CANCELLED - 23rd Annual Central Texas Autumn Staycation at “The Ranch”

[Phat1842Many]

Event Cancelled

TLDR: We take the weekend of November 2nd and wheel on the cheap ($50!) at BVORR near College Station, a relatively short drive (1 ¾ hours) east of Austin. Camp Friday and Saturday night at Lake Bryan, only a 15 minute drive from BVORR.

Wheelin': Brazos Valley Off-Road Ranch has something for everyone. I've exchanged emails with Steve, the proprietor and he has agreed to open the property on Saturday the 2nd of November. You can just come for the wheelin’ on Saturday or you can make a weekend of it and camp Friday and/or Saturday night at Lake Bryan.

Pricing: The gate fee minimum is $200. As long as we have at least eight rigs the entry fee will be not more than $25 each. In addition we have to hire a guide for $25/hr. One guide can do up to 10 rigs. If we have 8-10 or 16-20 rigs for eight hours that would be not more than $50 per person total, guide(s) included.

Accommodations: Camping is available at Lake Bryan which is a 15 minute drive north of BVORR. Come early on Friday to rent a kayak or paddleboard and do park/water stuff like fishing and mountain biking. It’s only $10 per night for a tent campsite. My out-of-pocket is $20 (three people, one tent, one vehicle). I'm reserved for Friday and Saturday (leaving Sunday) at site 2. If you're booking for two nights make sure the price is double; my start date was the 1st and end date was the 3rd. There are fire rings at the campsite so bring wood to burn! When picking a site keep in mind that the restaurant/bar will have live music until midnight both nights. If it's hot bring that canopy and battery powered fan!

Food: Cadillac Ranch Bar&Grill is on-site at the Lake. BBQ on yours or a park grill at your campsite. Also, there look to be some good options in College Station for post-wheelin’ eats.

Swag: We're light on stickers, t-shirts and O’Reilly’s sponsored “truck nutz” but heavy on good times and good memories.

You know you regret missing CTAS the other 22 years. This time it's on!

Reserved:

1. Derek aka Phat1842Many
2. Dean aka Waingro
3...

 

[Waingro]

I'm in. Camp site booked!

 

[CactusHopper]

Is this type of thing open to complete novices? Or will we get in the way? We have a 2013 LX stock with 285/65R18 Defenders (32.6 in).

 

[Phat1842Many]

Hi CactusHopper,

This is open to novices. That said, it seems the way it works is a guide leads the way for the whole group. The way I see it going, the moment someone were unwilling to attempt part of the run, they would hop out of their rig and into someone else's.

Three things to note:
1) If we have 16 people we will have two guides which will help divide the challenge level.
2) I've never been to BVORR so I don't know the general challenge level. It looks to be much easier and friendly to our wagons than the last place I went, Katemcy Rocks. If anyone has been and can provide more information, please do.
3) The "tupperware" front and rear bumpers on your LX stick out a bit. And the stock running boards are a big, low hanging target. If you cringe at the idea of a scratch on the unseen bottom of your running board paint, sticking to pre-approved wheeling (think a manufacturer showing off their new vehicle with a course made just challenging enough not to do any damage) and dirt roads is par for the course.

Cheers,

Derek-

 

[Phat1842Many]

Good to see everyone who came out to Rudy's for the September meet. This is a bump to make it easy for interested parties to find.

 

[RevISK]

 

[rscoleman]

I am interested will not know till later this month if 2nd stays open on my calendar due to work. I will just be their for day. Will be waiting for more info like meet up time and location of meet up unless we just meet up at site they have address on web site, thanks for that link.

 

[The Phoenician]

I'm juggling a few things right now, but if my weekend is open, I'll be there.

 

[rscoleman]

Might be in jeopardy for Nov 2nd. Uber driver in Houston last night forgot how brakes work.

 

[Phat1842Many]

Brutal. Must not have been a Prius judging by the height of the damage. Glad you guys are ok.

Hopefully we'll see you in November but understand if that puts a damper on things.

Phoenician, we'll keep an eye out for you.

 

[Phat1842Many]

Whelp, with only two people confirmed, that makes it $200/person. That's too steep for me so I put in the cancellation email with Steve.

The staycation will happen probably middle of next week at Hidden Falls. PM me if you want details.

Cheers,

Derek-

 

[rscoleman]

Sorry I still do not my LC back from repair.

 

[DrDuc]

Whelp, with only two people confirmed, that makes it $200/person. That's too steep for me so I put in the cancellation email with Steve.

The staycation will happen probably middle of next week at Hidden Falls. PM me if you want details.

Cheers,

Derek-

Is there any way to do it so that it includes at least one weekend day? I would love to meet and wheel with other forum members, but there’s no way of getting out of work mid-week on short notice for me.

 

[JohnnyFish]

Derek, I've been meaning to say this for a while. I see you and I really appreciate what you tried to do here. It's tough starting something new and coordinating schedules. I hope to join you next time.