If you are in the automotive accessory business you must attend the exclusive SEMA show in Las Vegas. The SEMA show is amazing! There are so many high end exotic, luxury vehicles under one roof that a stock Lamborghini becomes pedestrian. But before you can see all of this eye candy, you have to get there. Every year, TredWear drives the 1,900-mile, 26-hour (without traffic, and obeying all posted speed limits) journey to attend this event.
When you drive to an event like SEMA you don’t want to take something like a Honda Odyssey (we did that our first year). No Way!! You want to take something that confirms your place as a card carrying motorhead. So we took this…

 

 

 

 

 

….and amped it up a bit with some Warsteiner tribute graphics..

We hit the road at around 11:30pm on November 1, 2014. We made it to I-22 before our first stop.

Then we drove and drove and drove. When you’re on a road trip of this magnitude, you want to put some miles down. That means driving in shifts, and only stopping when absolutely necessary. That way the guy not driving can get some sleep. So when the urge to go numero uno hits, you grab the closest container and hope that its capacity is greater than that of your bladder.

At 6:51am, we made it to Oklahoma. Here you see the sun rise in OK and the picture below is a shot of the sleeping conditions. It was actually quite comfortable.

Just west of Oklahoma City we found a great group of Christians to worship with, and then hit the road again. This is where fatigue starts to really set in. The rest of the trip across OK, Texas and most of New Mexico is a blur of pork rinds and 5 packs of chewing gum.

At the 24-hour mark we had made it to Gallop, NM. We were super tired here. Our original goal was to make it to Kingsman, AZ. By the time we made it to Flagstaff, we were spent.

We made it just west of Flagstaff, and stayed the night in Williams, AZ, a really neat town on old Route 66. I wish we had more time to take some pictures, but we were on a mission. So after catching some z’s we were back on the road headed to Vegas.

Every time we head to SEMA we stop at the Hoover Dam. It’s just a great place to get out and stretch your legs.

We pulled into the Hotel parking garage Monday afternoon, exhausted but triumphant. Time to get some R&R before the show.

To say the SEMA show is big is an understatement. We started walking the show Tuesday, walked all day long and didn’t even scratch the surface. Of course we did have a lot to do, way more than last year. In 2013 we had 1 car at SEMA representing our product. This year we had over 20 cars with our product on their tires. Here are a few of them.

It is always interesting to take a look at the competition.

Going to SEMA is a lot of fun but also a ton of work. When the show is over, you are ready to get home. When you start looking at climbing back into the car, you think: “Hmmm, was it really a good idea to drive out here?”.  The answer is always an optimistic yes! Plus, we take it way easier when headed home.

One tradition we have on the way home is to make a stop at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo,Texas. It is such a surreal sight in the middle of the flat plains. This has to be one of our favorite pieces of American art. The cool thing about the Cadillac Ranch is that it’s constantly evolving. The owners of the property (yes it is on private property) generously allow people to come out and “tag” the cars. Every year we enjoy the opportunity to add to this slice of Americana.

 

A few more bags of pork rinds, and we have come full circle to Sweet Home Alabama.

It was a very successful trip. We are excited about doing it all over again next year.

Thanks for reading.