The Dell-MCP Rugged Adventure Team crossed over the last span of Golden Gate Bridge at 9:55 Pacific Standard Time.
This time will start the official stop watch on our website which will countdown the time until we reach DeadHorse in Alaska.

Please sign on our Blog and add us to your Facebook pages to get a daily update of our progress or lack of as we undertake this approximately 3500 mile journey. Please keep in mind that this is not a race for time and keep in mind the vehicle and other issues that may come up. We will stop website form for sending in your entries once we reach Canadian/Alaskan border but till then you can send in your time estimate. You can send double entries as long as you use a different email address for each submission. You can communicate with us directly by commenting on our Blog.

This is a good time to make some high flying statements but I want to take this time to thank everybody involved in this trip during last 4-5 months. Starting with Heather Wilcox and Mike Willen at Dell, everybody at Dell and my main office in San Marcos has been extremely supportive and enthusiastic about this endeavor. My special mention for technical support Team in India who has been working overtime to keep the website and other related issues working under some trying situations when social media rules were being changed almost weekly.

Finally, join us on the social media at Facebook , Twitter , Google + and LinkedIN as this event is intended as a social gathering and all are invited.

Ravi Narahari finally arrived from DC and that completes our team. As usual he brings this whirlwind of energy and we have visited Any Mountain, Walmart, Home Depot, O’Rielly Auto and two different auto shops to satisfy his list of requirements that he dug out. Now we can live on the road for months. He has tents and related paraphernalia, and cooking grill and utensils in this list. He did not like the way Toyota brakes were behaving so we will be back in the shop for few hours today.

This was also a reunion of some sorts, as he is meeting my parents after a gap of almost 25 years. My mother remembers him for he was one of the few people who could cook all she had and force her to make extra Chappati’s while he waited patiently at the dinner table. This time he is kind enough to let her know how many of those he will eat so she was fore warned. But it is good to have him back as our household is abuzz with activity now. He does that to you.

My parents talk of this trip in some sort of pilgrimage language. My mother is busy cooking for the trip and I am sure Ravi will have no reason to cook for first few days of our journey. Tina, my wife is more religious and talks to the guy upstairs all the time for our safe travels. My daughter Kavitta and I are of more business bend of mind and looking to see where a buck can me made here so marketing angle of this all is supreme in our mind. Moreover, I am looking forward to the deadline tomorrow cos that will mean the months of planning will come to an end and hopefully all the loose ends will look nice and shiny so the trip is fruitful for all.

We have set a new link on top of the page which will take you to the daily blog where the video links and daily photos can be browsed. We can only keep you updated if you will go to our facebook page here and “like us “to keep us socially connected. Any feedback is always welcome via our blog here.
Final reminder. D-Day Minus 1.

Let’s talk shop….!!!

Dell Rugged and semi-rugged laptops, tablet and servers can be used to provide basis of high quality solutions for various Police and fire departments at state and local level. Also federal agencies like DHS, DOD, ARMY and intelligence can use this rugged equipment to provide high quality services and solutions under trying environmental conditions. MCP works and adds value by working with companies like HAVIS and others, whose mounting brackets you see in the picture, to provide complete end to end solutions. Words like Infrastructure and Cloud Integration need to be discussed in the same sentence as Software Development and Big Data to be able make sense of this fast moving technology curve where companies and Agencies look for solutions and not piecemeal approach to solve their problems, so they can achieve their mission goals.

This was important to note because the main aim is to sell our product and services to you, and I don’t want to veer away from that aim for too long.

Coming back to the fun part, we are making the final touches to this process of being ready to kickoff on this adventure on the 17 Th of August, 2013. As you can see from the photo the Dell E6430 unit is working nicely in the vehicle mount. Ravi Narahari is flying in from Washington DC tomorrow with GoHero video camera and other equipment that will be connected to this unit. I have purchased a Nikon D7000 after some heavy you tube watching for the tutorials and honestly think it is too much of a camera for me. You will see the results as we venture out and start sharing photos with you all. So the vehicle, IT technology & communication, video and photography aspects are going to come together in next 24 hours. Friday will be for testing and collecting last minute things before we head out early Saturday morning. We plan to start the clock once we cross the Golden gate bridge in San Francisco and will post photos and videos of the same so we all have a validated starting date and time.

Finally, I am not too happy with social media marketing and response to this campaign and I ask you to share this opportunity to win a DELL Rugged Tablet with your friends, family and co workers. This is not too much to ask among friends eh..!!

Introductions are in order before we head out this Saturday for our Rugged adventure …!!! My partner in this crazy ride will need no further introduction after I share this small story how I met Ravi Narahari in early 80′s while at DAV College, Jalandhar, India.

Small town college was a buzz with scandal & excitement when a training grenade exploded in the dorm bathrooms. Ravi’s very cool and calm reply to this whole episode was that he was” bored”.

Fast forward this to current times, I don’t think he had to think past a blink of an eye when the drive to the top of the world was broached and accepted . We both have bounced around different countries and settled on the opposite coasts of this great country and are looking forward to share this adventure together and with you all.

Our ride is a 2001 hand me down, Toyota Sequoia, with more miles than I care to share with you all . It has character and I have full confidence in its abilities to bring us back without much drama. Any disparaging remarks about this member will not be taken lightly.

I, Sergi Ghai, am the third member of this crazy trio and will need no further introduction after you read about the company I keep and travel. In the end I ask you to connect with us on our Facebook, Twitter or Google+ pages and read and see how this trio does during our approx 8k mile round trip journey.

August 7. 2013.

Since we will be travelling to this town situated at the end of famous “Dalton Highway ” starting August 17th 2013, I thought it was wise to check upon the name. One does wonder at such things …!!

Sources conflict on the origin of the area’s name. The most cited theory appears to be that the area takes its name from a local business prominent in the late 1960s and 1970s, the “Dead Horse Haulers” trucking company. How the trucking company got its name remains in dispute. This is also the beginning or end of an Iron Butt Association motorcycle rider challenge called “The Ultimate Coast to Coast”. This ride starts from Key West, Florida, and gives riders 30 days to reach Deadhorse, Alaska. So our challenge from San Francisco to Deadhorse pales in comparison but the adventure beckons and we will answer the call.

Deadhorse is featured on the third through sixth seasons of Ice Road Truckers, a reality television series airing on the History Channel. The show, which dramatizes trucking on the Dalton Highway, often features truckers transporting equipment to the oil companies located in or around the Prudhoe Bay area. It is also the subject of the second episode of America’s Toughest Jobs and is featured in the first episode of the BBC’s World’s Most Dangerous Roads featuring Charley Boorman and Sue Perkins.

Some weather related information.

As the area is located in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 2,temperatures below −40 °F/°C can be expected during the height of winter.

• Longest day: 63 days, 23 hours, 40 minutes (12:09 a.m. on May 20 to 11:18 p.m. on July 22)
• Shortest day: 45 min (11:42 a.m. to 12:27 p.m. on November 24)
• Longest night: 54 days, 22 hours, 51 min (12:27 p.m. on November 24 to 11:18 a.m. on January 18)
• Shortest night: 26 min (11:43 p.m. on May 19 to 12:09 a.m. on May 20)
• Highest recorded temperature: 83 °F (28 °C) on 21 June 1991
• Lowest recorded temperature: −62 °F (−52 °C) on 27 January 1989
• Highest wind speed recorded: 95 knots (109 mph; 176 km/h) on 25 February 1989
• Official lowest wind chill: −102 °F (−74 °C) on 28 January 1989 (air temperature of −54 °F or −48 °C) and wind speed of 31 kn (36 mph; 57 km/h)

I will  share with you more information as we research our trip in the days ahead. My current conundrum was to find somebody local in Deadhorse who could ascertain the time of our arrival , so we could stop the clock on our website and determine who is the winner. For now it seems like a tough ask as most of the working people there work in 2 week shifts and who will be there at our arrival is up in the air. Any ideas how to solve this minor wrinkle are welcome . For that matter any feedback will be appreciated.

Stay tuned for more info as we get ready to take on this adventure.

A seasoned entrepreneur Sergi Ghai came up with a briliant marketing idea on how best to advertise his business partner Dell’s Rugged line of products along with his company, MCP capabilities. He combined ruggedness and mobility to create a campaign from San Francisco to the Artic Circle. A 7000 mile drive, plus camping plus blogging plus plus plus. I Ravi Narahari decided to join him …. ten days to go, stay tuned for lots of excitement lots of ruggedness and fun