When you get a call from Chevy asking if you want a 3/4 ton Silverado 4×4 for a week for you and a buddy, the only answer you can give is “absolutely!” (expletives excluded) That’s exactly what happened. My pal, Bobby Freeman, and I took the adventure seriously. We packed rifles, fishing rods, cameras and the like and hit the road to make the most of our adventure. Our first stop was the Llano River Ranch outside of London, Texas. We found a stunning ranch house to hang our hats, but more importantly, we found over a mile of the Llano River. The perfect playground for our whip. We drove through, shot photos, saw 3 beavers cruising up stream, at least 500 deer, turkeys, axis deer and a pesky skunk that would not leave the proximity of the house. We explored the multi-thousand acre ranch while our truck cruised over anything we threw at it. Bobby spent a good portion of the day fishing and catching a number of large and small mouth bass. Even a silty, dry river bed wasn’t enough to stop us. That’s a good thing, because we were 3 miles away from camp and many more miles away from cell phone coverage. The walk would have been complicated to say the least since it was 9:30 PM.
Once our adventures had wrapped at the Llano River Ranch, we hit the road again to Smithville. Their City Hall was the hub for the Bastrop Fire recovery. We picked up our name tags and shot over to the distribution warehouse. We met Mary, an EMT from South Houston, who volunteers around the state in disaster recovery. Bobby and I were tasked with sorting the donations. We spent the afternoon sorting toys, housewares, clothes and books. It was an eye opening experience for donations. So many man-hours are spent merely in the sorting of the goods. The outpouring was amazing and we had a wonderful time with the kindhearted team of people. We closed the evening in Austin enjoying a DJ set by Foster the People who were throwing an Austin City Limits after party at Republic Live. A great way to close a busy day.
Our next and final stop was the Cuatro Ranch near Zapata. It was a surreal experience passing through the countless security cameras near the border, then even more peculiar once we went south of mile marker 1. The temperature went through the roof upon arrival – 110 degrees. Then the most fantastic electrical storm rolled in. The sky would not stop flashing and then the bottom fell out. We had forgotten what rain smelled and looked like – it was refreshing. We drove through the rain on the ranch, smiling and enjoying our evening. The next day wrapped by having the finest Mexican pastries this side of the border and we cruised back to San Antonio, fulfilled from the fresh air and open skies. We’re thankful that Chevy gave us the opportunity to put their truck to use and even more thankful that the Silverado came through. But if you want the real look and feel of the adventure, catch the video at the top. Please. Share it with your friends.
“Thank yous” go out to: