East Texas Tour

[Caterham99]

A few weeks ago Patty and I spent the last several days driving the back roads of east Texas to see if it would be a good place for a 7's tour. For those of you who may not be familiar with east Texas, or the "Piney Woods", it is heavily wooded gently rolling landscape, with numerous lakes and streams. It is not dramatic as the Texas Hill Country, but does offer many good roads, and interesting places to visit that I think everyone would enjoy. Plans are as follows:

 

• The tour dates would be October 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. The date could change, but Texas weather in October is usually good, and the date doesn't conflict with this year Las Vegas LOG.

 

• The tour would be based out of Longview, or Marshall Texas with three 200 to 250 mile loop drives to the north, southeast and southwest. The concept is to stay at one location, and make each loop a day trip. This may allow one the flexibility of participating in a one, two or three day tour.

 

• There are only a few small B&B's in the area, and as yet we haven't found a suitable one for the group. I have, however, made contact with several national chain motels (La Quinta, Holliday Inn Express, Hampton Inn, etc) in the area which may work. The big question, and this is very critical, is trailer parking. I have found one place with plenty of room, but there are potentially better places, but trailer parking is limited.

 

• Along the way, Patty and I have identified points of interest, gas stations, rest stops and unique places for lunch.

 

• There will be a $10-$20 registration fee to cover the preparation and mailing of an East Texas Tour Guide.

 

There are many details yet to work out, but how we proceed from here all depends on the level of interest. Several have already signed on, and If you are interested in joining us on an east Texas 7's tour this October, please let me know in the next week or so. It may seem like a long way off, but October will be here before you know it. Also please indicate:

 

• The number of days you would be interested in driving.

• The number of people that would be in your party.

• If you would be pulling a trailer or not.

 

I will let everyone know where we stand in a week or so.

 

Phil & Patty Anderson

[WestTexasS2K]

Sounds good Phil. I live in Texas but I have never been in the pine area of east Texas. I always wanted to have a reason to go. Now I do.

[GBOLT]

Thought this might help you plan routes. Nice sight for finding fun roads.

 

http://www.motorcycleroads.us/regions/tx_woods.html

[Caterham99]

Thanks for reminding me about the motocycle web site. I already have included several of the roads identified, but look at the others as well as we move forward.

[scannon]

I'm up for this if the date stays Oct 21 - 23. I plan on going to LOG 31 in Las Vegas the previous weekend and then heading east to Texas, then back to Colorado.

 

# of days interested in driving: 3 but flexible

# of people attending: 2

Trailering in: yes

 

Alaskossie and I are planning on sharing Caterham and truck/trailer driving for this one.

[captzoom]

Might be interested, probably two-day tour. Solo, trailering.

[Caterham99]

Patty and I have just returned from another trip to east Texas to add some refinements to the 7’s tour scheduled for October 21-23. That’s not to say there won’t be a few more adjustments as we go along, but things are just about set.

 

Tour accommodations will be at the Marshall Holliday Inn Express. They have accommodated several car clubs with trailers and should be able to handle us okay. We have reserved a block of rooms for the “Sevens Tour” at a reduced rate of $89.00 for either the “2 Double Beds” or “King Bed” option. An on line booking account has been set up for us so everyone can directly reserve their room at:

 

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/redirect?path=asearch&brandCode=6c&localeCode=en&regionCode=1&hotelCode=MSHTX&rateCode=6CBARC&_PMID=99801505&GPC=SST

 

Enter dates, occupancy, number of rooms, then room choice and smoking preference. Use either rate preference. We have not blocked rooms other than double or king, but if you want something else, make your selection and you will get a discounted rate. If you have any trouble with the above link, please let me know and I will work it out with Holliday Inn.

 

If you plan to attend the tour and need a room, please reserve your room buy the end of the month. Several motels in the area are already booked up with other events this October, and they can only hold our block open for a limited time. We are lucky to find a suitable location, and your cooperation would be much appreciated.

 

For those arriving Thursday in preparation for Fridays tour, we have 6:30 dinner reservations at the River Bend Restaurant on Caddo Lake. Catfish, steak, shrimp, frog legs, crab, alligator and other east Texas favorites. It’s about a 20 minute drive from Marshall, so we will leave the motel around 6:00.

 

Friday’s tour will be an approximant 200 mile loop north of Marshall. Several rest stops are planned along the way. We will be stopping for lunch at the Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards just south of Pittsburg. We will be able to sample some wine, have a leisurely lunch, and if you like tour the vineyard. Next we will stop at the Heritage museum in Pittsburg to check out the full scale replica of the Ezekiel Airship. The original was built by a local minister in 1901, supposedly flew in 1902, but was destroyed in a rail accident in 1904 while on its way the Worlds Fair in St Louis.

 

Friday evening we will have dinner at Blue Frog Grill in historic downtown Marshall. They have a limited, but excellent menu of steak, fish, shrimp and chicken.

 

Saturday’s tour will be an approximately 240 mile loop southeast of Marshall along the Texas / Louisiana border. Again with several stops along the way. Lunch will be at Mary Kay’s Country Dinner in San Augustine. While in San Augustine there should be enough time to visit the site of the 1717 Mission Senora De Los Dolores, stroll around the court house square, or take in some of the other historic sites. We will then proceed through Nacogdoches, Henderson and back to Marshall.

 

Saturday evening we will have dinner at OS 2 Restaurant & Pub in historic downtown Marshall. Steak, fish, pork, chicken, and pasta.

 

Sunday’s tour will be an approximately 270 mile loop southwest of Marshall with stops along the way. We will travel through Kigore, Jacksonville, and Rusk before stopping for lunch at Giovanni’s Restorante Italiano in Palestine. Not much is open on Sunday, so after lunch we will head back to Marshall.

 

I have checked out several excellent places for Sunday dinner, but haven’t selected a place yet.

 

We have not mapped it yet, but have given some thought to also working up a half day tour on Sunday for those needing to return home early. Let me know if you are interested.

 

There will be additional tour announcements in the coming weeks so I encourage you to frequently check the USA7’s site for the latest official information and comments. Those planning to attend are encouraged to forward me their name, address, phone number, and email and I will add their names to the list of Sevens Tours attendees to receive direct email announcements and other information.

 

Those already on the list of potential attendees include:

 

Brink

Jeans

Kwan

Long

Newlin

Thomen

White

 

With Patty and me that is 8 cars so far not including a couple of maybes.

 

 

Phil Anderson

Se7en@ctesc.net

[Caterham99]

I hope all is well with everyone and we get some rain soon.

 

Below is a registration form I would greatly appreciate those planning to participate in the tour fill out and mail back to me as soon as possible. If you prefer you can of course email me the information.

 

I have checked with the Holliday Inn and so far they only have 4 reservations. If you plan on going on the tour I strongly suggest you make reservations as soon as possible. The registration link for the discounted rate is as follows:

 

 

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/redirect?path=asearch&brandCode=6c&localeCode=en&regionCode=1&hotelCode=MSHTX&rateCode=6CBARC&_PMID=99801505&GPC=SST

 

 

 

I have been busy making maps and pulling tour information together. Everything will be in the mail to the participants before the end of September. If you have any questions, please contact me.

 

Phil

 

E A S T T E X A S 7’s TOUR 2 0 1 1

Registration Form

 

 

Please print off and complete the registration form as follows:

 

 

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

first last

 

Address: ___________________________________________________________________

street city state zip

 

Email: __________________________________

 

Cell Phone: ______________________________

 

Number of people attending: ________________

 

Days participating (Y/N):

Friday: ________

Saturday: ______

Sunday: _______

 

Meals (Y/N) needed to finalize restaurant selection and reservations:

 

Thursday:-- Dinner_____

Friday:------ Lunch ______ Dinner ______

Saturday:-- Lunch ______ Dinner ______

Sunday:---- Lunch ______ Dinner ______

 

Please mail completed registration form and mail it to:

 

Philip L Anderson

2034 Keese Sagebiel Rd.

Fredericksburg, TX 78624

 

The tour package will be sent out prior to the event, and contain detailed maps and other information that hopefully will make the tour more informative and enjoyable.

 

Participants are encouraged to make motel reservations early. Everyone will be responsible for their own expenses.

 

If for any reason you will not attend the event after you have registered, please let me know as soon as possible.

[steveosiris]

I'm up for this if the date stays Oct 21 - 23. I plan on going to LOG 31 in Las Vegas the previous weekend and then heading east to Texas, then back to Colorado.

 

# of days interested in driving: 3 but flexible

# of people attending: 2

Trailering in: yes

 

Alaskossie and I are planning on sharing Caterham and truck/trailer driving for this one.

I am a new Lotus owner, and have heard great things about the LOG in Vegas. Would you recommend that I go this year? Is it worth the trip out there? I found a great List of Las Vegas hotels that includes some Cheap Las Vegas Shows, so I am thinking about getting some Las Vegas hotel rooms for my family, making a big vacation out of it. The LOG sounds like great fun.

-Steve

Edited June 12, 2012 by steveosiris

[scannon]

Steve,

 

I've been to the one in Vegas and the one in Aspen in '07. I had a great time at both of them and I am planning on going to Orlando for this one.

[DeanG]

My wife and I are big fans of LOG having only missed one since 1987. There is always lots to do and plenty of cars to see although you never know what will show up. We have made friends with many people over the years. It is an excellent place to make contacts with people and get new ideas.

 

If you are a newcomer to auto-X or track events it is a good place to start. There will be people with experience in whatever you drive who are willing to help you out. Safety is very important to Lotus Ltd and their events reflect this.

 

I urge everyone to attend a LOG if they can.