Jim W came up from San Antonio trailering his 52 M38.  Danny K. and I trailered our jeeps from Austin and all three met at the school parking lot on the North side of town.  After unloading and securing the tow vehicles, Danny and I headed into town to locate their staging number. Jim said he would follow soon.  Upon arrival, the number of entries had filled in substantially.  However, no Jim.  After several minutes, Jim arrived and I noticed a large pool of oil beginning to form under his M38.

After close inspection, the three of us decided the o-ring for the oil filter canister was missing.  Under pressure, the canister would leak for sure.  After a quick determination of an appropriate field modification (a red shop rag placed over the canister and under the lid to act as a gasket), Jim buttoned the jeep up and went went back to trailer it.  A friend of mine from Gonzales had come in to see the parade and was kind enough to bring Jim back to us.  In the meantime, the judges came by and I tried to cover saying "our other driver/vehicle is out for coffee".  Unfortunately, they said they would be back in a bit.  The judges finally did come back and we fessed up that one developed mechanical problems and would not be able to attend.

Before the start of the parade, the float in front of our group was for the Republican Party of Texas.  Included was a miniature donkey that was 5 months old.  She went by the name of "Girl".  David Dewhurst (running for Lt. Governor) also showed up to participate in the event and both Danny and I had the opportunity to meet him.

Just as the parade was starting, a float with a polka dancing club came by playing a good polka song.  I don't know what came over me, but I just starting dancing a polka next to the float by myself and the next thing we knew, one of the float participants was dancing with me!  That was a sight to see a guy in US ARMY coveralls dancing with a professional polka dancer!  She was GREAT!

The parade was fantastic with every imaginable float and group represented.  There were also some other military vehicles present including an M35A2 for a sign company and another M35A2 as a brush fire truck.  About half-way through the parade, our two vehicles were announced to the crowd and Danny received our Second Place plaque for Group Participation.

The parade wound it's way through the streets of Gonzales and concluded not far from the parking lot where the trailers were.  At the end, Danny and I loaded up and headed to McDonalds for lunch and then Austin.  Jim headed back to San Antonio.