I’m a Contender!

Last year my challenge was to get the TR3 on the road. But this year, I took the Moss Motoring Challenge. For the first few months, I didn’t really take it too seriously. Even after Prudence and I drove to San Francisco, and on to Seattle, I didn’t really think I had a chance. In hindsight, I should have been more committed. I should have stopped at every National Forest we drove by. I should have stopped at the only National Monument in Texas, near Amarillo, when we drove by it. I should have attended more car shows. The challenge I committed to was to complete one of the sections of the challenge sheet. I knew it wouldn’t be all the states, and doubted it would be all the counties from A to Z. I figured I could complete everything in the destinations, or get all the towns from A to Z inclusive.

As of this writing, I have a picture of my TR3, with the Moss flyer, by a town sign beginning with the letters A to Z, with exception of X. (And all are in Texas.) All my ex’s may live in Texas, but there is no town beginning with X in Texas (Tejas?). I have a picture by each of the 40 ‘destination’ locations, including ski resort with snow, and ski resort without snow, under a full moon, tunnel, on a ferry, etc., except for a charity car wash, a dude ranch and a National Monument. I see no reason I can’t cross off 2 of those 3 in the next 2 months. A National Monument is not the same as a National Historic Landmark – like the San Jacinto battle field, USS Texas, Ellissa, Apollo Mission Control Center or Bastrop State Park. I don’t think I will successfully complete “my” challenge this year.

Still, I consider myself a contender. I doubt I will “win” with the most points. I’ve been in 11 states and have collected well over 100 points. Last weekend I drove to Wimberly for a wedding. Saturday, Prudence and I gathered 5 points. As points are gathered, the remaining points become increasingly more difficult. Have you ever tried to find a “WWI monument”? Can you remember where you last saw a “duck crossing sign” or “dead end sign”? Do you know where the closest town that starts with “Q” is? How about “U”? Did you know there is no county in Texas that starts with Q or X? Did you know that Texas is home to Austin, Houston, and Zavalla cities, as well as Austin, Houston and Zavalla counties, but none of them are near each other? Do you have any idea how many ghost towns there are in Texas? Do you know how to pronounce Bexar (the county) or Zuehl? Because of the challenge, I have learned a few of these things.

On the way home from Wimberly on Sunday, I took the long way. I have a picture next to the Uvalde and Zavalla county signs. I stopped at the Karnes and DeWitt county lines for 2 more pictures. I stopped in Yorktown for another picture. I left (Wimberly) before lunch, and didn’t get back into Houston until after dark. The weekend accumulated another 800+ miles on the TR3 and yielded 10 points. When Prudence and I stopped for a picture in Zuehl on Saturday, we knew we had found the end of the alphabet. We also knew we found the end of the road. And we knew the challenge wasn’t going to end there.

Anyone who fills out the entry form is entitled to a challenge t-shirt. No matter how far you make it, you win the shirt. We had a great time with the challenge. I am proud of my score. Next year I hope to do it again. And I hope to see more of our club members seeing how many points they can get. After all, the point of the challenge is to help you find a reason to drive your car. I won and have some great pictures to show for it.

By Jerry Gruss