It's a tough life, but someone's got to live it...

South Padre Island, TX, another beach to drive.

Where the road ends.

For more photos click below. Try the slideshow button on the left.

http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/d3loeber/South%20Padre/

Laguana Madre Creatures

So we are on South Padre Island, TX. We are having a stroll on a boardwalk by the bay and come upon a sign (the first pic). Yeah you know what we were thinking, sure, alligators, yeah right! We got to the end of the boardwalk where the alligators were supposed to be hanging out and all we spotted was a few birds and a cool turtle. Then, out of the blue, we hear a lady clapping and calling "Pete." It took a couple minutes before we realized she was calling the alligator. It turns out that Pete knows his own name and responds to clapping. He swam over to us and got out of the water to show himself off in all of his glory. After a while, we left him to finish his afternoon nap.

50 Years of Rock-n the Bayou

ROCK ON! WEST Team with #17 Driver Matt Kenseth
Donny suits up for USG Sheetrock plant tour
Random Trampling...but who sat on who?
No turtles were harmed in the taking of this photo, but the rabbit and sausage jambalaya last night was delicious! I gar-un-tee.

Thursday, April 27th was a celebration in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the USG New Orleans Plant. Attendees included current and former employees and their families (some who had worked at the plant for over 40 years). We were there with the #17 show car, as was driver Matt Kenseth. The weather was beautiful, the atmosphere was festive, and a good time was had by all.

Another Tough Day at the Office

Corpus Christi, TX. We spent our Saturday lounging on the beach at the Padre Island National Seashore. The seashore is 65.5 miles of pristine coastline, the longest in the country. As the tide came in, the body surfing definitely got better and we spent a long time in the water. In an attempt to take a different route home, we ended up driving about 8 miles on the beach on our way to Bob Hall Pier and the highway. On our 4 wheeling adventure we encountered may fishermen, some of them clothed and others not. Once we got close to the pier there were lots of large groups on the beach having cookouts and playing horseshoes and other games.

After a long day at the beach we headed over to one of the local favorites Snoopy's Pier. Dinner was followed by dessert next door at the ice cream shop called Scoopy's. We felt like kids again, since it was so hot, it was impossible to eat the ice cream fast enough to keep it from making a total mess. All in all, it was a great day, and much needed.

Minute Maid...Not Just OJ

Inside Minute Maid Stadium, Houston, TX
Another view.
From the outside, downtown Houston.

Our local USG rep took us to an Astros game this week. They won 8-7 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Minute Maid Stadium is right near downtown, Houston. Opened in 2000, it has natural grass and a retractable roof.

When the home team hits a home run, a 50,000 pound replica train runs 800 feet across the low roof rail on the west side of the ballpark. This ties in to the ballpark's location adjacent to Union Station, the city's former train station, dating back to 1911.

Maguire's Easter Brunch

Easter was spent driving from Dallas to Houston, but before we left, we had a great brunch at Maguires North Dallas (www.maguiresdallas.com). The seafood omlette and filet and eggs are highly recommended. Mmmmm. Yummy. The Easter bag, by the way, was courtesy of Greta L. (aka Mom) and was filled with goodies including Easter Egg playing cards. I kicked Donny's butt in gin with them.

A True Redneck

We obviously were not prepared for the climate change from Milwaukee/Chicago to Dallas. (Don't worry, Greta, it looks worse than it is.) We've finished the first two weeks of the new tour, and not a drop of rain! It's been sunny and in the high 80s the whole time. Shopping this weekend will definitely include sunscreen. We leave for Houston, where we are assured it will be even hotter, on Easter.

The first two weeks were pleasantly uneventful. We've been enjoying the hospitality of USG reps in the area (dinner, drinks, USG branded shirts and things). For those who aren't quite sure what this tour is all about, and what it is, exactly, that we do, here it is in a nutshell:

About four times a week (3-5 depending on travel) we take the ROCK ON! unit (See trailer photo below) to the business we have on our schedule. These are mostly distributors, wholesale centers, etc. of USG products. In advance, local USG reps have requested an appearance of the NASCAR racecar we are traveling with. They coordinate this for their best customers as sort of a perk, or added encouragement. For the businesses, it's a great event for their customers (mostly contractors). They have posters advertising the visit, and send out invitation postcards.

Onsite, we unload the car, and fold out the stage that makes up one section of the trailer. This creates a room for people to enter and take a look at some USG product samples (Durock cement board, join compound, etc.). We also have two kiosks where they can enter their name and some basic information and get a premium (hat, bandana, carpenter's pencils, etc.) We usually start up the car two or three times during an event (4-6 hours). The hosts usually provide a breakfast or lunch for attendees. So far, the best have been Cowtown of Fort Worth for their delicious barbecue, complete with several kinds of meat, salads, beans, cornbread and dessert. Someone from one of the other Dallas locations has a ranch, and killed a cow for the occasion. Those were some TASTY burgers (sorry vegetarians). Oh, and yesterday at C&C Wholesale, we had breakfast tacos (egg, egg with chorizo, or meat with sides of guacamole, salsa, etc.) I could have eaten 10.

After the event is over, we pack it all up and leave. There is some pretty basic reporting/recapping to do later, plus an upload of the data from the kiosks...Nothing too complicated, though. USG hopes to gain some brand recognition from this tour, using their sponsorship of NASCAR to draw attention. They are also using it as a way to thank current loyal customers. Unlike some other promotional tours, this is not about the hard sell. USG sells many of its products as fast as they produce them. People use the Sheetrock brand name like they do Q-Tip or Kleenex. It's USG's BRAND. The generic product is drywall. Got it? Hope this gives an idea of what it is we do. More to come....

I Finally Got To Drive Part 2

Today was USG Rock West's first event. We had a turn out of 60 or so at Building Specialties in Frisco, TX. Of the 3 team's cars our car is by far the loudest. We think it's because it's a speedway car and the other two are short track cars.