3 guys, 5 days, 1 car: Minnesota Wednesday on way to 48

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: May 6, 2008 - 10:10 PM

The three amigos of Utah are just a few hours from reaching Minnesota early Wednesday as they continue to put many miles and states in their rear-view mirror while on their mission to drive through all of the Lower 48 States in less than a week.

As of this 9:30 p.m. CDT Tuesday, Joshua Keeler, Joey Stocking and Adam Gatherum, all of North Salt Lake, were in western Iowa and aim to be in Minnesota -- state No. 36 -- before dawn today.

The three, in their early 20s, on Sunday climbed into their boxy but roomy 2005 Toyota Scion in Vermont and embarked on the "Great American Road Trip" on Sunday morning in Vermont.

The 120-hour adventure, if successful, will cover about 7,500 miles. They have covered about half that distance as of Tuesday night.

The end is scheduled for Friday (after an anticipated, unofficial record of 5 days, 7 hours and 15 minutes on the road) at the Four Corners where New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah meet. Guinness World Records declines to recognize cross-country driving records because they encourage speeding, but these three are trying to beat the "best known time" for a continuous drive touching the contiguous 48 states.

The road warriors' route has them sticking their toe in the southwest corner of Minnesota on Interstate Hwy. 90 in Rock County, then turning around and heading west across South Dakota.

"Chicago confuses the crap out of me," the latest entry on the trio's blog, http://greatamericanroadtrip.us, reported Tuesday. "I swear the signs say one thing but do another. We thought we'd got off the wrong ramp, like three times, but somehow it ended up working out good and maybe even better than we planned."

In a telephone interview from the back seat Tuesday, Keeler reported that they are "running a bit ahead of schedule."

Keeler said that early on they got a bit off-course in Boston, where there are "some crazy roads ... That was an interesting place to drive through."

Keeler said the vehicle is "doing great, haven't had any problems," and he added that the three inside the car are also doing well in the friendship department. "We haven't killed each other yet," he joked.

As for fuel, the car is getting nearly 30 miles per gallon and the guys are keeping their tanks full with peanut butter and jelly, granola bars, pudding and apple sauce.

The three are using AAA maps and global positioning system to help them stay on course and document that they actually entered all 48 states.

Keeler's father, Jim, conceived the trip 15 years ago, but it was set aside when Jim Keeler's mother died.

Reflecting on the experience of meandering America from coast to coast, Keeler said, "It's amazing to just to be able to get everywhere [you want]."

While he noticed how "every highway has white lines down the middle [and] commercial things are the same, places have their own character and that's just what we're seeing by flying by on the road."

Paul Walsh . 612-673-4482

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