Fall 2007 extended weekend drive

I've been putting together Sunday Morning Drives for the past several years, a few quarterly driving events out at MSR, and for the past two years, a Spring and Fall weekend driving event(s) for the Audi, BMW, and now Mercedes Benz clubs.

Now, I own a MB and a Lotus now, but still enjoy getting involved and wanted to invite comments if anyone is interested in coming along this October. Actual dates will come soon, but I thought I would throw it out there early enough to plan for it.

So, now to the suggested route. I took off last week and drove the hill country, over 1000 miles in 6 days, to find what I think will be the most exciting yet safe route. I took the Elise , to check for low spots or other hazards. I did alittle back tracking during the week due to low water crossings ( I attached a picture of one such crossing ) but all in all , I found alot of excellent roads!

Now, to make a short post longer, we usually leave Friday and come back Sunday afternoon. I feel something either in Fredericksburg, Kerrville, or Leakey may work the best, as overall , this will be a driving weekend, with stops for food. ( Smile )

So, here is the planned route - fire away:

Here is the basic route I scouted out for a possible upcoming weekend drive this Fall. I started out South through Cresson on 377, through Granbury into Stephenville. South on 281 from Stephenville through Hico, Hamilton, Evant, Lampasas, Burnet, Marble Falls.

East on 1431 from Marble Falls ( 40 miles ) to Lime Creek Road

South on Lime Creek Road towards Volente

Then East on 2769 / 2222 into Austin area for lunch.

Back on the Road after lunch , headed West on 290 into Fredericksburg

South on 16 from Fredericksburg through Kerrville to Medina

West on 337 to Leakey

North on 336 to 41

West on 41 to 335

South on 335 to Barksdale

North on 55 into Rocksprings ( Devil’s Sinkhole Tour! )

North on 377 to I-10 back to Kerrville

Roads worth mentioning in the same area:
1050 – 470 – 1340 – and 39 leading into Hunt ( Texhenge – TX version of Stonehenge )

Heading back into Dallas from the Austin area I took:

North on 183 from Cedar Park ( 30 Miles )

2657 into Copperas Cove ( 18 miles )

Back on 190 until 116 headed to Gatesville ( 25 miles )

Hwy 84 then 36

Hwy 215 into Mosheim ( 13 miles )

Hwy 217 to Valley Mills ( 8 miles )

Hwy 56 ( 20 Miles ) to Hwy 22 through Hillsboro ( 20 miles ) to 35, back into DFW area

Steve
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There might be more adventurous ways to get from Austin to Fredericksburg than 290. That's a good a good 90 minutes of generic 4 lane hwy. Try this

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1126699

It takes you through roads that wind nicely through the hill country. The reason I put you on that "spike" near Fredericksburg is so you go by Enchanted Rock. You could cut off some miles by taking 16 straight in. That's a nice road too.

Good call on Lime Creek Road by the way. Right by my house and is my favorite road in Austin for taking out the car.

 

How cool would it be to pull up in Luckenbach and hang out for a few hours!

i was just up in kerville/medina last weekend. great roads for driving.. LOTS of harley groups going for rides up there too.

 

I like your route. Be careful on 1431 out of Marble Falls. With all the blind crests and swithchbacks they call it the "death highway".

2 good spots for food are the Koffee Kup Kafe in Hico, and the Bluebonnet Cafe in Marble Falls just north of the bridge. Great country cookin' at both.

 

Thank you for the link, I may just work that into the final route!

Steve

 

That's what I thought too. Have a nice game of washers or horse shoe's - a beer , hang out and mingle with the Harley guys..

Last year, we did it with the MB/Audi club and it was interesting being the stand out group, if you know what I mean. Everyone was nice and were asking questions about some of the cars in our group.

S

 

Noted. On Tuesday when I went through last week, it was water highway... that was the road they had closed due to water crossing was 10' under ( per park ranger ) we never made it all the way through.

Figure I should put that in the route early, if you cannot make it through 1431, there is no way you would make it through 335/336/337... LOL

Steve

p.s. I did your route up Northwest of Denton this past weekend, several roads were under repair ( water washed out the crossing ) and 82 looked to have been freshly oiled - but the route was fun, several places to open it up some.. lol

 

Dang it! I want a car that can hang with you guys on these drives. The Mazda just won't cut it. Ah well, all in good time. Other priorities, at the moment.

Hope you're doing well, Steve. Have fun!!!

 

haha, yeah, could you see about 10 or more Fcars rolling up to Luckenbach. talk about gawking.

that would be absolute heaven for me tho, Fcars, Luckenbach, beer, music, washers...... pinch me!

 

Here is my suggested Hotel for the event:

http://www.hangarhotel.com/index.html

Their posted rates are only $30-$40 more than area hotels and B&B's
I have asked for a discount if we get 15-20 rooms booked ( we did last year )

More to come...

Steve

 

Ok, the owner just e-mailed me back, seems he thought I was talking about booking 2008... they may not be able to handle this large a group.

More to follow...

steve

 

Is there a date yet?

 

Right now, its leaning strongly towards October 26th-28th.

Steve

 

Update:

Date: October 26th - October 28th

Lodging : http://www.innonbaronscreek.com/default.htm

 

Costs? We need the night of the 26th and 27th?

edit: Man, that website BITES!

Geocities called, they want their page back

 

To any of the Houston crowd who would like to go....if you need a co-pilot, I would love to go. Certainly willing to meet you before hand at an F-chat Happy Hour, if you'd like. Looking forward to a fun drive!

 

If you are planning on making this event, due to other wine/food events going on this same weekend, I would suggest making your reservations early. They gave us 18 rooms , that need to have someones name on them by the end of this month.

When making your reservation - Please advise them you are part of the Ferrari / Mercedes / Audi event

Please feel free to PM me with any questions.

Rates for Oct. 26th & 27th will start at $159 tax(13%) for traditional suites

Upgraded suites are from $179-$189

This is Fredericksburg Food and Wine Fest weekend

2 night minimum is required for any event weekend

Group rates do not apply for event weekends.



We can set up a group block and each person can call our toll free # 866 990 0202 and make their reservations.

We do have a 30 day release date on room blocks. Yours would be Sept. 26th.

Contact persons: Gary Trumet, Greg Tanner or Sandi White

Anyone at the desk can take reservations for the group.



We will have limited parking especially on Friday as we have “Best of the Chefs” event to kick off Food and Wine Fest. This is Chefs from all over the area that prepare their specialties and it is paired with Texas Wines from all over the state. It is a wonderful event and does have limited ticket sales. If any of your groups would be interested I will provide information on how to purchase tickets. The festival will be all day on Saturday at Marketplace.



We would rope off an area for 15 or so cars for you to have secure parking. There will be security on the grounds Friday evening. We have someone on duty at the front desk 24hrs and they do walk the property also. If you feel you need additional security for your cars we do have security people we can put you in touch with.

 

Boxter currently leads bang-for-the-buck catagory in pure sports cars. No affiliation

Audi TT S4 in sedan. IMVHO

 

David,

Between you and Tillman, ya'll are gonna get me into some serious automotive trouble.

That's why I offered to be a co-pilot.

Are you going? Perhaps in a new purchase?

 

Also, please, when you do get your room, please PM me, so I can put you down on the " Master List " for the event.

Steve

 

9 of the 18 rooms have been booked so far.

I know this event will be close to the F-Chat Fall tour as well.... Let me know if you are interested.

Steve

 

Friday October 26th



10:30-11:00a Meet at Starbucks off I-35

Directions: From Dallas on southbound 35E (to Waco) exit Pleasant Run Road. On the feeder road, continue south through the traffic light at Pleasant Run Road and turn right into the first parking lot which is Starbucks. The meeting place will be in the large parking lot on the south side of Starbucks.



11:00a - Leave DFW area heading South to Fredericksburg. We may stop for food on the way, though having a full tank of fuel prior to meeting at Starbucks is suggested.



4:00p Expected arrival time in Fredericksburg. ( Base: Barron’s Creek Lodge 308 S Washington St , Fredericksburg, TX 78624 866-990-0202 )



5p – Leave Barron’s Creek Lodge heading to Lukenbach



7p – Dinner at Alamo Springs General Store & Café ( 107 Alamo Road Fredericksburg, TX 78624 (830)990-8004



Saturday October 27th



9a - Leave Barron’s Creek Lodge for day of driving in the hill country. I have a route picked out that will take us South through Kerrville, Medina, Leakey, Rocksprings, etc – Planning on being back in Fredericksburg by 4-5pm.



## For those of you that would rather stay in town, there is a Wine and Food festival going on all weekend. There will not be a shortage of things to do, places to see, or time to relax as needed. If you want to come on a portion of the drive, there will be several points that you may break off and head back on your own as necessary.







6:30p – Dinner at Navajo Grill

803 East Main St. Fredericksburg, TX 78624 P: 830.990.8289 F: 830. 990.0297

Link: http://www.navajogrill.com/aboutus.html





Sunday October 28th



11a - Leave Fredericksburg for drive back to DFW



12p – Expected arrival time in Llano Texas – Coopers BBQ

( 505 W. Dallas, Llano, 1- Texas 78643 877-533-5553 )



5p – Expected arrival time back in the DFW area





Notes:



**Have your car checked out the week prior to this event. Check tires, suspension, brakes, and for fluid leaks, etc. I will be happy to help you get this done as needed.



**Please arrive at each leaving point with a full tank of fuel when possible.



**Please have a FRS radio to use to keep in contact with the other cars in our group



**Please drive safe – stay in your lane – drive safe – this is not a race – you will drive some of the very best roads I have found in Texas

 

So, any post-drive report?

 

We had over 20 cars make it down Friday evening. Washer tossing contest till 7pm and dinner at Alamo Springs just in time to see the bats take flight around 7:30p

Saturday morning a group of us left Kerrville South on 16 headed towards Medina. The problem was that several groups of Harley riders left about 4 mins in front of us! That or we just caught up with them really quick... So we spent most all of Hwy 16 in the slow train running at or 5 mph under the posted speed limits.

When we arrived in Medina , with bikes in front and behind us, we found the road blocked by a fire truck and police cars.. ( ugh )
luckly, per the Garmin, a quick Right and Left put us in front of all the bikers piled up at the parade!

We're off... for the rest of the day it was smooth sailing ( with the random cyclist ) With a fuel stop in Rock Springs , lunch in Camp Wood and back on the road to tackle 83, 39,and 1340 on our way back to Fredericksburg for dinner.

We did have a random BMW 530 jump in front of us during our last leg of the day, he pulled out after seeing the 9 of us in the " fast group " coming, he chose to lead anyways < shrug > We were pacing him at a nice spirited clip with alot of wide open sweeping turns , the occasional low water crossing, etc... we came to a blind, left hand, low water crossing with ONE small difference.... 1 lane bridge.... We make the turn, the roadway drops off into the creek, as my view clears to the other side... i Spy the H2 beat the BMW to the bridge.... BMW locks the brakes , smoke curling from the tires... The BMW stopped just short of the pole to the start of the bridge and the Hummer was able to stop 3/4 across the bridge, he still hit his mirror as he cleared the pole exited though. The BMW chose to keep the lead, that is untill his wife , arms flailing, made him pull over and let us pass. That was good for a laugh the rest of the trip.

Lunch in Llano at Cooper's and a couple of us stopped by MSR to catch the end of the PCA's track event capped the drive off.

Everyone who made it down made it back Sunday night in one piece - ready to do it again in the Spring.

Here are a few pictures and video links :

Some Pictures:

http://www.******.com/photos/41892578@N00/sets/72157602787378160/



5 min video of some of the roads we found, twists start about 2:31 into clip.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1153370682373739725&hl=en

There are a few others on the same link.


Steve

p.s. I am leading a Small group of 9-12 Lotus Elise drivers from McKinney to Sherman this Saturday afternoon for a drive to lunch at City Limit's - If anyone is interested in streching your legs - PM me for details. We are planning on heading over to BiG Buck for dinner that same night, there is another car show going on that same evening from 5p+ FWIW.
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The Satuday Group:

2006 Lotus in the lead
2007 Audi Rs4
???? Evo
???? Evo
2006 Audi S4
2007 MB SLK55
2001 MB SLK
2004 MB C55
2002 MB C
2006 Mazda Miata Speed 6

a 1960 190SL showed up, though chose to not make the drive Saturday ( whew )



and 1 unknown BMW 530... LOL
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