I've always heard that things were better the second time around, and, well, that little slogan never made sense to me before. Food is nasty when it's reheated, and TV show reruns start a continuous yawn effect. Even girls don't look as appealing after they've been around the block a couple of times. So what does this silly little phrase mean? I found out this year, my second time around, on the Super Street Tour. Simply put, the Tour is badass and the west leg rocks.
The Tour
So many faces were familiar from last year and yet there was still a horde of people I've never seen in my life. That's the way it should be. Even though our staff was switched up a bit this year, everything flowed super smoothly, except for the fact that some clown forgot to provide directions to Pep Boys on the Tour Passport. Other than that, we got the Tour ball rolling, like we always do. It wasn't surprising that I'd only get about three hours of sleep each night. At the crack of dawn we'd be up selling Tour shirts that came with free Tour goodie bags. Luckily, Jana Engert weaved in and out of traffic to keep me from dozing off while I hung out the window. Good thing I had my trusty Canon film camera with me since all Primedia left me with was a hand-sized digicam that can barely focus properly on still shots. Way to make that digital conversion, guys.
Unfortunately, the weather outside wasn't as damp as last year, so I couldn't sneak off every morning and blast the A/C inside our crappy Asstec, er, Aztec rental car. But, hey, who am I to complain? I hate hot and humid weather. Well, not enough to cry and claim to have heat stroke; that's just weak sauce. This was actually perfect Tour weather, which was good because we only had three baby blue Tour staff T-shirts to wear the whole time, and nobody likes to be sweat soaked and sunburnt at the same time. Plus, this whole ordeal really takes a toll on my hair gel. Maybe I should have taken one of the Super Street Tour 2003 hats. Oh, wait, I did. Damn, I left them back at the office. Well, at least I grabbed a bunch of extra dog tags for our after party in Atlanta. Oh, crap, I left those at home too.
Even though our leg started off slower than last year, it didn't take long for it to pick up and get right back on track. The big rigs from Pioneer and Yokohama helped to please the eager Tour goers. In addition to the Hooters girls, there was plenty of eye candy like the Valvoline and Rockford Fosgate 350Zs, our cover car, the Audiobahn WRX, and the Nitrous Express S15 Silvia. At one of our stops, someone even brought out an R34 Skyline, but they bailed out before all the fun and festivities began. During my brief periods of rest, I took the initiative to find more stalkers for Jana and make Greg "Yamz" Yamamoto look like a P-I-M-P with the Hooters girls. You see, this is the first taste of the west leg for Jana and Yamz, so we had to make sure it was as memorable for them as it was for everyone else. Mission complete.
Nightlife
When the sun drops just below the horizon, you know exactly where to find us. Yup, just like always, a couple hundred people will join us at the home of hot wings, Hooters. Let's see if I can sum it all up for you: girls, food, cars, and free stuff. Yeah, that's pretty much the jist of it. Everyone likes free stuff and Hooters. Even I want free swag every once in a while, and I don't think any other magazines throw out more free goods than we do. Hell, if you added up the cash value of all the prizes thrown out, it's way beyond what any editor on our staff makes annually.