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I arrived in Austin Friday during rush hour so I hung out in town and waited for the streets to quell. When they did, it was a fast hour drive to Belton. I got there just as the BBQ was breaking up. I was quickly checking out as many buggies as I could but driving around in the rent a car was missing something. The buggies I saw were neat so I got my directions to Salado for the morning and checked in at the hotel. When I arrived I met Tom & Kathleen from the Manx Club. They Lived in Connecticut and drove their Manxter to the show form home and were doing a wild round robin trip. (I hope they right a story on it). We had a glass of wine and told buggy stories till late.

Saturday I woke to warmer morning than I was used to. I jumped in the rental car and went down the road to quickly find some buggies which led me to Salado. Salado is quite a neat little town full of history and antique shops. The grounds were quickly filling up with buggies and I was checking them out as fast as they would arrive. I checked in and introduced myself to Greg who filled out my name tag and made me put “from Calif” on the bottom, Then I kept meeting all the different people from the different sites. Putting a face to a screen name was fun. Bob Kornoff from the West coast all of a sudden drove in with the “DNF” car and it was at that point t that realized that there were not really any other buggies sporting a skid plate. The cars were all beautiful and it was neat checking and comparing the different design techniques. There were over 40 buggies but I did not take an official count due to all the shock and awe. I was shocked to learn that Texas, as big a state as it is, has really no public/BLM land for off road use and that it is almost all private land. So the buggies are designed for road cruising primarily. The sand rails were even street legal. The day went on with me hopping from shade spot to shade spot talking buggies and meeting new friends.

It was soon raffle and awards time. So needless to say I did not win a buggy award but I did score well in the raffle winning a Bimini Top and a rear view mirror BOO YAH!

The show ended about 3 so everyone could go back and nap and shower for the evening cruise

Greg hooked me up with Dennis and his “Blue Angel” buggy to cruise with for the weekend. The evening cruise had close to 30 buggies and we were on our way to a German Restaurant. We took off in usual buggy style and had everyone from waving at us from everywhere. It still amazes me that these Easter eggs bring the same smiles no matter where you are. We soon came across our first obstacle which was a very large cow in the road. Cattle do not like buggies and this one soon departed to better ground. Off we went again The Austin backcountry is beautiful and the ride was spectacular and then it came “The water crossing” the line quickly came to a stop, we all crossed the inch of water safely and almost no cars got dirty, I did not know buggies could tip toe. I immediately broke out my camera and was explaining to Dennis that we take a different approach to water crossings... We soon arrived at dinner and they were ready for the 60 of us. Ice cold beer in hot weather is sure good. The stories kept coming along with the laughing and German “oomp pa pa” band.

It was time to leave, like with most buggies headlights always need some adjustment or loose wire etc. That problem is universal and there was a varied quick fix going on and then a dead battery on a VW Trike. Now remember all you with those new automatic VW transmissions. You can’t push start them! So with a quick battery exchange we were on our way. The cool breeze and sunset on the way back was perfect buggy weather.

We returned back to the hotel and not even time to get back to the room and the buggy stories in the lobby were flowing. It was such a learning experience to see and hear what everyone else does and we all had a lot to share. Real Cool

The next morning Dennis was at my door early and we were off for the morning run. We stopped at the KOA to meet up with a few more buggies. We arrived to hear the stories of the night before. One buggy did not set the parking brake or have it in gear and the buggy decided to keep bouncing off the down hill campers vehicle. The buggy was soon apprehended and held in restraint. “Hello Prudential”

We were soon off and met back in Salado at a local park. More coffee and pastry and of course buggy chatter with another beautiful location. There were questions from Neal the night before on “What RBC really stood for?” So the next day I wore my Mojave shirt that had a bunch of answers to the constant question. The shirt had a lot of attention. Then I was asked about how many members we had and then the comment was made

“Oh so you have a Really Big Club” “Now you get it”

This time at the morning’s drivers meeting Greg note that all water crossing would be done at 60+ MPH. The looks on the faces was priceless.

Our parade was soon out on the road. We were out in the country when our first break down occurred. A loose Distributor bolt and bad points held us for about a half hour on the side of the road. Now the group huddling around the back of the motor while it was being worked on and then the large umbrella that opened up to provide shade, brought a tear to my eye. I felt like I was at home. They started to laugh when I told them that I called this group sex for buggies. The Buggy was beyond repair so a tow vehicle was sought and the rest of us were on the way again. More of the Texas back country we then stopped for a quick gas/lunch break and then everyone headed back through the same pretty country. Great Day!

I still learned so much from this trip. We are all from different parts and have different techniques but the end result and frame of mind were all the same.

“The Way Things ought to be”

Thank you Texas

Gene C

Thank you Gene, for coming out. We all enjoyed meeting you and appreciate the invitation. I think you may actually see some Texans next spring!

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