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Inside The Tech Powering Modern Collision Repair · In Wheel Time Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast.
0:09
SPEAKER_02: Well, hello and a pleasant morning to you.
0:14
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show coming up.
0:16
SPEAKER_02: Andy Noyas with a dealership support company called Reparify.
0:21
SPEAKER_02: What they do?
0:22
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna find out.
0:23
SPEAKER_02: In Jeff's Car Culture, think of this regenerating tire treads.
0:28
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
0:29
SPEAKER_02: Do you do it?
0:30
SPEAKER_02: What?
0:30
SPEAKER_02: How does that work?
0:32
SPEAKER_02: Howdy, along with Mike out of this world mars, who's in the studio with us today, ladies.
0:37
SPEAKER_02: In the house.
0:39
SPEAKER_02: Next to me.
0:41
SPEAKER_02: We always need more Jeff's.
0:42
SPEAKER_02: Not in the house.
0:43
SPEAKER_02: Chief Engineer David Angley.
0:44
SPEAKER_02: I'm Don Armstrong.
0:45
SPEAKER_02: Glad you could join us today.
0:47
SPEAKER_02: And uh is Andy looking any better there?
0:51
SPEAKER_02: We've got a guest here that uh bring him in?
0:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, please do.
0:54
SPEAKER_02: Bring him in out of the dark.
0:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, bring him in out of the dark.
0:57
SPEAKER_02: Is he better?
0:58
SPEAKER_02: Is he better?
0:58
SPEAKER_02: Let me see.
1:00
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, he's got a face.
1:02
SPEAKER_02: Good morning.
1:03
SPEAKER_02: Andy, good morning.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: How are you?
1:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm great this morning.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me on.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: Is it noyas?
1:10
SPEAKER_00: It's like you make a lot of noise.
1:12
SPEAKER_02: Noise.
1:13
SPEAKER_02: Got it.
1:13
SPEAKER_02: Noise.
1:14
SPEAKER_02: Andy Noise.
1:15
SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
1:16
SPEAKER_02: Hi Andy.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Hello.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: Where are you?
1:19
SPEAKER_02: Where are we speaking to you from?
1:21
SPEAKER_00: Uh Plano, Texas.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: Plano, Texas.
1:25
SPEAKER_02: It's down the street.
1:26
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
1:26
SPEAKER_02: So for those that don't know where Plano is, it's it's right there by Dallas.
1:30
SPEAKER_02: And I know that you probably don't like to be put in the same thing because you're from Plano.
1:35
SPEAKER_02: But to let everybody know that exactly where that is, it's close to Dallas.
1:39
SPEAKER_02: How's that?
1:40
SPEAKER_02: Is that okay description?
1:41
SPEAKER_00: That's perfect.
1:42
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
1:43
SPEAKER_02: So Andy, uh, you're with a company uh that is kind of a twofer here.
1:50
SPEAKER_02: It's Aztec driven by Reparify.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: So explain that to us first.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh Reparify is our portfolio company that uh has several different uh companies uh within it offering end-to-end solutions uh for the automotive uh industry.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: I specifically work, you know, under the Aztec umbrella, which we're the global leader of OEM diagnostics and calibration, really focusing in the collision space.
2:20
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, that's a lot to digest this early in the morning.
2:24
SPEAKER_02: I have to tell you that.
2:25
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so you uh are a direct-to-dealer kind of guy.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Uh dealer, uh dealership body shops, uh, as well as independence, uh, but a lot of work uh in the collision space and yes, uh with with dealers as well.
2:42
SPEAKER_02: So if I have a wreck, chances are that uh you're it's pretty good that I'm gonna deal with your company in a roundabout way.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: There's a very good chance, yes.
2:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
2:52
SPEAKER_02: So what exactly do you do in the repair business to help dealerships, repair shops, that sort of thing get through the day?
3:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we have a patented device, right?
3:05
SPEAKER_00: So, like a lot of dealerships obviously have their own technicians and OEM tools that they use in the mechanical world if you're going in for service and repair.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: But in the collision space, it's a little bit different.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: So we have a patented device called the Aztec device uh that will hook up uh to the vehicle's OBD connector.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then we can remotely connect that device with an OEM tool, pair it with a brand specialist that's knows that vehicle, and we can help perform diagnostics, uh repairs, initializations, programming events all over the internet uh for shops all over the country.
3:48
SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, does that drill down to parts?
3:51
SPEAKER_00: Uh typically, so if uh if the collision center has replaced a new radar module as an instance, right?
3:58
SPEAKER_00: Uh front radar, and that radar needs to be programmed before it's calibrated.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: Yes, like we can help initiate that programming event, but we don't directly sell parts into collisions.
4:10
SPEAKER_02: I got you.
4:11
SPEAKER_02: So you're the kind of the guy that goes between the car and the part, and well, between the car and the part.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
4:20
SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
4:21
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: So is it all electronic-based stuff?
4:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you know, a lot of what we do, like if we have a vehicle before it's being repaired, we'll do what's called a pre-repair scan.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: So we're trying to do a health check of the vehicle, give the our our customer, the shop, an indication of what active faults might be in it.
4:42
SPEAKER_00: If the car had any airbag deployments, like we'll pull the procedures, the necessary parts that they should be replacing in those procedures, and give that all to them in a report.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: On a post-scan, obviously we we had all that the pre-repair and pre-repair information, right?
5:00
SPEAKER_00: But through the repair process, there's a lot of repair-induced faults that can happen just with having headlights disconnected, lights removed, right?
5:09
SPEAKER_00: You might be stripping the interior.
5:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, so we do a post-repair scan to make sure that everything is uh connected, working, programmed, um, initialized.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, for Toyotas, as an example, after they're in a collision, you need to do a seat weight initialization.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: So it makes sure that a passenger uh it's reading the right uh weight on the passenger seat.
5:34
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I'm sure that your wife or girlfriend would love that.
5:38
SPEAKER_04: It's actually the minimum weight, it's not necessarily you know 500 pounds.
5:42
SPEAKER_04: I think it's isn't it a weight that that activates those sensors, period, not necessarily giving you a weight on a scale.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: It's it's making sure that that weight is plus or minus a certain value.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: That way, if somebody's sitting in that seat and the car gets in an accident again, that the airbags and seat belts operate properly.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: Right.
6:00
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
6:01
SPEAKER_02: How about a 2001 Corvette?
6:05
SPEAKER_00: Probably not a whole lot of aid-ass technology on that, where um we're gonna have those kinds of initializations and things that we'd be doing back on a 2001, right?
6:17
SPEAKER_00: That uh the more and more, the newer the vehicle, the more advanced the technologies are.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and those are the things that we helped.
6:25
SPEAKER_02: So, what you're telling me is that I'm old along with my old car.
6:29
SPEAKER_02: That's what you're saying.
6:31
SPEAKER_02: Well, here's the okay, let me just throw this out there.
6:35
SPEAKER_02: It has an occasionally, uh occasion, thrown a traction control and abs light.
6:43
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes it goes off and sometimes it doesn't.
6:47
SPEAKER_02: Can you fix that?
6:48
SPEAKER_02: Do you can you tell me what the problem is?
6:50
SPEAKER_02: There's a other other than me.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, so we would we would hook up our device and read faults and see what kind of readings we get.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: We can look at live data, um, and we could, you know, that's what we're designed to do is to try and give you guidance to help diagnose those issues at the car.
7:06
SPEAKER_02: So I had a friend uh try to do a tune on the car, and now the car knocks under certain conditions and slight throttle.
7:17
SPEAKER_02: Uh, would you be able to tell what the problem is with that?
7:21
SPEAKER_00: Um I'm sure we could, yes.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: Certainly, again, we could help.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh we do have different levels of technicians that we hook up, right?
7:30
SPEAKER_00: So if it's more of a mechanical type issue like that, uh we have a mechanical team we could direct that to.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm not uh my background is not as a technician, uh, but we have a team of people that I'm sure could help diagnose that or point you in the right direction.
7:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:46
SPEAKER_02: So what is your background, Andy?
7:49
SPEAKER_02: How in the world did you get into this?
7:51
SPEAKER_00: So I'm 30 years in the automotive industry this year.
7:55
SPEAKER_02: Um Well, 30 years ago, Andy, they didn't have anything like this.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: How's that?
8:00
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
8:02
SPEAKER_02: Not to put you down, but I'm just saying That's right.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: We're adapting to change, right?
8:08
SPEAKER_00: So uh most of my career uh has been in the retail automotive space, you know, running fixed operations, you know, part service departments and retail dealerships, but the last seven years has been in collision.
8:22
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
8:22
SPEAKER_02: So you're the body shop guy.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: I work with them every day, yes or no?
8:27
SPEAKER_02: No.
8:28
SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, in your career, that's that that's your background as the body shop guy.
8:32
SPEAKER_02: And I have to tell you, I worked for a dealership for a few years and early on in my career.
8:37
SPEAKER_02: And uh, I'll tell you that that was a separate building on the property, and rightly so, because those guys, that's a whole different world back there in relationship to say the service department, where we, you know, do tune-ups and blow up motors and stuff like that.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: And you know, unlike the the service department, that if if you're attached to the Chevy dealer, that's probably fixing 99% Chevrolets, that body shop could be fixing, you know, every make and model.
9:07
SPEAKER_02: Yes, and they did, except for the Corvettes, and the Corvette even had its own little building off of the body shop.
9:14
SPEAKER_02: They didn't want all that uh Riffreff.
9:17
SPEAKER_02: Well, the Riffraff and all of the dust from the fiberglasses contained, you know, making really bad days for the paint guy.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and and today they have special aluminum rooms and you know, different environments depending on the car.
9:34
SPEAKER_02: So all right, so why would I hire or buy your product as a as a dealership?
9:46
SPEAKER_02: Why would I do that?
9:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, well, to go back to what we were just talking about, right?
9:51
SPEAKER_00: Most body shops fix all makes, all models.
9:54
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, and the insurance companies, right, you know, depending on how you're set up, uh, but you're you're gonna repair those.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: And most body shops won't have each individual OEM tool, right?
10:06
SPEAKER_00: They won't have a Toyota TechStream, um, they won't have a Honda tool.
10:11
SPEAKER_00: They'll they may have an aftermarket tool, uh, but aftermarket tools don't always work to read all modules and all fault codes and be able to do everything an OEM tool can do.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: And then outside of just having the tool, they probably don't employ a technician that may be able to operate each one of those OEM tools because they do operate slightly differently.
10:35
SPEAKER_00: So for a body shop, they can use us because we have the techs, the tools, and the ability to remotely connect and and help you with that service.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't work.
10:45
SPEAKER_02: Well, uh interesting.
10:46
SPEAKER_02: And how do you how do you price something like that?
10:49
SPEAKER_02: Because there are different size dealerships, different size body shops.
10:54
SPEAKER_02: How do you do that?
10:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh so most of our services are just pay when you use us, right?
10:59
SPEAKER_00: So you might have our device and use us 15 times a day, or you could use us three times a month.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, but you just pay when you when you use and hook up our technology, and we help you.
11:11
SPEAKER_02: I see.
11:12
SPEAKER_02: And now, and typically, how how does the facility uh pay you?
11:19
SPEAKER_02: Uh is it like, okay, well, if you're gonna use our service, you're gonna give me have to give me your credit card.
11:24
SPEAKER_02: How does it work?
11:25
SPEAKER_00: No, most body shops will uh have an account with us, um, and then you know, part of establishing that account and getting our technology, um, we have we we bill you on net 30 terms, you know, every month based on the amount of times you use us.
11:41
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I got I got you.
11:42
SPEAKER_02: I'm just trying to get an overall view of this.
11:45
SPEAKER_02: So when you go into a facility, a repair facility, whatever it is, how do you approach them and say, hey, this is what you need, and uh here's why you need us.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: There's lots of different ways to do that.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think one of my one of my tricks, right, of the trade is, you know, I like to find a car on the lot that has an airbag deployment.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, because one of the value ads that we do when a car has a deployment is we go into the repair procedures for those vehicles, right?
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Car one may just require an airbag and a module, but car two might require airbag modules, seat belts, and car three might have programming events and a combination of all those different parts, right?
12:32
SPEAKER_00: So a repairer might just look at that deployment and go, okay, I'm gonna order an airbag module, and they order that and start making repairs, and then at the end of the repair, they find out they need these five things, and maybe it takes another week to do it.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: Uh so for us, we can give you all that information up front.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: So you're ordering those parts uh and repairing it in a timely fashion, um, so you're not finding out these things at the end.
12:58
SPEAKER_02: Well, this sounds almost kind of like a windshield repair with uh, you know, a very late model car that's got all sorts of sensors in it, because when you change the, from what I understand, when you change the windshield in it, you got to go back and program all that stuff that's in the windshield.
13:17
SPEAKER_00: That's correct.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: Uh so any car with a windshield camera that has a windshield replaced is required to have a windshield calibration after a camera calibration after that windshield's replaced.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: So we do have a glass customer we do business with that uses us anywhere from five to seven hundred times a day.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: Holy Toledo! That's a lot of windshields, buddy.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: It's it's a large company, but you know, they're they'll try and calibrate it with the with the technology they have at the car, but it might be a 2025 or a 2026 year model vehicle.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: They have the target, but they don't have the software on the tool they're using, so they can plug in the Aztec device and we can hook up that OEM tool and fill in that gap.
14:06
SPEAKER_02: Wow, that's impressive.
14:08
SPEAKER_02: That's very impressive.
14:09
SPEAKER_02: I I uh now I'm kind of getting the hang of it when you bring it down to my level, which is windshields, and it and I don't know anything about windshields.
14:17
SPEAKER_02: All I have a friend that actually installs windshields, and he was trying to explain to me all of the stuff that, and it seems like they're putting more and more stuff in those windshield modules.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and you know it's interesting as well that the quality of the glass uh may determine if that windshield's even going to pass or fail that calibration, right?
14:39
SPEAKER_00: Because the the optics and the quality of that glass matters now with this camera technology that's that's in there.
14:47
SPEAKER_02: Because you used to have OEM, then you used to have aftermarket, and then you used to have Chinese, from what I understand.
14:53
SPEAKER_02: And so you're saying that the chances are that Chinese glass that's the cheapest for you to get might not be the cheapest after all.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: Well, correct.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: And uh we run into that even in collision, right?
15:05
SPEAKER_00: Because we'll have a customer, let's just say that the vehicle owner put in one of those inexpensive pieces of glass, the glass shop may not have calibrated the camera after it was replaced, you know, and then six months from now, now that car is in a collision, and that collision event is requiring a camera calibration.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: So the body shop will go to perform that work, and now the dash is lit up like a Christmas tree, and it's failing the calibration because of the inexpensive piece of glass, right?
15:37
SPEAKER_00: It's like, so yeah, all these things happen and it's uh it's hard repairing vehicles.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: Just real quick, how can you determine that it's the the cheaper glass versus the module itself?
15:51
SPEAKER_00: Well, more more times than not, uh, as we work through these scenarios, um we we know because we do so many glass calibrations what brands cause most issues, right?
16:03
SPEAKER_00: Now, look, we're always looking at the number one, was the camera installed correctly?
16:07
SPEAKER_00: We go to that first, right?
16:09
SPEAKER_00: Because maybe it's off-center in the bracket.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: If it has a rain sensor, was the rain sensor accidentally damaged and you've got a bunch of you know gel up on that glass, right?
16:20
SPEAKER_00: Like we look at some of these preliminary things first, but if if it's mounted correctly and the rain sensor's not broken, then more than likely, Mr.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Customer, you've got to put a different windshield in it, we've got to try it again.
16:31
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
16:32
SPEAKER_02: Annie, I I I could sit here and ask you questions day long because there's so many different questions.
16:40
SPEAKER_02: So if if we have dealers that watch this show, and uh how how do they get a hold of you?
16:45
SPEAKER_02: How do they find out about your product?
16:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh so they could go to uh our website aztechastec.com, um, and there's there's uh links in there that they can use to create uh an inquiry and we would follow up with them.
17:01
SPEAKER_02: Oh, that that that's awesome.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: Or you could reach out to me on LinkedIn.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: You've got my name, Andy Noise.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: Message me directly, right?
17:08
SPEAKER_00: And I'd be be glad to respond and help people.
17:11
SPEAKER_02: You you have been truly uh an educator uh in in the making of here.
17:16
SPEAKER_02: I I you did you had no idea.
17:18
SPEAKER_02: I had no idea about any of this, and it's truly fascinating.
17:22
SPEAKER_02: Great stuff, Andy.
17:23
SPEAKER_02: The best of luck to you.
17:24
SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for joining us.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: Have a great day.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
17:26
SPEAKER_02: You do the same.
17:28
SPEAKER_02: All right, Andy Noise.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: I it like oh my jaw is I'm trying to get my jaw up off.
17:34
SPEAKER_02: I know.
17:35
SPEAKER_01: There's so many questions.
17:36
SPEAKER_02: Yes, there are.
17:37
SPEAKER_02: And there's not near enough time.
17:38
SPEAKER_02: That's correct.
17:39
SPEAKER_02: All right, just ahead, Jeff's Car Culture.
17:42
SPEAKER_02: Regenerating tire treads.
17:44
SPEAKER_02: What?
17:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
17:46
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19:38
SPEAKER_02: Time now for Jeff's Car Culture.
19:40
SPEAKER_02: Regenerating tire treads.
19:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what what what?
19:43
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
19:44
SPEAKER_04: Uh well science uh has designed these things to uh regenerate your tire tread.
19:50
SPEAKER_04: Regenerative tires signifies a major leap forward in the automotive industry.
19:54
SPEAKER_04: This groundbreaking technology is underpinned by the concept of self-replenishing cred.
19:59
SPEAKER_04: That can only be significant implications for driving safety, cost effectiveness, and the environment.
20:05
SPEAKER_04: You say what's behind the science cycle?
20:07
SPEAKER_04: Well, regenerative tires are essentially self-renewing with the capacity to continually regenerate their credit to make possible by smart materials that have the ability to change their properties in response to external stimuli.
20:20
SPEAKER_04: So like you done.
20:31
SPEAKER_04: Several patents have been granted in relation to the tire generation technologies, reflecting the significant strides being made in this area.
20:39
SPEAKER_04: These patents cover a variety of technology and materials.
20:42
SPEAKER_04: Who are the pioneers?
20:43
SPEAKER_04: Well, several companies are leading the way of developing the regenerative tires.
20:47
SPEAKER_04: For instance, Goodyear has a recharge concept that represents a bold vision for the future of tire technology.
20:54
SPEAKER_04: There's a report out in Popular Mechanics that these tires are designed to replenish their treads using a special compound that is released over time.
21:02
SPEAKER_04: So Michelin has been making strides in this field also of regenerative tires.
21:07
SPEAKER_04: There's a news article in Rubber News.
21:09
SPEAKER_04: Michelin researchers have won a patent.
21:13
SPEAKER_02: There's a publication called Rubber News.
21:16
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
21:18
SPEAKER_04: Not the synthetic ones, but the ones that you get at the Shamrock station.
21:21
SPEAKER_04: No, no, no.
21:22
SPEAKER_04: Those are extra large.
21:24
SPEAKER_04: Michelin researchers have won a patent award in this innovative technology and use a special tread blocks that expand the tire wear down by the maintaining the optional tread depth.
21:35
SPEAKER_04: So that's pretty important because what you're going to do is get lower, it's going to regenerate more.
21:40
SPEAKER_04: The potential impact of this is benefits of regenerate tire potential to enhance road safety by maintaining optional tire tread depth.
21:52
SPEAKER_04: Environmental applications or implications, I should say.
21:55
SPEAKER_04: In addition to their potential benefits, drivers regenerate tires could also save.
22:00
SPEAKER_04: significant uh environmental benefits actually had be part of that significant environmental benefit.
22:06
SPEAKER_02: So another in other words what you're saying is that we could go from a 16 inch tire to a 22.
22:12
SPEAKER_04: No.
22:13
SPEAKER_04: Good thinking, but no.
22:15
SPEAKER_04: There are challenges though.
22:17
SPEAKER_04: Well the concept of regenerative tires is certainly exciting.
22:20
SPEAKER_04: There's several technological challenges that need to overcome uh before they can actually become a reality.
22:26
SPEAKER_04: So uh they're out there they're doing all kinds of technology and and uh engineering and it's all good stuff.
22:33
SPEAKER_04: I don't see it in my lifetime but go for it.
22:36
SPEAKER_02: Well I think that they're trying to do away with wheels as we have known them.
22:40
SPEAKER_02: And the wheel is actually the tire.
22:42
SPEAKER_04: Yeah and you know if we had flying cars we wouldn't have tire problems.
22:45
SPEAKER_04: So very true.
22:48
SPEAKER_02: Mars what are you doing down there Mars?
22:50
SPEAKER_02: I'm shuffling we know because we can hear all of the paper movement down there.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: Oh can you sorry that's all right um I thought it was so Jeff and I ended up getting behind.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: That's all right.
23:04
SPEAKER_02: Well now's not the time because we want to go to take the Texas blue bonnet tour.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: You know you brought that up last week and and I got to thinking about it and I got to looking at uh the best time to do that.
23:15
SPEAKER_01: And it would be um coming up in the March and April typically but we've had a really warm winter and a lot of moisture up in the hill country.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: Two weeks of a freeze.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: Well yeah but that wasn't enough to really slow things down that much.
23:27
SPEAKER_01: It slowed me down.
23:29
SPEAKER_01: It slowed me down a lot.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: So anyway so I figured out that there were five of the best places that you might go to find some Texas blue bonnets and obviously the uh hill country is going to be where most of them are going to be found.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: The peak bloom is usually late March to mid April but you're gonna have to do a little planning because depending on where you're at and where you're gonna have to go to go see this.
23:48
SPEAKER_01: Now if you are going out there to take pictures keep in mind a lot of this is private property.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: They don't mind you taking pictures of it.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: Some of them don't mind you actually having your children or whatever out there in it but try not to trample it because there's going to be people coming behind you and it really works better softer light early morning late afternoon if you're going to go do this.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: Now the one that you will look at is the Willow City Loop now this is near Fredericksburg it's 13 miles City Road in the Texas Hill Country it's one of the most famous or the most photographed blue bonnet destinations because of the quantity and the rolling hills and it mixes really well with the Indian paintbrush which is going to be the little oranger colors.
24:28
SPEAKER_01: Now this is usually the peak blue in this area is usually late March through early April and again stay on the public roadways and respect the private property in this area because a lot of it is where you can go and they know you're going to come there to look so then moving on down to Mule Shoe Benzhoe Texas.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: So this is the Colorado River near Spicewood now this is up around the Austin area it's famous for its dense blue bonnet fields that overlook Lake Travis now the park's open meadows they actually create this really nice backdrop you know they've got the water in the background the wildflowers together so it's great for families got some easy walking trails and again be careful with the um private property there's a lot of parking along the roads and it really fills up on the weekends so the weekdays are a lot better if you're going to that area because of its proximity to Austin.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: Now you can also go down to Ennis the blue bonnet trails there.
25:24
SPEAKER_01: This is known as the official blue bonnet city of Texas now they got more than 40 miles of mapped that sounds like a Chamber of Commerce bunch of BS well yeah it could be well they got 40 Ennis is up north yeah well they got out of side of Dallas out south of Dallas yeah you said going down to Ennis and I'm thinking oh well depends where you're at so 40 miles of mapped driving trails through all of these wildflowers and and that's one because there's so much of it now it's located south of Dallas and North Dallas is North Texas is a favorite when the blooms start spreading across all the pastures and roadside fields because it is pretty wide open out there versus some of the hill country that's got a lot more trees and stuff in it.
26:09
SPEAKER_01: Now there is actually a Blue Bonnet trails festival that takes place in April check the calendar for the exact dates for this year.
26:16
SPEAKER_01: Now you can also go to Brynham over in Washington County midway between Houston and Austin.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: Now this is uh got a surrounding countryside creates a lot of really nice picturesque scenes that you can use with some barns and some fences and a lot of sweeping blue bonnet pastures literally now this has got a close proximity to Houston and it's not far from Austin so you get a little lot of traffic out there on the weekend.
26:42
SPEAKER_01: So be sure and plan your trip to visit some of these the last one I'd like to show because there's a lot more of them is the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: Now this is a place that you can actually go in Austin that showcases the blue bonnet displays now they actually set it up with plans for people to come in and look at these instead of just being out in the natural hillsides and around so it's very cultivated and it's protected so but it's great for families and easy access for photography.
27:12
SPEAKER_01: So if you're looking for some of this blue bonnets this spring there's lots of places you can go and see this is a few of them that are are more well known so plan your trip accordingly well I think that most of us are ready to get out in the yard but you know it's just not quite there yet.
27:27
SPEAKER_02: No it's it's really damp and well it is today and it's supposed to turn cold tomorrow and yeah just not just not really good right now.
27:34
SPEAKER_04: No not yet but you since you got to do a little planning if you're gonna get out on the weekend because of traffic and things and that's a good point that you both made yes you you got to get out there you gotta you got to put your toe in the water of of the yard work and to get all that and yes you got to put a plan together so getting your toe in the water is making the plan.
27:52
SPEAKER_02: Your toe in the water toe in the water I got shoes on take them off you don't ever take your shoes off.
28:00
SPEAKER_02: You live near Beaumont you could take them off that would be him yeah okay uh well thank you both that's uh wonderful stuff the in real time card talk show will continue right after this quick break stay with us the Easter bunnies coming to the tailpipes and tacos cruise in at the Loopy Tortilla Tex Max in Katy April 4th 8 to 11 a.m and you're invited to bring the kids and grandkids it's a cruise in like you've never attended before with a donation to Shirley's kids you'll get a free Loopy Tortilla breakfast taco.
28:35
SPEAKER_02: There'll be coffee and adult beverages plus chili pepper trophies for the best hot rod, best modern classic and best classic.
28:41
SPEAKER_02: There's no entry fee and no registration just bring your ride and the kids bad bunnies aren't allowed but the Easter bunny will be there and he'll be full of joy to help make this tailpipes and tacos a very special one.
28:52
SPEAKER_02: Photo opportunities abound the Inwell Time Car Talk Show will be streaming around the globe and you can be selected to tell your car story to a global audience.
29:00
SPEAKER_03: It's the Tailpipes and tacos cruise in Easter edition Saturday April 4th 8 to 11am at the Loopy Tortilla Tex Max in Katy located on 99 the Grand Parkway just south of I-10 the Katy Freeway in Katy Make plans now loopy tortilla is pretty good Houston get ready team human is hosting a medical car meet at the Lord complex after a lot of super we're collaborating with the Car Meet Network so you know it's gonna be crazy and that's not enough we're gonna be wrestling up six cars to be selling a thousand dollars each see below for more details you're not gonna want to miss this Houston March 14th we can't wait to see you here that's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
29:51
SPEAKER_02: I'm Don Armstrong inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and our inwheeltime com website podcasts are available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict, tune in Pandora and Amazon music.
30:09
SPEAKER_02: Keep listening and we'll see you soon