Roadtrip Nation

- Season 7

(2010)

Meet Team "Tabula Rasa" and follow their first attempts at cold calling, from local restaurants to the White House, hoping to speak with Michelle Obama. They meet each other and their RV for the first time in Southern California, before heading to interview Christian Jacobs, lead singer of The Aquabats, and co-creator, writer, and director of the hugely popular Yo Gabba Gabba pre-school television show.

Traveling up Highway 101 to San Francisco, the team takes in the iconic sights of the West coast, from sea lions to the Golden Gate Bridge, before stopping to speak with Aleks Zavaleta, Executive Director of Loco Bloco, a community outreach program. In Sebastapol they interview Jay Shafer, designer of Tumbleweed Tiny Houses, sustainable homes as small as 65 square feet, whose home makes the RV seem spacious. Continuing into the Pacific Northwest, the team is invited into the home of Lori Pappas, CEO of Global Team for Local Initiatives, an Ethiopian aid organization.

The team drives into Canada to meet Heather Cameron, prop stylist and story producer, in Vancouver, British Columbia, to discover how she created her own path in life, combining nature, home, beauty, and photography. From there, they travel to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where they have a chance encounter with cowboy and horse trainer, Grant Golliher of the Diamond Cross Ranch, who challenges them to face their fears and discover more about themselves.

In Fort Collins, Colorado, Calvin, Tina, and Vanessa stop to have a pint with Jennifer Orgolini, Sustainability Director, and Bryan Simpson, Media Relations Director, of New Belgium Brewing Company. The team then proceeds to Kansas City to interview Greg Carroll, CEO of the American Jazz Museum. Across town, they are also able to connect with Michelle Dreher, printmaker, owner, and operator of Two Tone Press.

Team "Tabula Rasa" winds up their Roadtrip with a series of final interviews. In Asheville, North Carolina, Kitty Love, tattoo artist, talks about the unusual path that led her to become an Arts activist and community organizer. On their way to Philadelphia, they have a conversation with The Knux, hip-hop artists, performing at the All Points West Music & Arts Festival in New Jersey. Their final interview is with Daniela Romero, ESL Coordinator at the Nationalities Service Center.

The second Roadtrip begins with three friends from Stevensville, Montana. Aaron, Liz, and Autumn, Team "Poor Lazy Overachievers," want to get out of the "velvet coffin" of their small town. They begin their Roadtrip across the US in Los Angeles. Their first interview is with Kary Mullis, Nobel Prize-winning chemist and author of Dancing Naked in the Mind Field.

The team drives east and stops in Santa Fe, New Mexico to interview Glenna Goodacre, a renowned sculptor, before heading into Roswell, the UFO Capital of the World, to speak with actor Malcolm McDowell, who starred in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. In New Orleans, the team munches on beignets and spends a long afternoon with Matthew Nolan, poet and author of Crumpled Paper Dolls. The artists they visit during this period have a significant impact on Autumn, who wants to be a writer.

Aaron, Liz, and Autumn settle into life on the Road, enjoying each other and the cities that they visit. Driving on to Georgia, they interview Kyle Maynard, a young man born with congenital amputation, who became a college award-winning wrestler and an entrepreneur. From there, the team heads into Tennessee to speak with Dr. Bill Bass, forensic anthropologist, which is a significant moment for Liz. In Cleveland, they visit with Van Taylor Monroe, sneaker artist, whose custom-painted Obama sneakers were donated to the Smithsonian Museum.

The team sits down with Rep. Barney Frank in Washington D.C. After taking in the sights of the nation's capital, the team travels to Norfolk, Virginia to watch a roller derby scrimmage and interview Margaret Wagner and her fellow skaters, hoping to gain insights into how to become fearless. Finally, it is on to New York City to visit with Liz Mandarano, former lawyer-turned-yoga instructor and studio owner.

The finale of Season Seven finds the team seeing the sights of New York City before interviewing singer-songwriter Zee Avi, as she relates her road from YouTube posting to successful recording artist. Their final interview is with Nathan Vincent, crochet artist. The team reflects on the places that they visited and what they learned on the road.