Hey all,
Last year I was tasked with coming up with a Christmas themed run for the club, the route worked out so well and we had such a good time we decided to make it an annual gig so on Saturday the 13th we'll be leaving for an entire day of twisties, sight seeing, some shopping, and mega Christmas lights to finish it off.

Details are as follows:

MEET 10am-Albertson's vacant lot @Oakhill "Y". I can try and arrange a North Austin meetup spot prior to 10 if necessary, or we can all just meet at the Albertson's and leave it at that.

LEAVE 10:30am-Wimberley, Blanco-lunch, Fredericksburg, Johnson City (the most lights anywhere)/Silver K Cafe.

HOME/ (hopefully)deer free by 290W.

Route details from last year (same route, different date and meeting location so just gloss over the first few lines until you get to where it mentions the "y" in oak hill) )in .doc format are at this link./ (http://www.texasrxs.org/junk/12-15%20Directions/)

I've cut and pasted them in the thread for the lazy peoples to give you an idea, it's an all day, 3-4 town deal and it's pretty easy to bail out at anytime if you don't want to make the whole trip, although I do recommend the lights in Johnson City at some point over the holidays even if you don't make it this run. :)

These directions were taken from last year, but you get the idea, feel free to pm me with any questions, I should have maps printed out and ready to go by then for handing out as well.


 Right on 290 heading South at the “Y” in glorious Oak Hill
 Left at light on to 1826 (Camp Ben Mculloch) heading South
 Left at 150 heading South
 Right at 3237 (I believe there is a Valero service station here for a rest stop)
 Left on to RR12
 Right on to RM32 and on our way to the “devil’s backbone”
 Right on to 281
 281 to Blanco and lunch at Sunset Grill, overflow can eat at Riley’s BBQ or there is also a Tex-Mex Restaurant in the same area, all within yards of each other.
 For those who want to head back after Blanco, take 165 heading North to Henly, Henly comes out right at 290 where if you take a right it will take you right back to Austin, or the more direct/boring route is 281 straight up the road to 290 and a right once you get there as well.
2nd Section (Blanco to Fredericksburg)
 Leave Blanco at 1:30ish
 Left on to 1623 (river on left…oooohh pretty!)
 Left on 290 then Right on 1623 (cross over Pedernales river)
 Left at 2721
 2721 turns into 1631 after Stop sign and which takes us straight to Fredericksburg
 Early leavers here can take 281 out of Fredericksburg straight to Johnson City, then right at Johnson City on to 290 heading south back towards Austin.

3rd Section (Fredericksburg to Johnson City and home afterwards)

 Arrive at Fredericksburg around 2:30 or for shopping, checking out decorations, whoever skipped lunch can eat here as well. We can park next to the firehouse, check out the town for 2 hours, meet back at firehouse at 4:30 and leave to go to Johnson City. Lots of great gift ideas in the shops here. =)
 Leave Fredericksburg on 16N (Left at light)
 Right on 1323 (Knot Limp/Loop Saloon sign)
 Right on Willow City Loop (cattle guards and loose livestock, beware the future hamburgers!)
 Right on 281 South to Johnson city
 Right on 290W then a left on Ave F and awesome lights and Silver K café for dinner!
 To go home we take 281 and then a right on 290, or some folks can take 281 all the way to I35, whichever works best etc.
 Finish things off by possibly visiting Domain for fireworks or even swinging by Zilker and the tree etc. if anyone is still up for it.


So there you go, a nice little trip in the spirit of Christmas and loaded with gorgeous hill country roads and scenery, hope to see you there :)

sound good canary - i think i'll try to make this one!

oh, fyi, it is AWESOME to have full a/c-heat control back! thanks for your help over the weekend.

No worries man, I've had to deal with driving around and stuff not working right on this car and others I've had (and yes, sometimes it was my fault) so I know first hand how much that sucks the big one. Glad I could help :)

Im from SA any place to meet up Got a map or anything.

Holy crap I can make this one!! I have to work friday night so Ill be a little tired but Ill be there. Finally can meet you all!

Awesome man, I had a fun time last year, even got a speeding ticket from an officer with the last name of "bacon" (no joke). I work 3pm to 11pm these days (and I frickin' hate it) so it's going to be rough for me as well, thank God they moved off the 7pm to 4am as that would have been almost impossible to pull off.

I'm going to have maps printed out to hand out at the meeting location, Larry will probably have radios etc. so we can all keep together, people that want to do the whole drive can meet at the starting location which is at the "Y" in
Oak Hill (S. Austin) at the old Albertson's parking lot, it's really hard to miss as it's basically a huge lot in front of an empty building. If there's enough interest I can meet some folks up in North Austin at 9am at the Carraba's lot on 183/Duval, and we can caravan to the South meeting location. If you want to come along but neither of those meeting locations works for you, like maybe you're from out of town or live closer to one of the stops for example, you're more than welcome to join us along the way, heck, we pick up random drivers all the time on these runs as it's kinda' hard to miss a gang of Rx's going somewhere in a group. :lol:

This link will take you to a general map of where Oak Hill is, if you look where 71 and 290 split, that's what is known as the "Y". :)

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Oak+Hill&state=TX&country=US&latitude=30.2353&longitude=-97.859703&geocode=CITY

Feel free to pm me with any questions, I put a lot of work into this drive last year, even drove it a couple of times prior to the actual club run just to make sure it was fun enough and had enough variety for everyone to enjoy the stops,roads,lights, etc. so hopefully I'll see some folks out there on the 13th. :)

Awesome man, I had a fun time last year, even got a speeding ticket from an officer with the last name of "bacon" (no joke). I work 3pm to 11pm these days (and I frickin' hate it) so it's going to be rough for me as well, thank God they moved off the 7pm to 4am as that would have been almost impossible to pull off.

This sounds awesome! I work 6pm-6am so its gonna be a long day! Ill try and leave at 4am so I can sleep till about 9:30. I live a 1/4 mile from the Y so I dont need much time to get there. Im very interested in doing the Zilker park thing if we can fit it in. This is my first Christmas out here so I wanna see all the Christmas attractions out here.

well dang dude, I live wm. cannon/westgate area, you're not far from me at all, I'm surprised I don't see your car more :lol:

well dang dude, I live wm. cannon/westgate area, you're not far from me at all, I'm surprised I don't see your car more :lol:

Hell man you are just down the street! I live at 290 and Wm. Cannon. I bowl at Westgate lanes when Im too lazy to drive to Dart lanes. My 8 is my second car so it hardly gets driven. When I drive my Tahoe, I see 8s all day long. When I take my 8 out for a spin, never see one. Funny how that happens!

Any Idea how many 8 are going also how good are the x-mas lights in johnson city

Last year we had about 10+ cars or so, but it was the first year with a formal route so the turnout was small, we ended up with about 3 cars by the end of the drive :lol: I expect a few more than that this time as word is out among several clubs and forums etc. Here is a sample of the lights:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2085/2117186348_1bb4cbabdb.jpg

(random flickr album- http://www.flickr.com/photos/casamagnolia/2117186348/)

http://www.austinchronicle.com/binary/bfa8/cols_daytrips.jpg


edit: Marble Falls has awesome lights as well, another cool place to go during the holidays, doesn't really fit into my route very well though, although I'm open to suggestion, here's a pic below :)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/141/333448962_40bb1b28e2.jpg?v=0

Actually, after looking at my route, we could do Marble Falls instead of Johnson City just by going left on 281 instead of right, it is quite a bit further though so I'm not sure who'd be down for that, maybe when we leave Fredricksburg, we can make a game day decision then as either one is an amazing display, and it might be possible to spend an hour at Marble Falls, then hit Johnson City on the way home or something :dunno:

Im open to anything you guys want to do. I dont know where anything is so Im just along for the ride. Im just excited to put some miles on the car and meet new people and see new sites. The wife and I are really looking forard to this as to end our "same ole same ole" routine and see some more of Texas and meet and make new friends.

I'm seriously considering an impromptu test run this weekend, probably on Sunday, as I want to double check the roads/route, and make sure there's no freaky construction going on or something else that might mess us up. If you guys got nothing going on (anyone for that matter, makes no diff to me :lol: ) you're more than welcome to tag along, I'd also like to see how feasible Marble Falls is and if we can do both, hitting both towns in one night would be so insanely kick ass lights wise :D:

I'm seriously considering an impromptu test run this weekend, probably on Sunday, as I want to double check the roads/route, and make sure there's no freaky construction going on or something else that might mess us up. If you guys got nothing going on (anyone for that matter, makes no diff to me :lol: ) you're more than welcome to tag along, I'd also like to see how feasible Marble Falls is and if we can do both, hitting both towns in one night would be so insanely kick ass lights wise :D:

What time are you planning on making the run on Sunday?? Its my long week so I work this Saturday night but if its not super early, Id make the run with you. If I got to bed as soon as I get home, I can get up around 11 if you wanna head out then. Im definitely into doing both towns!

I'm usually up pretty late on Saturday as well as my freaky work schedule screws with my sleeping and I like to take advantage of not having any obligations the next day (like having to be at work at 3pm ugh). You want to shoot for noon at the "Y"? If we leave later then we can grab some grub in Fredricksburg or something instead of the usual lunch stop in Blanco. (or just skip food, which is probably not a good idea lol)

I'm usually up pretty late on Saturday as well as my freaky work schedule screws with my sleeping and I like to take advantage of not having any obligations the next day (like having to be at work at 3pm ugh). You want to shoot for noon at the "Y"? If we leave later then we can grab some grub in Fredricksburg or something instead of the usual lunch stop in Blanco. (or just skip food, which is probably not a good idea lol)

That sounds perfect. Ill just be sure to set a couple alarms to wake up with! Ill PM you my number incase anything changes. Thanks man!

Got it, I'll send you mine here before too long, hot damn I've been stickied! :D: Thanks Killjoy, you rock!

I will see about trying to get a few of the SA people to group up and go. Maybe meet somewhere along the way and then follow along. I will PM when I know more about who is interested.:icon_tup:

I will see about trying to get a few of the SA people to group up and go. Maybe meet somewhere along the way and then follow along. I will PM when I know more about who is interested.:icon_tup:

that'd be cool, I'm taking a test run this sunday, and the actual drive is on the
13th, let me know if you need anything and hopefully a few of y'all can make it out :)

Randall,
It's a tradition now, actually the 5th one; this is your 2nd. Thanks for leading.

*I recommend the 10am time; we save maybe 1/2 hr by meeting @ the "Y" which give us a more flexible, less rushed sched. to see all. Easy to be be in Johnson City by 5pm+- to wait/eat @ the Silver K before dark & lights spectacular.

*Instead of Blanco lunch @12:30pm+-, waiting for Fredericksburg @1-1:30pm is an option.
The "Bavarian Inn" @ the W.end of Main always has good food & several several large tables almost always available w/o calling ahead (which we do) or waiting. The usual in/out 1 1/2 hr lunch is no problem.
With a little walking around, etc. in the historic downtown shopping row for the ladies/kids, we'll be leaving (who knows) anytime quickly from 3pm or, more likely, casually 4pm+ for a Johnson City 5pm arrival.

*With Blanco, Fredsbg & main destination-Johnson City on the list, Marble Falls is a stretch but possible unless the hard-core survivors want to go there by 281N after Johnson City @7pm++. From Marble Falls, 71E is the only deer-safe route to Austin @ 10pm +++.

*Some may opt to go home from Johnson City @ 7pm++, so your idea of ending @ the Zilker Xmas Tree may have more takers. Marble Falls pm- Lime Creek/143/River City Cafe/Xmas lights/71E deer-free home- is a nice trip on it's own.

Several tries w/2 meeting/waiting/starting times north & south haven't worked well. To save time/delays, meeting @the"Y" is faster/quicker/simpler/better. I can be there in 15 mins. from N.Austin by Mopac; easy.
LD.

5th, 2nd, it's all the same to me :D:

It's good to know the history; "Roots", "Tradition", "Wagons West", "The Gumball Rally",... all that.
Like Moses leading his people out of the wilderness to........., well, they had no Xmas lights & no time, place or money for shopping. You have inherited the heavy burden of leadership & the sole responsibility of making sure that everyone has a wonderful time, or else....... We know were you live.

You are my hero since it's a day off for me !!
We all support/appreciate your efforts & are behind you all the way. As we enter Blanco, we'll be way, way, way behind your attention getting Canary Yellow. Your old friends from last year may remember it. A radar detector from our terrific sponsor-AudioFx-would make a great early Xmas gift for you.
Looking forward to next wknd.
See: *Edited #21 above.
LD.

Hey Canary, I dont think Ill be able to make it to the trial run tomorrow. Im leaving for AZ in 2 weeks and I need to do some work to my Tahoe before we go and next weekend is full, so I need to jump on this. Sorry about that but I will for sure be there next week for the cruise.

Talked to a buddy tonight at work and he said the Zilker park thing isnt open till Sunday 14th, unless you are doing the run on the 13th, which he is. Maybe we could go to that neighborhood downtown thats all lit up. Dont know how good that is but its something to do.

It was just an option anyway, most folks might be burned out by then :lol:

Couple of things-

Can't make the trial run today, actually feeling kind of lousy so I may just go finish some Christmas shopping instead and sleep it off afterwards or something, or not.

In regards to lunch at Blanco or eating in Fredricksburg etc., I would highly recommend we find somewhere else besides the bavarian inn if we do decide to eat in "the burg". That place used to be awesome, used to have good food and great service, and used to be constanyly crowded. I think they must have changed owners or something because when I took my mother there earlier in the year it sucked. I took her on Mother's Day as she's of German decent and that was one of her favorite German restaraunts. We get there and for it being an absolutely perfect day weather wise on Mother's Day in touristy Fredricksburg, it's suspicously without customers and practically empty, this was during lunch time, and mind you, the town itself was packed with people. We walk in, it takes forever for someone to finally come up front to get our names to be seated, they give us the little buzzer thingie, and we go sit outside and wait and wait and wait until afternoticing people who came in after us are getting seated, I go inside and ask wtf? is going on. We finally get seated, and Flo from Mel's Diner is our waitress and really not doing to well service wise, then we get our food and it's okay, but not "I just drove all the way from Austin with my mother" okay, and it's not like it was cheap either. I know there's better places than that, one of the other reasons I pondered Marble Falls as an addition is because it has good places to eat, instead of being limited to the Silver K in Johnson City. It does add some time and distance to an already lengthy day though so I guess we'll make the call when we leave Fredricksburg and see how many people want to go etc.
It's all just ideas, it's just as easy sticking to the original plan as that was a blast last year anyway :)

Like I said, I am open to doing anything, I have nothing to do besides this cruise so I dont care how long it takes. Im not to picky with food as long as its not some over the top foreign food place where I have no idea what im eating. As long as they have a good burger, Im fine. I wouldnt even care if it was Burger King or something. I get to leave at 4am on saturday morning from work so I can get an extra 2 hours of sleep. Ill see you at 10am at Albersons!

hey randall - looking forward to this. any idea about many people are going? just curious. bringing my girl - it's her birthday so we'll cut out at at a decent time (johnson city) for some late dinner plans, but otherwise we don't really care, like phantom, all routes/ideas sound cool, as long as we see xmas lights at the end, we're good!! see you around 10am i guess...

No real idea as of yet, I know a lot of people know about it, just not sure how many are wanting/or can go etc. :)

HUGE thanks to all who came out today, awesome turnout, perfect weather (aside from the stupid wind) and not too much traffic aside from a few annoyances here and there and today was just buttah! :)

Thank for coming out and putting up with me as your drive leader, I'll have pics up soon!

:D:

Pics are up at the future home of all TexasRxs pics, our work in progress Gallery page :)

http://www.texasrxs.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=287

(some of them came out blurry etc., sorry, don't know how to use my camera at night :lol: )