I'm not the kind of guy who wastes a
lot of time. Well, at least I don't waste it doing stuff I don't want
to do. Every time I gaze into a mirror – something to be avoided
whenever possible – I come face to face with my mortality. I just
don't want to squander any of the precious time I have remaining
doing some stupid damn thing that I really don't want to do.
Some might consider bouncing around on
dirt paths in trucks and SUVs a poor investment of time for someone
with a limited number of grains of sand left in the proverbial hour
glass. Drip, drip drip... But, I really didn't give a second thought
to spending four days last week in Texas Hill Country just west of
Austin at the annual Texas Auto Writers (TAWA) Texas Truck Rodeo. Its
where the TAWA group of automotive media chooses the Truck of Texas
every year.
Indeed, I could have been doing
something more constructive. Actually generating some income would
have been a sensible alternative. On the surface it may look as
though I was just messing around. After all, TAWA would have named
the Truck of Texas with or without me, right? Right. I'm hardly a
pivotal cog in that organization or in the operation of the Truck
Rodeo. Truth be told: I'm a TAWA hanger-on. I'm one of the several
out-of-state members who help flesh out its ranks, but the
organization would soldier on quite successfully without yours truly.
In fact it did so for the 20 years or
so during my sabbatical from its membership. I've only been a member
again for two years. The main reason for my reprising my member role
is the Truck Rodeo. It's an incredible event orchestrated with the
precision of a Patton flanking maneuver. It's really a highly
organized business with some trucks and off roading involved. For
roughly 14 hours over a two-day period some 65 vehicles spread over
21 categories were driven and evaluated by 75 journalists. The
manufacturers represented ranged from Alfa Romeo to Volvo.
Event organizers created three off-road
courses with varying degrees of difficulty. Manufacturers decided on
which courses its vehicles could be driven. There was a fourth street
course, as well.
We rated each vehicle in a half-dozen
or so areas, such as performance, interior and personal appeal. After
a total of 300-or-so hours of combined driving, TAWA named the Ford
F-150 the 2018 Truck of Texas. The 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti Sport
got the nod for the CUV of Texas, with the 2018 Volvo XC60 picking up
SUV of Texas honors. We also named winners in each of the 21
categories.
To feel better about myself after
taking four days away from my home-renovation projects and
revenue-producing work to flog off-roaders around the Longhorn River
Ranch near Dripping Springs, I did manage to find four stories to
pitch to my biggest client. Two for which I already have verbal
approval. I feel pretty confident the other two will be accepted, as
well. These are story ideas I wouldn't have had otherwise. I also
shot three videos for just3things. Oh, and I won a photo contest!
I had hoped to shoot a couple of videos
for BEER2WHISKEY, as well, but just couldn't put that together. But,
I did make some arrangements to shoot B2W videos in Dallas and
Houston in the future. I don't have a time frame yet for the Dallas
shoots, but Houston will take place in late January in conjunction
with he Houston Auto Show.
Now, however, I'm back to reality. Time
to turn the Truck Rodeo ideas into words on a page. Next up? The 2018
Hyundai Accent in Las Vegas. Work, work work.....
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