the the crown.

    Finally, I think this guy is in the dodge commercial setting the balloon up. Michael Celentano.

    look thru that last album and you’ll see he’s about the right age and height of the red shirted man in the balloon scene.

    Food for thought. We’ve all learned a bit about deception with the special e-mail clue.

    Oh and thats the first time I’ve ever facebook stalked someone I swear. 😉

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  18. The wife and I had a blast doing this guys, it was a crazy adventure. we drove down from Kansas City, got into OKC about midnight and had trouble finding a hotel because of a fair in town. I took pictures of the route 66 museum in Elk City as we drove by, talked to a waitress in the bar in Texola who said she’s seen about 20 different teams racing around in different directions after the e-mail clue. The Denny’s in Sayre on 283 was hopping with treasure hunters around 1pm, wonder how many now are kicking themselves for being so close, maybe 30 minutes away.

    we drove back to KC that night, had another adventure as storms came thru at a gas station in Tonkawa OK where the workers made everyone come inside and get into the freezers for 10 minutes til. interesting moment. all in all, crazy, exciting and fun. Wish we could do the east coast one too.

    Probably be on here following the progress live. my suggestion to the east coast guys: go with your gut and rent a helicopter. 😉

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  19. The video of the person who won the Midwest automobile is up on the Dodge youtube site. The rumor turned out to be true, the winner is Brad Neidy from Clinton, Oklahoma. He is a Captain in the Oklahoma State Highway Patrol and Commander of the group that covers five counties that include and border that area. He obviously didn’t have to go very far to find the vehicle, and I am truly wondering if the Commander used air support as that was rumored on the other board along with Mr. Neidy’s name and occupation. It will be interesting if they detail how he found it as they did with the West Coast journey.

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  20. I find the fact that he is a public employee and paid to oversee that land might not be fair. I am sure that Dodge had to make the officers in that area aware of the fact that there was a car left on public land. Maybe just sour grapes. But I wasn’t in the race but feel bad for those that were in it fairly.

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  21. I was not in the race either, but also feel bad for those who played by the rules, made the long trip, and invested time and energy into trying to find the car the “right way”. It should also be noted that Dodge had to make the park rangers aware of the fact that they were doing a contest in the park, and I am 100% sure that the rangers have to communicate with the Commander of the State Troopers for that area on a consistent and constant basis. It just smells very bad. Also to be noted is that the car was found prior to the last clue, and the Grasslands consist of approximately 31,000 acres in Oklahoma. I’m not saying, I’m just saying……………

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  22. IT is inconceivable that a police commander of that area, would not have had the ability to have had inside information, All commanders have scanners, giving an advantage over the normal population, This is unfair & a disgrace by the department, Winner should be disqualified, CAR WAS AWARDED TO A REAL LOSER !!!

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  24. Coffee house in Elk City. Doesn’t necessarily help, and that is yet another reason why it was incredible that it was found that quickly on 31,000 acres of grassland…

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  25. Walter, on the East Coast Search page here. Someone posted a newspaper article of a diner that was filmed for the commercial. They had to close the road to film it. THE POLICE CLOSED THE ROAD. Do you think that happened in OK? I think so. But just my humble opinion. What do I know.

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  26. You would have to assume that the State Highway Patrol in Oklahoma was involved in some form or fashion as well as the Grasslands park rangers who have very close ties to the State police who cover that area. I think the commander of the State police in that area would have to be informed. IMHO……

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    • As someone who is pretty sure they were at the car 2nd it’s pretty disappointing and discouraging to see reports like this 😦 I tried to avoid the message board and speculation as much as possible in order to use the clues to find the Journey and it paid off. Sadly it was a little late. I thought it was odd that the West Coast search took 16 hours yet the Midwest Search only took 6. I normally have pretty good gut instinct and my gut tells me something doesn’t add up. OH and when we showed up none of the cast/crew offered to take our information. A bit odd considering their official rules state that there would be up to 3 alternate winners in case the first winner isn’t verified or forfeits their prize.

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      • Jessi, I am so sorry to hear that you actually did the work and were there 2nd. That is sincerely disappointing considering the circumstances surrounding the person who ended up winning. I wonder if Dodge was surprised that it was found that quickly as I just saw a commercial advertising the Midwest search saying the car was still there. At the end of the commericial, the actor who also plays Dexter on tv, says “seriously”. I am almost certain that with a cast and crew coming into a national park with production equipment, they would have to notify the ranger and the State police commander in the area–and we know he ended up being the eventual winner.

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      • Hey Jessi. Just curious. When you arrived on location. What did they have beyond the Dodge Journey and “guy”? Support vehicle or staff?

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      • Jessi……you said that you think you were second to the location. What clues brought you to that exact road? It seems as if many people were in the Grasslands area all day but nobody found it for hours.

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      • @Steven: No problem. What you don’t see was the entire parking area. I believe there might have been 10 or so cars total in a little makeshift parking lot on the right side.

        @Mike: Dumb luck lol. There was no way to tell what exact road although I’m sure had they released the 5mi clue it would have given a hint. I know it would be off in a field and you’d have to go through a gate like you’re going onto someone’s property (had a feeling about that after watching the video the night before. There’s a part where they’re on the dirt road that has telephone/power lines on both sides. It looks like they’re going straight into a field through a gate). I had that so stuck in my head. We saw a blue car sitting right outside one gate and when we followed it in it appeared they were one of the crew (car had out of state plates and parked where the crew parked their cars).

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  27. And let me add that is adds to the speculation that Dodge has not posted an interview with the Midwest winner on how they used the clues to find the car. The West Coast winner was posted almost immediately.

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  28. Good point Walter. Where is the winner video? Not to mention, there was a point that the sound was cut off. If that was their time to verify, then Dodge failed. They should have left and the next person been able to find it.

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  29. I know it’s too late now, but where the Journey is turning right inside of a city is in Sayre, Oklahoma, turning north on 283. If the link below doesn’t work, just google on the intersection of Hwy 283 and Hwy 152 in Sayre, OK. Go to street view and then look to the southwest. It’s the same place, meaning they were going west on Hwy 152, and then they turned north on Hwy 283. The Rexall Drug orange sign shown in Google isn’t there now, but notice the other buildings AND those strange black street light poles with the weird curvy top sections.

    http://maps.google.com/maps?q=sayre+ok&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=e3Z

    Sorry about not giving up my secrets before, but we were trying to replace our old beat up 96 Pontiac Sunfire. My wife and I headed that direction yesterday morning from Arkansas, but soon got phone call from our son saying someone had already found it. Thought about leaving Friday afternoon for Black Kettle. Oh well. It was a great mental exercise. Take all of the clues in. Don’t make assumptions from only one of them. When all put together, they’ll point you right there. REMEMBER: all of the parts of the clues are left for a reason.

    Good luck all of your guys and gals in the East.

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  33. The clues were shot in late August… and I have photographic evidence the highway patrol knew about the filming. For those of us who were in the area, this is very frustrating… and one would tend to think he had inside information.

    After doing some investigation today, I came across a twitter page… the owner was obviously a stylist for the shoot and posted pictures from many locations during the shoot (including the hot air balloon shot.) One picture, included a member of the highway patrol speaking to two individuals. I do not want to post a link to someones private page… but will provide the picture by e-mail.

    It would only make sense they were notified of the contest… especially the park ranger.

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  37. Jessi, great pics of the trailer, crew, and car. Sort of solidifies the point that the park rangers had to know about it. Also, anybody watch the video of the state trooper “finding” the car–I could be wrong, but it sure looks like him and his daughter are wearing their golf shoes. Looks like a day of golfing and not someone who had been out looking for a new journey.

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    • I think you’re right, Walter. Definitely looks like golf shoes to me as well. Here’s a link to a OHP newsletter from August 2007 that mentions the daughter (Taylor) having participated in a Jr PGA tournament. It also mentions the parents, Capt. Brad and D’Linda Neidy.

      Click to access sig-07-08.pdf

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  38. Here is a direct link to the picture. Easier than e-mailing it. According to the description of the day, this was taken during a client/agency meeting for the shoot and was on route 66 in western Oklahoma. Not the same person that won. I have no idea who the people are in the picture.. could be the property owners.

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    • Thanks Aaron. I don’t suppose you’d mind still emailing me would you? I’m trying to pull metadata from the photo and for some reason that one has absolutely no info but I believe the photo was taken using an iphone app, Instagram (I use it all the time) so there should be some data. Maybe it’s the way it was saved or something before you uploaded it?

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  40. The following picture also accompanied the highway patrol picture at the location… they were obviously travelling in a large bus:

    And to back up that this person actually worked on the shoot, here is the balloon shot taken by the stylist:

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  41. @ Steven
    Just want to thank you for all your help, this is a great site, You’re great at this !!
    Being From South Florida, we used to participate in The Miami Herald Tropic Hunt, Hosted by Dave Barry, had some Great Times, never won, but we where in the top 10 four years in a Row
    We now live in TN, and because of financial and physical disability’s, we are unable to participate in person, so the next best thing is being able to compare our findings with yours & everyone on your web site, so just wanted to show some Love and respect, Peace my friend
    ~Bob~

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    • Thanks a bunch Bob 🙂 You seemed to be a fellow treasure hunter and it sounds like you’ve done pretty well. Great contributions and I’m with you, I enjoy a virtual or armchair treasure hunt, just as much as the “boots on the ground” variety. All the best.

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  43. I contacted the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Chief’s office, this morning. 405-425-2424 and spoke to:
    Deanna Hargus
    Public Information Officer
    Dept. of Public Safety
    405-425-7708
    dhargus@dps.state.ok.us

    and said INHO the trooper should be disqualified.

    It has been my past experience with national contests that any agency (and their employees) affiliated with planning or assisting the public relations firm with this type of contest are deemed ineligible to win.

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    • Thanks for sharing Donna. In their official rules, they have:

      Employees of Chrysler Group, LLC, Wieden + Kennedy, Inc., ePrize, LLC, Certified Dodge and Chrysler dealership employees, Contest production personnel, as well as friends and family of contest production personnel, and any of their parent and affiliate companies as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings and children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible.

      Surprisingly, supporting or participating agencies, beyond contest production personnel, are not mentioned 😦

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    • I agree. I think by OHP agreeing to assist them they assumed the role of an affiliate company. I seriously think Dodge should release at least a statement soon. They have to know about this concern from the public by now.

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    • True. In legalese, that could be argued a couple of ways. But if I were managing a marketing campaign, I would want everything to be “above board” … otherwise, you could earn yourself negative PR 😦

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  45. On the 16th above, Mark Landis reported talking to the El Reno marching band that helped stage the scene on mainstreet. I would assume that involved the help of the police too don’t you think?

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  48. Did anyone else try plotting the creases in the map? Represent them as lines on Google Earth and you’ll see that the North-South crease runs from Elk City to Hammon, and the East-West crease runs from Hammon (14 miles from site) to Cheyenne (3 miles from site). If you started in Elk City and followed those directions, you would have passed through Strong City (<3 miles to site) and past the turnoff to get to the vehicle.

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  50. texola was definetly a bs clue….was south of the i40 283 junction when i got the clue on my phone. Having remembered seeing the sign online the day before i knew exactly where it was and headed there. I know it said it wasnt there, but it did say it was close. Turns out It wasn’t close at all. Well ill keep driving my ford and remember why i traded in my dodge 😉 lol

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