On a trip to pick up my kids from a friend’s house, I noticed the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile in the parking lot of a local Wal-Mart. It’s hard to miss, even when speeding by at 60 miles per hour.

I couldn’t help myself from stopping on the way back home. After pulling into the parking lot, my younger son got out of the car with me. The older one, 14 years old, was either too embarrassed to step out and gawk (I’m not too proud to gawk) or he couldn’t figure out what the fuss was about. In any case, Andy and I approached the table with the two "Hot Doggers," the pairs who drive the Wienermobile during a year -ong stint. I found out there are 12 Hot Doggers who drive 6 Wienermobiles around the country.

We stayed long enough to decide that we didn’t want to be on a video singing the Jingle ("Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Wiener, that is what I really want to beeeee….) The prize for the best singing is a ticket to American Idol (to which Andy roundly rejected as a prize worth vying for). Instead, we got two free hot dog-shaped whistles. This site gives a nice run down of the Wienermobile and what to expect if you run into one.