Dodge Journey Search (East) LIVE updates – Day 1

/ Steven Barley

I’ll be updating this page as information becomes available leading up to and during the Dodge Journey (East) search, officially starting at Saturday, 12 noon. You’ll find the latest at the top of this page.

Be safe. Be courteous. Buckle up and drive carefully. Remember, there can only be one winner. Enjoy the adventure and make some memories. Cheers and Best of luck!

>> Day 2 coverage continues here

Slideshow Clues: Expanded Route (approx 110 miles)

>> Full set of pictures (Source: Dodge’s Facebook page)

  • Ticonderoga Ferry ->
  • Orwell, VT ->
  • Brandon, VT ->
  • Killington, VT ->
  • West Bridgewater, VT ->
  • Woodstock, VT ->
  • White River Junction, VT ->
  • Lebanon, NH ->
  • 4A South, Near Enfield, NH

Notes: This is probably the best match for the final picture of a 4A south sign in the Journey slideshow.

Slideshow continues Sunday morning, 9am

375-mile clue

Solution: Schroon Lake, NY (Adirondack Marathon)

Note: We also see, on the bibs 87 (a reference to I-87 and 74, the road that runs east past Eagle Lake and to the Ti Ferry.

Apparently, this is the final online clue. The “final” clue is essentially the physical sign, already found.

25-mile radius? No.

Also, after the 375-mile clue is solved, we see:

Correction by Dodge on Twitter: When you solve the 5th clue vid it gets you within 375 miles of the Journey, not 25 as was written. More to come. Stay tuned.

Physical Clue, across Ti Ferry in VT

As reported earlier (bejones, 2:24pm), across the Ti Ferry into VT on 74, just before turning south on 73, a sign that reads:

This isnt the end
Its only the beginning
We cant wait to share
Where we went next
the journey is within 350 miles from here

Picture of the same (provide by Doreen Lyon, @jaredlyon’s Mom, on the hunt)

400-mile clue

Solution: Friends Lake, Chestertown, NY

425-mile clue

Solution: Lake George, NY (Queen of  American Lakes)

450-mile clue

Solution: Saratoga Springs, NY

500-mile clue

Solution: Albany, NY

Other clues:

Wild West Ranch, Lake George NY

Notes: Are the (missing) letters a clue?

Google street view to verify:

Eagle Lake, NY

Intersection – 74 and 73, across from Ferry, heading toward Mt Independence (south)

Google street view to verify:

From the other side, moving away from the ferry, approaching the intersection (note fish on pole):

Advanced clues (9/23, 10:00pm)

Picture #1 – Malta Drive In Theater, Malta, NY

>> Higher resolution version

Notes: The Dodge Journey is north bound (and the bikes are there, just blurred because of the Journey’s speed)

Could this be a reference to Paradox, NY? Paradox Lake? Conflicting directions as a Paradox? Pair of Docks?

Confirming shot:

Picture #2 – Ticonderoga Ferry

>> Higher resolution version

Confirming shot:

And for direction (VT side, looking towards NY):

Dodge on Twitter

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 (9/23, 21:12)

Gather your search party and stock up on beef jerky. The East coast #JourneySearch begins tomorrow at 12PM EDT. YouTube.com/dodge

See also from this site:

Google Map of partial Dodge Journey (East) route

Initial Route, from Albany, NY to Ticonderoga Ferry, VT side (approx 125 miles)

For more information, including How to Play, visit their YouTube channel.

1,113 thoughts on “Dodge Journey Search (East) LIVE updates – Day 1”

    • Hi Megan. Wow (I may as well roll the dice :)) They’re in the Lebanon/Wolfeboro NH area in the slide show and will continue tomorrow. If you’re going to run for it, and depending on where you live, you could either start near the last know locations and move out as we, collectively call it, or after they get to a stopping point, head out (if you’re close). Your call, though. Whichever is best …

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  2. Really funny – the Youtube crowd told them to fix the clock – and they did. Gave the crowd a thumbs up.

    They were trying to move the slides closer to the camera earlier at the netizens request.

    So much for NOT running the search on the internet. Maybe that is what is really messing them up – the East Coast crowd is a little more wired (in more ways than one!) for action.

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    • I believe the video clues, made weeks or months ago, were made obsolete by them moving to a new location in the last few days. So I wouldn’t put any more stock into anything in the videos.

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    • Let me change that a little. I think all of the shots in the barn were shot within the last week to take the place of shots that pointed toward the Mt. Independence/ferry area.

      Notice there is no family anymore in the barn. It’s “Live Guy,” who has never been in any clue videos before.

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  8. Really enjoying this blog. Here’s my $.04

    I think the third Journey was supposed to be in Vermont but since it was functionally solved before it went live, Dodge decided to drive off with the car to a new spot to make it more difficult.

    -the shot of Brandon, VT. I was there today for a wedding, about 2 blocks past that intersection. See the little scarecrow on the bottom right – those have been put up recently as harvest decorations. And that weather? That’s recent too – could have been this morning even – foggy and rainy, then again could have been earlier in the week when the weather was similar. In other words, the commercials footage was done some time ago, the new photos, in the past week.
    -I missed something in the continuity – the east coast Journey had 2 bikes on top and now, no bikes, but a jetski. How did that happen and why? Or is that not relevant now (kayaks on the river out west – was there something in the midwest, I don’t recall)
    -The 5th clue initially said that the radius was 25 miles then that was fixed. That would indicate to me that the idea that they switched gears in the last couple of days has merit.
    -If this contest all pulls together neatly and coherently, then cool, but if Dodge has enticed people to come to Vermont and spend their weekend hunting for this and then at the last minute they decided to add some new wrinkles and make the search last longer, then I think that’s a pretty crappy thing to do.

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  10. Was out there all day, muddy orange element. didnt want to have to drive to maine because its a 12 hr drive home and another 200 in gas at least to go look for a barn that literally could be anywhere. Took a simmilar route they are taking now to mt kathadin me in baxter, even went through woodstock vt, didnt have gps then. They are likely heading there or acadia which is on an island though accessible by bridge. Jet sking anyone?

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  11. So, 4-A is in New Hampshire still (as indicated by the icon on the road sign itself, and that means we are probably running SE out of Enfield, NH.

    Past Mascoma Lake.

    Theories?

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    • Enfield Shaker Museum is popular theory at the moment. Fits with the NH 4-A South Clue. EXCEPT…..The only Nancy’s Way I can scrounge up is in Wolfeboro, NH. This puts that clue out of order, or it is a private sign (on a driveway perhaps) that someone driving would have had to recognize.

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  12. Steve it was unsafe and insane this evening. We came up 89 to 4 this morning, sat at a nice wifi spot waiting for the 12pm start, based upon a hunch we spent the day in and around Brandon.  The clues were crap. 500 miles to start and 375 the last. As you know nothing there to help.  And then this insane slide show.  Cars were flying down 4E from Brandon to Woodstock.  Cars passing on flood damaged roads.  I about had a heart attack.   I won’t be out tomorrow following a slide show like a dog on a leash with crazy drivers.  Not to mention we could end up in Virginia Beach. A great idea gone way wrong.  

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    • Totally agree. I’m sorry this is long, but I am so exhausted and upset. We came west from 89 on Sat. morning, headed for the Green Mt. Forest area. Discovered Routes 100 and 107 were terribly damaged fyom the floods–totally closed off in some places. We took a detour that was itself full of hillside roads whose outer edges had completely given way, with 20′-60′ drops to the rivers below (the rivers were a complete mess, too–banks covered in a thick tangle of trees and flood debris). We checked out a few lakes and various spots. At 7pm we were leaving Hubbardston, back to Brandon. Our home-based partner called when the slide show came on. We took a pic of “downtown Brandon” and headed back toward 89. Lots of out-of-state cars were driving very aggressively. To the driver with the mid-sized car with Florida plates: if you kill yourself, or someone else, you will not be driving a Dodge or anything else!!! We had seen how bad some of those roads were, but we felt sure many of these other drivers were clueless, may e having come from the little-affected NY side. It was NOT cool! We called it quits at about 9:20 in Lebanon, NH, only to find that there was literally not one hotel room available anywhere around (Days Inn told me it’s Parents’ Weekend” at the colleges there. Perfect.). Having driven for 14-hours -already, this precipitated a complete blow-up from my traveling partner. A lot of angry words later, we arrived all the way back in Boston at half past midnight–exhausted, angry, and needlessly out-of-pocket for the rental car, gas, and unpaid day-off from work. Hey Dodge, there is a huge freakin’ difference between not winning something because another player played better than me, and not winning something because it wasn’t possible to win it in the first place. I really have no words right now, except for these 7: I swear I’ll never buy a Dodge!

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  13. What a crazy day. Thanks to all and a hugh thank you to you Steve… My uncle is almost back home in Elmira after I talked him into this wild ride today, but he is not upset he said he saw a lot of beautiful scenery today and thought it was neat to see the hand written signs reading Journey not here. Thanks all cant wait to see what happens tomarrow

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  16. That first FB slide: That’s a white rearview mirror, not red as is the Journey supposedly travelling through the contest videos and also it does not appear to be a rearview mirror of a Journey. Sigh. Guessing it would be from the truck hauling the Journey to a new location. Can someone ID what kind of car that mirror is on?

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    • The white rearview mirror in the first slideshow pic is off of a Chevy Impala I am pretty sure. Apparently the Journey wasn’t reliable enough for the “family” to make their trip and they had use a Chevy! Ha. Check out the photos here:http://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/impala/2012/ I would guess it is a rental, but you’d have thought they could have gotten a Mopar for the job or, heaven forbid, used a red Journey!

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  18. I’m thinking it’s going to end in Acadia National Park, ME. It’s about exactly 500 miles from Albany, a National Park…and follows along with the other contests (and car competitors- Tahoe, Yukon, Acadia). Also, there’s an Eagle Lake right in Bar Harbor, ME. There’s also an Eagle Lake, NY right next to Paradox Lake…

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  19. More likely acadia, northern woods are timber land, ie no farm barns, acadia and the coast or more simmilar to the rest of rural new england, farm houses and the like

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  20. Found the Google Street View of the museum-type white buildings.

    It is on 4-A South

    Caleb Dyer Lane / New Hampshire 4A, Enfield, New Hampshire, United States
    Address is approximate

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  22. Not sure about the Nancy’s Way pic. It seems out of order. Here’s the Enfield Shaker Museum on 4A. http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&sugexp=pfwc&cp=11&gs_id=17&xhr=t&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1220&bih=747&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=enfield+shaker+museum&fb=1&gl=us&hq=enfield+shaker+museum&hnear=enfield+shaker+museum&cid=5579503798933332171&ei=-4p-ToKfEuWMsALE6qkF&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=photo-link&cd=1&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CEwQnwIoADAA

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  23. It was a wasted day there was zero chance to find the Journey based on the clues that were given today. After 14 hours on the road we have zero gain. I could have spent the entire day watching my grass grow and I would have the same knowledge I have at this point. And I don’t want to hear “it’s about the Journey”.  Why wasn’t the west or the Midwest a two day gig?  Or if dodge intended to shake it up, they could have warned everyone.  I feel bad for the folks that spent many hours getting to VT, like a chap and his daughter who drove all the way up from VA. 

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    • I completely agree with you. They’re actually punishing individuals who had expectations of the last two, although the West did take 16 hours … but that was to try and track it down in a fixed location, not a moving one. And there’s more tomorrow? Geesh.

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  25. 4-A South terminates just west of Andover, NH.

    Tomorrow, we’ll get a good early idea at that juncture if they are heading further east (into Maine and the Atlantic Ocean?) or beginning to double back home to the Albany area.

    No coincidence, I think, that we are sitting appx. 250 miles away from point of origin in Albany tonight.

    Those of you in NY ….. I suggest you stay put.

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    • Think about that David. If they (Dodge) make them run all the way out to NH (force them into a night’s stay, plus meals) and send them back, wouldn’t you be a bit put off? (and you still need time, once you get into the general area, to search – that alone can take 3-4 hours, and some luck)

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      • I agree.

        But, I think they are bent on “proving” this thing can go 500 miles on a single tank.

        Whether that means actual east coast or back to Albany I don’t know. Though the TK (southbound) Bridge image still haunts me and has since the moment I first looked at that treeline. 🙂

        What is better, Steven? To lead all of those hunters from the NY area deep into Maine on a Sunday night (and expect them to get back before the work week starts) or to “drive” them back toward the Albany / NYC area?

        What makes the most sense, perhaps, is that the barn is not too far away at this point in Enfield. Maybe another two to three hours worth of clues in the morning. It’s found by noon-ish, giving time for the vast majority of folks to journey home before nightfall (again).

        By the way, I Google mapped the trek to date and it ran right around 230 miles.

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      • Ha, ha … maybe so. Gotcha on the TK bridge but we still had that West bound shot by Eagle Lake too. And you know what, you’re right … I suppose it would be better to send them back to the start … to search in the very region they spent most of the morning and afternoon in …

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  27. some notes for those who can get good resolution shots to confirm locations for slide show;

    nancy’s way street sign – (in Gansevoort, ny just north of saratoga springs and east of I-87
    south 4-a sign – aka gansevoort rd north of country road 32 per mls directions)
    west on route 4 & 10 to W lebonon hanover (exit sign) on I-87 at Baliston spa, ny) pass this exit to get to Malta drive in sign? Malta road is pretty close

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  28. Friendly reminder to any boots on the ground: if you do look in a barn, make sure to check the hayloft too. Most barns don’t have wood slats on the main floor. My $.02 as a one-time farmhand 🙂

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      • I didn’t say it wasn’t a stretch 🙂 Some barns have a lift, similar to a cargo elevator without the walls, that could do it. Or it could just be a ramp in the barn that you could drive up. The weight of the car wouldn’t be an issue at all.

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    • Depends on what the “ground floor” is. My Grandfather had a barn that you drove onto the second floor from the road, there was a “basement” accessible from the base of the hill, and it had a hay loft also. The floor you drove onto from the road was wood slat. And no, this isn’t my Grandfather’s barn, unless the end up in Ohio!

      Hadrian

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  29. What is really sad is that contrary to what Dodge said the only way you could get to the last clue was if you used the Internet. It’s not like there were any roadside hints or clues.  Everything had to be relayed or picked up from Tweets.  

    I’m using the 3.5 hour drive home to discuss today’s activity with my son and we are both in pretty foul moods. 😉

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  31. The missing letter theory….maybe it’s a stretch…anyone notice a missing D, I, and A from any clues? 🙂

    A- Missing letter from “Malta” drive-in
    C- Missing letter from “Adirondack Marathon” bib
    A- First missing letter when he begins to type “Friends Lake” into GPS

    D ?
    I ?
    A ?

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    • May not be a bad theory. If you put in all the clue points and then after Enfield, NH, put Acadia National Park as the next stop (in Google maps), it is exactly 500 miles from Albany, NY through all of those midpoints to Acadia National Park and they continue to travel along .

      Maybe the missing D-I-A clues are in things that we will see tomorrow.

      Also – we saw a clue for Beaver Country USA – and the Beaver Log, is Acadia’s annual newspaper. Journey dude set the clock in front of the easel on part of a log.

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  32. Google map updated. Revised initial route, departing Albany, NY to Ti Ferry (on Vermont side) – Approximately 125-130 miles.

    Expanded route (Slideshow clues) added approximately 110 miles.

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  33. First checkin today. My general takeaway is that today was the production companies way of saying “screw you” to everyone for posting the final location. Seems a little juvinile to me, lots of people were left out in enfield nh to try and figure out what to do tonight. Lots of cars driving on roads they are unfamilar with.
    Just my 2 cents
    Im very dissapointed that it has devolved into a game of follow the leader and not too much thought was needed for the slideshow clues

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    • Hi Daniel. Yeah, it was a very long day 😦 If in fact the “final” location was exposed, you’d think they could have just relocated 10, 15, even 25 miles down the road. Taken about 5 or so, cryptic shots, that would require some research, and then, as has been the case when you get close, just start searching an area – and then done, call it day, head on home.

      If this is there way of exploring the World Wide World, they should have let everyone know in advance (that we have some “special” planned for you)

      Cheers!

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      • I doubt that they COULD have moved it 10, 15, 25 miles. Remember how many people were going crazy about every enclosed trailer they saw in western Vermont? They almost had to take it far away, because so many people were camped out at suspected locations.

        And it probably isn’t easy to find a property that is available for rent or purchase that is out of the way enough, even without people crawling all around.

        I just wish they had announced that they were moving away from their plan.

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      • I think that was mostly within 5 miles or so of Ticonderoga but I get your point. Still though, I’d be surprised they couldn’t find land, an abandon lot, somewhere about 20-25 miles away … set up shop and resort to the skill-based tie-break then 😦

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  34. Kinda pissed about running all over VT this morning & afternoon wasting gas while the real hunt did not begin till after 6:00pm. I mean if you got kids, no hotel etc.. etc.. it was kinda what the?

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      • We started in Lake George to Ti, to the ferry, back to Eagle Lake and Paradox Lake, all around Schroon Lake ( and then got the clue that we were not within the 25 mile clue, that we were within 375 miles) and headed back to the Lake George area…It was a long but fun day and we got a kick out of running into many people parked on the side of the road with their maps, laptops and phones spread out. We did get out and peer into some barns, but no Journey..lol…We may try again tomorrow hoping they double back, but I feel bad for all the people heading to Maine….This is crazy, and it is a game and a challenging one at that…

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  36. I think that is actually brilliant, Jamie. Kudos to you.

    I mapped it out and came up with:

    497 miles 11 hours 13 minutes

    from Albany to Bar Harbor, Maine (Acadian National Forest).

    I’d be even more inclined to think it is correct if the C (Schroon Lake clue) and the second A (Friends Lake clue) were not out of geographic / chronologic order.

    But if we make it all the way to the Atlantic —

    “Ocian in view! O! the (reverse) joy”

    Except, of course, for the multitude of people who now have a day’s drive to get back home. Expect a further tanking of the stock market on Monday as half of the East coast calls in sick. 🙂

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  38. Meant …..

    Acadia National Forest earlier (not Acadian).

    I’m out on the west coast in the comforts of home and apparently getting tired. Can only imagine how taxing that day was for anyone actually out there in the World Wide World.

    Although …. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadians

    Just kidding. I don’t think they would steer us into Canada. Or, would they …….. ?

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  39. Robin Hall is correct. There is a Nancy’s Way in Enfield. Google Map doesn’t seem to know about it, but there are a number of addresses listed on that street in Enfield, VT in straight-up Google. Wolfeboro, NH isn’t indicated by the path.

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    • Thought about that – scoured the internet for pics of the inside of the barn. They have some photos on their FB Page.

      http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carriages-of-Acadia/184612330792?sk=photos

      Also did a Google image search with their phone number and came up with a few more photos, but nothing really set to match.

      It looks as though they have boarding stables as well – that could be a possibility I suppose. Maybe they have rented a stable, taken down some of the stall dividers. There are those square holes on the post on the right side in the live view – those could be for stall dividers.

      Just grasping at this hour! LOL

      I think we will have to wait until morning. But if the route starts heading to Maine, I think this is a real possibility!

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    • Hi Douglas. I removed Wolfeboro (we were still trying to pinpoint the Nancy’s Way sign, had a hit there but it’s off route). I’m going to remove Andover as well. They show us 4 south but not how far they travel (and we haven’t matched the sign). Cheers!

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  44. I am in Illinois and was on the Midwest search, 25 miles away when it was found, I am totally enjoying this but now I am getting irritated with Dodge. I have never been this far east, but has anyone thought about Barnstable, MA area or the tippy tip of Cape Cod Providencetown, from Albany it is 70 miles shy from 500 miles. Just a thought, them sticking it in the middle of nowhere.

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  45. I really appreciate this page, Steven. I hope tomorrow will bring a new one with new comments as the scrolling is now almost as hard as the searching. 🙂

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  46. I can find property for sell on Nancy’s Way in Enfield, but I can’t actually find Nancy’s Way on Yahoo Maps or Googleearth. As I recall the Route 4a reference came after the Nancy’s Way reference so I think they may still be in the Enfield area,notWolfesboro. Also a lot of barns in snow country have drive in access to the hay mow or 2nd floor in case of,well,snow. Look for a dirt/stone ramp on one side with a short bridge to doors on the 2nd floor.
    The post with the LIVE sign on it seems to show lots of wear/age.
    The post to the right has an unused mortise in it that probably wasn’t cut in the last 50 years. However the siding strikes me as being newer so it may be an old barn thats been refurbished.

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  47. Spent half the day looking through the back roads of the lake Paradox area, the other half searching e very farm in Vermont rand then a two hour drive through Vermont into new hampshire that felt more like a rally car race. Now were sitting on 4a waiting for the sun to rise with no place to sleep on a dead end journey into the new hampshire backwoods. Ill just say this: if I don’t win this car im officially never setting foot in a dodge again and I don’t ever want to hear someone complain about that texola clue again

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    • Hey Spencer. I’ve been in touch with one other in that area (and another who stopped near Lebanon). They’re definitely making you earn it … Geesh. (And I’m completely with you on Texola … that was a lollypop :-P) Get some rest. One way or another, this is wrapping up tomorrow.Cheers!

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      • Steve, based upon today’s activities, how can you even guess it ends tomorrow? Based upon what clue or tip from dodge? And thats the rub, you could have said the exact same thing yesterday. And if all they do is put up more “slides” folks could be chasing the clues all the way to Virginia Beach, VA

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      • I can’t. All we had before this morning was history as a guide. That set expectations. I don’t quite get the slides, esp when they said after the 4pm clue that they were switching to the real world clues, no more online clues. But they were all online (slow during the live show, slow via twitter, then finally bundled as a package on FB as an album – we all could have waited) And as you put it earlier, everything had to be relayed to you. There was one physical sign that I heard of and no more. If they wanted to change it up and engage everyone in the World Wide World, they could have switched to a set of signs, and markers with in a 5-10 mile radius, keeping the contest length at a reasonable length. (I know the west search ran 16 hours, but it stayed in the same region) I did think last week, from a marketers perspective, they would have liked to have this run a bit longer (they were running the Midwest commercial during Sunday’s football games … and the car was not still there) … but this confounds me. All the best!

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    • Hey Curtis. I removed Wolfeboro (we had a Nancy’s Way hit there but it’s off route) and Andover, NH too. 4A South ends there, and someone else went that far, but I haven’t found the exact sign yet, so all we can say is hit 4A south for now. Cheers!

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  49. Steven…I’ve been fascinated by this competition since I heard about it last week. Yours is the first site I found with info that matched my first attempt to figure it out (saw the Vermont sign in the video from last week) and I’ve been glued to the updates today when I could take breaks from work – here, and twitter and YouTube and Facebook. Being in the mid Atlantic and working all weekend means no searching for me…so thanks so much for providing this as a way to help the rest of us live vicariously! I agree with the prior comment – any chance of a new page for comments? Scrolling on the iPhone is getting rather cumbersome. :-). And thanks again!!

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