VIVA LAS VEGAS

Chuck Dekett

industry and make connections. We tackled each row taking photos and learning about various products. It took us until 1:00 pm to get through half of the hall. We took a break for lunch and started to tackle the second half. We spent a ton of time at the three SEMA specialty events. SEMA ELECTRIFIED consisted of customized electronic vehicles of all kinds.

SEMA ARTWALK was you would think, a slew of artists showing off their spin on vehicle drawings, paintings, etc... SEMA BATTLE OF THE BUILDERS was a competition where the top custom automobile builders showcased the most recent and/ or successful builds for judging. Some truly amazing and jaw dropping stuff!

As the day came close to the end, we realized we weren’t going to have time to step foot in another building. I saw firsthand why this is a multi-day event and figured I’d have a chance to see more in the coming days. We finished our day off by heading to the Strip, grabbing some dinner along with a few beverages, and take in some sight seeing. After that we went back to the hotel and prepared to get ready for more fun the next day. That’s when most of the STANG Magazine crew was to arrive in Vegas. I met up with some of them who were already there, and we burned some time until everyone else arrived. Once we were all together, we went to dinner near their mansion style Airbnb and went to dinner. The next morning, I woke up to do some more coverage of the event but was extremely ill (non-alcohol related) and was forced to miss the day. This was EXTREMELY disappointing to me and was horrible. I couldn’t get warm no matter what I did and had zero energy. I had my buddy Rob pick up a Covid test. Luckily, I tested negative twice. I would later find out when I got home from the trip that I had the flu.

The following day I was feeling better but not 100%. I forced myself to participate in our group excursion which consisted of us renting Slingshots and taking them into the desert for the day. Especially being that I prepaid the rental fee before arriving to Vegas. Regardless of how I felt that morning I’m glad I did. While it was chilly, it was a lot of fun and we saw some amazing sights. By the time we got back I was feeling about 85% and was able to finish off the day with more STANG Mag shenanigans. Unfortunately, I was only able to experience one day at SEMA and if I get to do it again, I would plan it out better.