____Well another year has come and gone for the Texas famous Hot Water Blast car show. This year didn't yield as many cars as last year for a number of reasons including the weather but I can say that this is by far, the best HWB I have been to. I don't know if it was the drive down to Houston, the Motel 6 and the parking lot party, or the fantastic proposal Josh made to his now fiancée, but this is definitely one for the record books in my opinion. If you all didn't make it out to this year's HWB, you missed some fun and I hope you all can make it next year.

____The weather had a huge role in keeping the crowds away from the show. There were two bursts of a good amount of rainfall, each lasting about 15 minutes or so that gave all the show-prepped cars a good soaking. But in my opinion, I like the look of a freshly waxes car with some water on it. Gives a chance for all to see what kind of time and effort people put into laying it on with the wax jobs. One thing I liked about this car show was the amount of time it seemed like the people put into detailing their cars. In the past years I have seen more cars at HWB but the amount of detailed cars was unmatched from this year. And let me tell you, it matters more than you know.

____This year a few of the StrictlyEA guys and I had a chance to judge the cars. Last year they were short handed and it ended up causing everything to run late. This year Dale and Fred didn't want this to happen so they asked for some help with the judging and we stepped up to the plate. It was our first time judging before but we got a good run down on what to look for and what to take into consideration by a seasoned veteran of judging, Mark. I will just give everyone a little insight into what we were looking for so you all have a better idea for next time. Cleanliness, look and feel of modifications, and the overall flow of the car were the three big things that we were looking for when we were judging the cars.

____The engine bays had to be clean. As for most of the cars I came across, they were done pretty good. But there were a few cars, even brand new 2008's that were just filthy. One quick test to see how good a job you did is to stick your hand to the brake booster or something in the back and see if you get dirt on your hands. If you did, then keep cleaning in there. Interior was also a big deal, gotta get all that dirt out of that interior carpet, dash, and steering column. I think Marble with the Ginster MK3 GTI had the cleanest car in the entire show. He daily drives his car and came from Austin so no one has any excuses. Next we looked at the wheels and tires and windows. The windows had to be streak free, tires all the same, wheels clear of brake dust, etc. Lastly, the modifications were given a quick run down. Things to look for were things like, did all your seats match, front and back. The modifications you had done to your car, they had to flow with the car and appear as if the came from the factory. Take those things into consideration for next year and any car show you enter and you will do well.

____Ok, so now onto what was at the show! The party started the night before at the Motel 6 like I said earlier. It started early in the day and went on till later in the night. It ended real quick when the popo swooped in and tried to give everyone with alcohol open container tickets. They ended up not giving anyone any tickets and said we can be outside so long as no one had any open liquor bottles. We thought the fun was over for the night till someone decided they were going to run from the cops. He was caught only a few yards from where he started his dash. I thought that was kind of foolish. But the party didn't last too long as most of us were tired from the long day of driving and detailing the cars.

____The day and the show started kind of slow but yielded some very nice cars. Dallas brought down a whole heap of people, thanks to the newly formed DFDubs. If this is any indication of things to come from this newly formed group, I can't wait to see them a year from now. Among their highly modded cars they brought, a sick MKV GTI, black and slammed to the ground with some very impressive looking wheels. I remember seeing this car stock and it's really cool to see what it has evolved to. Another worth mention was the black MKIV sporting the Keskins, shaved front bumper, and sleepy boser. I really didn't get a chance to give the car a look over once the show started but a quick glimpse of it at the hotel showed some rather impressive custom body work.

____Unitronic also made their way down from Dallas and even went so far as to be the lead sponsor of the show. They even were giving out Unitronc key chains and deals on the performance chips available for a wide variety of Volkswagens and Audis. They also had an impressive booth with some of Dallas ' finest examples of MKIV's done right. There was the blue MKIV with the perfect stance and tasteful mods and there was the two toned GLI with the custom dual exit exhaust and rear valence. Both cars showed lots of tastefulness and effort put into making these cars the top of the food chain. They were a worth show piece for the Unitronic booth.

____Houston and EAG also brought some very nice rides out. I was sad that I didn't get to see Ramon's Vortech supercharged .:R and a few of the other notable Houston rides but next year or at Autumnbahn I am sure I will get to see them. Marquez brought out his New Beetle though and I don't ever get sick of seeing that thing. I told him I am not much of a Beetle fan but his really makes me second guess that opinion. He showed me some of the custom ICE he has throughout the car and it's obvious that he has spent quite a bit of money on this car. I remember back at the MJM show when he basically took the entire car apart working on it. From the looks of the car, he has done that a few times and it's well worth it. What a perfect example of what Beetle's should look like.

____The McAllen and Valley people from Volkspeed also made a good showing this year. You can always count on these guys coming out big and really making their presence known. While most other clubs are about making themselves known and blowing up on the scene, these humble group of guys are rarely heard of until they show up to car shows and go home with trophies. These guys are truly class acts with some really nice cars. I can't wait till their show down in McAllen come August so keep your eyes open on the events calendar for that. Thank you guys for always coming out and supporting everything the Texas scene has to offer. I truly appreciate you guys.

____And how could I forget my San Antonio boys?!?! Not only did Josh have the best proposal ever, we really had a great time and came home with 10 trophies this year. You can see some of the pictures below from the proposal and here is a link to the video. Congratulations Josh and hope you have a wonderful life together!I can't be more excited about the caliber of cars that we brought and the support that everyone offered for everyone else. Whether it was helping each other with an extra eye on the car or lending your car for a U-Haul truck, everyone came through with flying colors. The trip down there was fast and fun and the trip home was equally as entertaining. I can't wait to make more trips to around Texas with you guys and hope to keep adding to the numbers. StrictlyEA is here to stay and you guys proved that with the showing this weekend.

____So there you have it, this years' Hot Water Blast was a great one and shows us that next year will be an even better show with more high caliber cars to prove it. I hope that you will join us for the rest of the show season around Texas and keep an eye out on the events section to see what else is going on in San Antonio and with our other chapters around Texas . Thank you guys and keep dubbin'!