A good turnout for this annual event. This year we had ten vehicles- six Jeeps, two M-37’s, the Unimog and Big John’s large M820 5-ton expandable van.

The day began with the usual drill of gathering in the TxDoT parking lot. Rory managed to arrive just in time to not look flustered after proving to himself just how fast you can install seats, a windshield, mirrors, batteries and other sundry necessities onto a partially disassembled Unimog when the vehicle you intended to take to the parade goes down at the last possible second! No time for the cab roof though, so it was a long and chilly drive down.

On schedule, we moved up to stage on the bridge. There we had time for a good visit before the parade began at 11am. TV News Channel 8 arrived and chose Caitlin as their person from our group to interview. Meanwhile, the weather changed from a chilly morning to almost warm; nice parade weather.

More or less on time, the cannon fired and we were off. With a fair number of vehicles, we drove in a staggered column of two’s, which looked very impressive. The TAVV marched ahead of us carrying their large US flag.

Once we reached the Capitol and turned off of Congress, most of the TAVV members climbed aboard the vehicles for a welcome ride back to the TxDoT parking lot.