Preparing for the Dodge Journey (East) Search

/ Steven Barley

For those that are participating in the Dodge Journey (East) search, I thought it would be a good idea, to share some insight, recommendations and resources, with contributions by individuals here, including other Dodge Journey search participants. Hope you find this useful.

Warning: I’m aware that a number of individuals are either flying or driving long distances to participate in the search. The final (possible) location may have been identified, originally posted and discussed on Dodge’s YouTube board. Assuming they have a contingency plan, they may very well change the final location or resort to, according to the contest rules, “administer(ing) a skill-based tie-breaker.”

Start time

The Dodge Journey (East) search starts at 12 Noon, Saturday, September 24.

Get the latest

Visit the Dodge Journey Search (East) post and review comments for the latest discussion.

Preparations

The critical clue, in my opinion, will be the first one released. Is it 200-mile or 300-mile? What is their departure point, e.g. NYC or Albany? What other video sequences are added? Will they drop any?

In the West search 300-mile clue, they added Angelo’s deli, the map shot, and Emerald Bay. Angelo’s was, general speaking, along the already known route. The map confirmed the direction and route, after Placerville, towards the mini-mart and further along towards Highway 89. Emerald Bay was a specific location and they showed the Journey heading south.

In the Midwest search 200-mile clue, they gave us the starting point, Oklahoma City, and a new “main street” view – Sayre, OK. Oklahoma City was a surprising start point.

Unless you’re very familiar with the region, it would be a good idea to be review some of the regional city skylines, unique buildings, etc. – using Google image search, e.g Albany (100-mile range), Boston and Syracuse (200-mile range), New York City and Philadelphia (300-mile range).

Use Google image search and street view to explore places like Ticonderoga.

Weekend weather forecast

Driving conditions

There have been a number of reports of poor road conditions, closed roads and bridges due to Hurricane Irene, in New York, but especially Vermont.

Check local, state news and resources, for the latest.

It is illegal to drive while talking on a cellphone in New York, unless hands free.

Most importantly: Be careful, be safe and please drive responsibly.

Other driving considerations

Cell phone coverage

There have been a number of reports of limited to no cell phone coverage, due to terrain and Hurricane Irene. Check your carrier for normal coverage (maps):

Contact the carrier for the latest information.

Wi-Fi access

Due to limited cell phone coverage, Wi-Fi hot spots may be essential for the “boots on the ground.” There aren’t too many in the general search area, but here are a few that could be found:

  • Black Watch Memorial Library – 99 Montcalm St, Ticonderoga – (518) 585-7380
  • Panera Bread – 820 State Route 9, Queensbury, NY (518) 761-6957
  • Starbucks – 607 Aviation Rd, Queensbury, NY 12804 (518) 761-1284
  • Panera Bread – 3070 New York State Route 50, Saratogra, NY 12866 (518) 226-0095

Related:

“At home” partner

Due to limited cell phone coverage and limited number of wi-fi hot spots, it would be advisable to have an at home partner — someone who can watch the live feed, monitor Dodge’s YouTube page for clue availability, solve clues, conduct research, etc., while you drive. With that said, due to limited cell phone coverage, staying connected could be a challenge.

Final thoughts

Remember, there can only be one winner. Regardless of the outcome, be safe, enjoy the adventure, and make some memories.

Best of luck to all the boots on the ground! Cheers!

48 thoughts on “Preparing for the Dodge Journey (East) Search”

  1. You might want to add that in New York, it is illegal for people to drive using the cell phone. Hands Free is OK. Odds are you can probably get away with it, but just be forewarned.

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    • Actually, troopers are quite strict about it. Pretty sure they wouldn’t be thrilled with a couple hundred out-of-towners weaving all over their country roads trying to beat each other to a prize. If you don’t have a passenger to mind your phone, pull over. And for goodness sake do NOT attempt to text/email your home-based partner, or check out Dodge commercials, while driving. Even if an excited Dodge-hunter feels the prize is worth a fender bender, or worse, I’m *sure* the other person who gets hit would beg to differ. Don’t try to get away with it. Respect the place you’re in and pull over to use your phone (please!). 🙂

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    • Yeah. I caught that Brian 😦 I wanted to add a weather foreacast (widget) to the post … So, let’s see poor cell phone coverage, limited wifi access, barriers into VT (ferry + bridge closing), rain, … what else did I miss?

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      • I have a question, say we get into the cage, and through the security doors there and down the elevator we can’t move, and past the guards with the guns, and into the vault we can’t open… without being seen by the cameras… yeah, well say we do all that… uh… we’re just supposed to drive outta there in a new Dodge Journey without getting stopped?

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    • Hi Rachel and thank you for the kind words 🙂 I’ll probably shift gears to a couple of new hunts 🙂 Have you checked out the Santa Fe treasure hunt? A mere $1.2 million … LOL. Cheers!

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      • $35? Wow! Haven’t gone that far yet, but I’ve bought my fair share of Treasure Hunt books, including some that are out of circulation from collectors. There are a number of good articles on the hunt. After the dust settles with the Journey search, I’ll have to give it a more in depth, look over.

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  8. Look for the Journey to be parked either near the end of a dead-end road or in a location that you have to intentionally have as a destination. What I mean is that it won’t be parked anywhere “along the way” to somewhere else, where someone might stumble upon it.

    The first one was parked in a resort area around and behind a cabin of some sort. The second one was at the end of a dirt road.

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  9. Steven,

    I think its great you working the clues from home and all. I did the same for the West and Midwest, but I think adding wifi, cell coverage, hotspots, etc. Is, in my opinion, being a little too helpful. It folks are serious enough, they need to so some of the legwork themselves, otherwise they shouldn’t be out treasure hunting. There are folks out there that are working hard to get whatever edge they can on the mob that is going to show up, now that almost all the available clues have been dissected all over the internet.. No disresepct intended here just some honest feedback… BTW you dont need to post my remarks if you dont want to, I’m ok with that as well.

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  12. Steven, I just saw a commercial for the Journey last night and as far as I could tell they did not show the image where the bike is taken down from the rack in front of a lake of some sort. Any thoughts as to why or what this might mean?
    I’m planning on driving around Green Mountain National Forest Saturday. I just hope I get lucky enough to find it!

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    • Hi Chantal. Several have reported, myself included, catching a “new” commercial on TV for the Dodge Journey. I haven’t had the chance to watch it closely, however, to see what is or is not present. I did find much of the content to be the same. The main deviation I caught, was the end … it did not finish with, if you can find one, you can have one. I believe they’ve re-edited and plan on running that commercial, now that they have brand recognition, after the search concludes. Cheers!

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  13. What if….. What if all the clues are a ploy to throw everyone off. What if the final Journey was placed where it all began. Not the West Coast, but a national park near Detriot MI. Just a thought…

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    • Hi Shawn. Detroit MI is the east region. However, using history as a guide (with the West and Midwest searches). The clues point to the general region and starting point for the search. Many individuals have driven long distances or flown to that region. If they made such a drastic deviation, you’d have a lot of disappointed people. Cheers!

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    • Yeah Mike. Let’s see: $9 cash, 3 trips, max, per hour … Great opportunity for them (and I know they’ve been given a heads up). Right now, I think everyone is carefully evaluating their position. Do you want to be on the VT side and find that, in fact, they fooled us or switched to plan B, and you have to get to NY <- ouch. Cheers!

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      • I think if we see in the opening shots of the commercial that they are headed west from Ticonderoga that they may have gone that direction. while cleverly trying to make us think that they went east instead,

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    • Yeah Brian. That’s why those the official rules and execution of the contest need some tweaking – will be tough, even with a co-pilot, to monitor the live feed, interact with their clue widget, monitor the chatter, all from a mobile phone … and if there are problems with coverage, rut-roh.

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      • Its not a coverage thing. It was working one second and not the next, too, which is strange. I tweaked it so that I’m not bringing up the mobile page, and for whatever reason that works now. I have a thousand different ways I can bring up the vids – for that I’m not worried. It’s the unlocking of clues on the go that concerns me the most. Will I be able to drop a pin with iphone or ipad?

        By the way, I sent you a picture on twitter that you may find amusing.

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  16. Saw the newer ad tonight. They took out the VT Welcome sign and also the bike unloading…does this indicate they are not going into VT?? due to ferry, due to roads?? Could this be their Plan C or D?
    Good luck to all hunters….

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  18. Quick question….dodge said on their facebook/twitter that they:

    “Dodge We sent 2 pics to various sites. If posted and you can find them, they won’t lead to the car, but they’ll get you started #journeysearch”

    Does anyone have information about these picture to confirm a starting place of NYC, Boston, Albany, etc.?

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