Rides & Events - Lone Star Riders

Dying Leaf Ride

posted Sep 22, 2020, 4:56 AM by Mark Jensen [ updated Sep 22, 2020, 4:59 AM ]

Ok Friends,

Since there was no serious objection to changing the date of the Dying Leaf (aka Fall Colors) ride, it has been officially changed.

So....Thursday Oct 22nd we will ride to Eureka Springs and spend two days riding the best this area has to offer. Then we will return Sunday the 25th.

Now I have blocked 6 rooms with double beds at the Super 8 in Eureka Springs, where I don't remember if the group has stayed there but Linda and I have a few times. Below is the info where they are booked under my name and you can just give them the Itinerary Number and put one of the 6 rooms in your name. Oh, and if you need a king bed, you can change the two bed room to a single.

Itinerary Number: 5136B197609010

Name: RICHARD BUTLER

Hotel Information:
Super 8 by Wyndham Eureka Springs
3010 E Van Buren
Eureka Springs Arkansas
United States
+1 479 253 5040

$89.10 plus tax

And go ahead and start praying for good weather now, because last year we had to cancel this ride.

Thanks,

Rick

33rd Annual Texas Gathering

posted Sep 22, 2020, 4:51 AM by Mark Jensen [ updated Sep 22, 2020, 4:59 AM ]

2020 Come Ride FM-4

posted Feb 5, 2020, 5:20 AM by Mark Jensen [ updated Sep 26, 2020, 4:42 AM ]

Come Ride FM-4

Click on Thumbnail above for large graphic

We have a ride set for September 19-20 and it is an overnighter to Granbury. More information below. Get your rooms before they are booked up and let us know you are going! We need an accurate count for Saturday night dinner. This will be a rain or shine event. It will not be canceled for weather as it can be a nice 4-wheel trip.

We will leave from the Whataburger in McKinney

Saturday Departure - 8:00am

(Please have full tank of gas)

Whataburger - McKinney << LINK TO MAP

445 S Central Expy

McKinney, TX 75070

214-544-8100

Saturday Lunch - Approx. 11:30am arrival

Natty Flat Smokehouse << LINK TO MAP

19280 US-281

Lipan, TX 76462

254-646-3844

Natty Flats Smokehouse - World's Largest Cedar Rocker Link!

We will be staying at the Comfort Suites Granbury

Get your reservations now for September 19!

Comfort Suites Granbury << LINK TO WEBSITE

903 Harbor Lakes Drive

Granbury, TX, 76048

Tel: 817-579-5559

Saturday night dinner will be at Ketzler's Schnitzel Haus And Biergarten

Saturday Dinner - 6:30pm

Ketzler's Schnitzel Haus And Biergarten << LINK TO WEBSITE

101 E Pearl St

Granbury, TX 76048

682-936-2777

Sunday Departure - 8:30am

Sunday Lunch - Approx. noon arrival

Rockett Cafe << LINK TO LOCATION

5790 FM 813

Waxahachie, TX 75165

972.875.8353

So get your rooms booked and plan to make the FM-4 Ride to Granbury with us!

Mark Jensen

Bluebonnet Ghost Adventures Ride

posted Feb 5, 2020, 5:19 AM by Mark Jensen [ updated Feb 5, 2020, 5:34 AM ]

We are planning a overnight ride to Jefferson in March . Plans are to leave Sat March 28 and take a leisurely ride thru east Texas to Jefferson and return on Sunday March 29th.

Our host hotel and lodging for Sat night will be at the Historic Kahn hotel in downtown Jefferson. The Kahn Hotel is one of the top 10 haunted destinations in the country and has a long history of hauntings and being investigated by paranormal investigators. There is a good write up on the history of the hotel and the associated hauntings along with details on some of the Paranormal investigations done at the hotel on their website. It makes a interesting read. The hotel is right across the street from the old Jefferson Hotel that we used to stay at. The old Jefferson Hotel is now closed. The Kahn Hotel was completely remolded in 2016 and has 10 rooms. Room rates are $139-$149 plus tax with one suite apartment that goes for $249 per night plus tax. There is also a bakery and coffee house downstairs at the hotel for our morning coffee. The rooms appear to be nicely done. Check their website out for more details “Kahnsaloon.com”

You can call the hotel directly to make your reservations at 903 601 4434 and speak with Melanie. Tell her you are with the Lone Star Riders. They have some rooms with 2 queens and some with a single king or queen beds. There are pics of the rooms on the website you can review before you book a room. Act fast as they only have 10 rooms. Let’s fill em up. You will be charged a $75 deposit when you book the room and the balance will be due when you arrive to check in. They have a 2 week cancellation policy so you can cancel up to within 2 weeks of your arrival date with no charge. Cancelling within the two weeks prior to your arrival date you will forfeit your deposit. Let me know if you have any problems getting a room and if we have a greater turnout than the hotel has rooms we can look at some additional options for lodging to accommodate everyone.

We haven’t been to Jefferson in quite some time and it appears that there are some new restaurants in the downtown area that I will be checking out for a group dinner on Sat night. Hopefully the bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes will be putting on a show for us. Stay tuned for more details.

2019 Hill Country Motorhead Museum Ride

posted Jun 17, 2019, 7:48 AM by Mark Jensen [ updated Jun 17, 2019, 7:49 AM ]

LINK TO GARMIN ROUTES

We have a trip coming up on the calendar to the Hill Country Motorheads Museum in Burnet for June. It will be the weekend of June 22-23.

Burnet is about 250 miles from Dallas and we could do a down and back on the same day but it would be a long day for us. I checked into lodging in the Burnet area and there is limited availability and what is there was well over $100 per night.

With that in mind i looked around for some point between Burnet and Dallas for our stay for Sat night and Clifton came to mind. Clifton is about 110 miles from Burnet and about 2 hrs from Dallas so it seemed like a good place for overnighting on Saturday for those that didn't want to do a down and back on the same day.

There are restaurants in Clifton and they have a nice downtown area also. I checked into hotels and there is a hotel there that should work for us called the Velkommen Inn. It looks like a pretty nice place from the pictures and the reviews are positive. There is also another place called the Screen Door Inn which is a B& B but the pricing is a little higher. I have stayed at the Screen Door Inn previously and it is nice.

I checked with the hotel and if we book 6 rooms or more they can give us a rate of $94+ tax for rooms with 2 queens or $85 plus tax for king rooms.

Get back with us ASAP if you would like to go on this ride for the weekend of June 22nd and 23rd so we can get an idea of how many rooms we will need and I can get back with the hotel . If we don't book 6 rooms then the pricing is slightly higher.

2019 Dying Leaf Ride

posted Mar 16, 2019, 2:15 AM by Mark Jensen [ updated Mar 16, 2019, 2:27 AM ]

In summary...we are going back to Eureka Springs...one of my favorite places to stay in Arkansas. And we are going to spend 2 days here so instead of riding all of the time while there....we are going to play tourist and visit some of the special places in town:

1. The historic (haunted) Cresent Hotel at the top of the mountain with a sweet Catholic church at the base.
2. The Christ of the Ozarks and Magnetic Springs
3. The Thorncrown Chapel...an architectural wonder inspired by Frank Loyd Wright
4. Beaver Lake and War Eagle Mills...which is having a big flea market meet that week.

Not to overlook all of the good riding there is in this part of Arkansas and southern Missouri around the Branson area, etc. And you should note that we are going a week prior to when we usually go the the Ozarks in the Fall.

Anyway, we are staying at the Best Western Eureka Inn....which is within walking distance of the old down town. And I have 10 double rooms blocked for the Lone Star Riders where I think 3 have already been reserved. And we will have to call the motel to get their special rates as follows:

Call 479-253-9551 and ask for one of the rooms blocked for the Lone Star Riders for Oct 24-27 and get it in your name.

The rates are $116.95 for Thur and $121.95 for Fri and Sat.

There you have it for these two special rides, so think it over and make your reservations NOW,

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d00bJHFGLtCyjEtR0tI9I8X40Jwzb-yq/view?usp=sharing

2019 Medicine Park, OK Ride (Sept 20-22)

posted Mar 13, 2019, 4:41 PM by Mark Jensen [ updated Mar 16, 2019, 2:26 AM ]

Friends,

Since this trip got rained out last year, we have decided to do it again at the same time....Lightening never strikes in the same place...right.
So the details are as follows:

After 7 years we have decided to go back and spend a couple of days in historic Medicine Park, Oklahoma just outside of the Wichita
Mountain Wildlife Refuge north of Lawton, Oklahoma.

Below is a slide show of the group who went in 2012, which included both Linda and Jeff:

Slideshow for 2012 Trip

Now we stayed at the Plantation Inn in Medicine Park which is very historic and the largest motel in the area….but only has 20 rooms.
Now I talked to the manager Jenna Thornton and even though we can block rooms for the group, we both concluded that it would work out
best if we go ahead and make our individual reservations…NOW. The reason behind this is that Jenna is only one person and sometimes
cannot be reached by phone on a regular basis. And they have a really nice on-line reservation system that provides the number of rooms
that are left on a real-time basis.

So…..if you think you be interested in going on this ride in September (the same time we went in 2012), go ahead and make your
reservation now, The home page is as follows:

https://www.plantationinnok.com/

To make a reservation....select "Check Availability" and enter the check in and out dates 9/20-9/22...then select your room and follow the instructions. There is no deposit required and the cancellation policy is 48 hrs...so it's best that everyone wanting to go....make your reservations NOW. Remember last year someone came in and took all of the remaining rooms under our noses. The manager Jena said
it's best to make the reservations on-line where they keep track of remaining rooms...real time. They only have 20 rooms in the entire Inn, and after I made my reservation, there are 18 left (one being a cabin) The cost for 2 double queens for 2 nights is $219.98 and the single kings is $199.98 plus tax.

The high lights of this trip are:
the Meers Country Store
The Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge
Mount Scott
The Historic Plantation Inn in Medicine Park w/ The Old Plantation Restaurant on site
The Historic town of Medicine Park
* The National Historic Landmark and Museum in Fort Sill for the 7^th Calvary
The US Army Field Artillery Museum in Fort Sill
Museum of the Great Plains
Not to mention the ride up to Lawton and back

* In the 7 years since we last visited the two museums at Fort Sill, it turns out that this military installation has instituted program where you are required to get a visitors pass (for unescorted admission) to the Fort. Thus, we will be required to complete an application and submit
to a background check. I guess that for some silly reason (since 911) they would like to know who is on their property. Frankly, I have
always felt uneasy riding around the fort unescorted, where we were able to get on the Fort by just showing a drivers license.
And now they they have a special Visitors Center where you can go to get a temporary visitors pass. I have talked to them and this process goes pretty quickly after you submit the request for visitor access. They are open at 9:00 on Sat, so we can go there first before going to the museums.
We have attached the pdf form (scroll down the page), where everyone going can print it out to be completed and brought on the ride. But they do have forms at the Center, so completing the form beforehand, will only speed up the process.

So look over what I have presented and make your reservations NOW if you are interested

This will be a great trip…especially if you have never been to this special area of Oklahoma.

Thanks,
Rick

Link to form for access to Fort Sill

2019 East Texas Bluebonnet Extravaganza

posted Jan 16, 2019, 9:42 AM by Mark Jensen [ updated Apr 7, 2019, 4:12 PM ]

East Texas Bluebonnet Extravaganza

Agenda

Friday April 12 thru Sunday 14th 2019

2 Nights Friday & Saturday Depart Sunday Morning

Friday April 12th

Depart (184) miles to Destination

KSU, 9:00am sharp, Gassed Up

Whataburger-Terrell

148 FM148, Terrell, TX 75160 (972) 563-3010

Lunch:

Shep's Bar-BQ (Near 256 & Hwy 79) 4.5 Star Rating!!!

Sheps BBQ in Palestine

1013 E. Palestine Ave, Palestine, Texas 75801, 903-729-4206

Arrive Pine Creek Inn

341 Pine Creek Rd, Nacogdoches, TX 75964 936-560-6282

GPS Address: 1851 FM2782, Nacogdoches, TX 75964

Check in, unpack and settle into your rooms

All Rooms has a Coffee Maker with coffee, cream and sugar

Dinner: 6:00pm Pine Creek Country Inn, Creek Side Cafe

Served Buffet Style

$22.00 per person, plus Sales Tax 7.25% and 15% Gratuity Will Be Added To All Food and Beverage

Water/Tea/Coffee (Included), Bottled Water/Soft Drinks $1.50 each

Pork & Chicken Buffet

Two Entries to choose from: Served with Salad, Rolls and Butter

House Salad

Breast of Chicken with Mushroom @ Sherry Sauce or Roast Pork Loin with Capers, Olives and Shallots

Herb Roasted Potatoes and Sautéed Green Beans

Desserts: Apple Pie & Bread Pudding (A La Mode is an Additional 25 cents)

After Dinner:

Bring your adult beverages of choice and sit around and have some LAUGHS!!!

Saturday April 13th

Breakfast: 8:00am Pine Creek Country Inn, Creek Side Cafe

Eggs, Sausage, Biscuits, Gravy, Potatoes, Waffles, Cereal, Fruit, Coffee, Juice, Milk

(Served Buffet Style (Breakfast Is Included In Room Cost)

After Breakfast: Join in on a Group Ride or do you thing while riding in the beautiful East Texas Pine country!!!!

We will have two guided Routes:

#1 (9:00am) Rick leading, a 271 or 178 or 148 Mile Route. The Long Loop route is 271 miles and having lunch at the Stump Restaurant 3819 Hwy 255 W. Brookeland, Tx 75951 on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir).
#2 (9:05am) Rex leading, a 148 Mile Route: South Loop CCW route and choose a lunch location

We might take Route North Loop CCW: 178 Mile Route: Have lunch at Clear Springs Restaurant, 211 Old Tyler Rd, Nacogdoches, TX 75961, (936) 569-0489

Dinner: 6:00pm Pine Creek Country Inn, Creek Side Cafe

Served Buffet Style

$24.00 per person, plus Sales Tax 7.25% and 15% Gratuity Will Be Added To All Food and Beverage

Water/Tea/Coffee (Included), Bottled Water/Soft Drinks $1.50 each

Two Entries to choose from: Served with Salad, Rolls and Butter

Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber Salad

(World Known) Lisa's Homemade Lasagna and Stuffed Green Peppers served with Marinara Sauce and Stuffed Tomatoes
Dessert: Ice Cream Melba (Vanilla Ice Cream with Fresh Strawberry's) Or Cake

After Dinner:

Bring your adult beverages of choice and sit around and have some LAUGHS!!!

Sunday April 14th

Breakfast: 8:00am Pine Creek Country Inn, Creek Side Cafe

Eggs, Sausage, Biscuits, Gravy, Potatoes, Waffles, Cereal, Fruit, Coffee, Juice, Milk

(Served Buffet Style (Breakfast Is Included In Room Cost)

Gather Up and Head For Home: (203 miles to Rockwall)

Lunch: Moore Store, Ben Wheeler, TX

Arrive Home!!!!!

During Our Stay

Also: Pine Creek Country Inn Also Offers Spa's, Skeet Shooting & Archery

Lisa says that "You are going to love it!!!!

Massage Therapist
$70.00 An Hour (24 hr Notice)
Aromatherapy
Relaxation-Swedish
Deep Tissue

Pedicures $35.00 takes about 45 minutes (24 hr Notice)

Also Pine Creek now offers Skeet Shooting

$40.00 per person (includes Ammo, Gun, and Targets (48 hr Notice)

Hours 11am-4pm (So Guest or not disturbed)

Archery $15.00 per person

2019 Big Bend Ride

posted Jan 2, 2019, 12:07 PM by Mark Jensen [ updated Mar 12, 2019, 5:11 AM ]

Our first major ride of 2019 is a return to southwest Texas and the Big Bend area. We were here in 2017 and it will be great to return to an area that we have enjoyed for many times since the Polar Bear Ride of 2004. Get your rooms booked ASAP as this is the end of Spring Break and there could be problems finding lodging if you wait too long.

CLICK ABOVE FOR LARGER MAP OF ENTIRE RIDE

Highlighting below indicates link

<<< DOWNLOAD PDF FILE OF ITINERARY HERE >>>

Lodging Info

Wed, March 20 – Brady, TX – Best Western (325-597-3997) 2 beds $89.99+tax AARP rate

Thu & Fri, Mar 21 + 22 – Study Butte, TX –

Primary: Big Bend Resort & Adventures (432-371-3382) 2 beds is $119+tax/night. 1 night charged when reserving and 72 hour cancellation policy.

Optional: Chisos Mining Company (432-371-2254) 2 beds is $96.05 including tax/night.

Sat, Mar 23 – Alpine, TX – Quality Inn (432-837-1530) 2 beds $116+tax AARP rate

Itinerary

Wed, March 20 - Everyone make it to Brady at your leisure for the evening - Approx. 241 miles direct. Mark will have a more scenic route with a lunch stop at the Burger Bar Cafe in Llano if that is something you would prefer to do instead of a straight ride to Brady.

Dinner (6:30) at Mi Familia Mexican Restaurant

Thu, March 21 - Ride to Study Butte/Terlingua - 390 miles

Lunch at Oasis Cafe in Marathon

Thu (6:30): Dinner at the Starlight Theatre

- Alternative dinner choice is la Kiva Restaurant and Bar

Fri, March 22 - Ride to Presidio, Marfa, Ft Davis, McDonald Observatory, Alpine, and back to Study Butte/Terlingua - 284 miles

Lunch at Ft Davis Drug Store

Fri (6:30): Dinner at the High Sierra Bar & Grill

- Alternative dinner choice is la Kiva Restaurant and Bar

Sat, March 23 - Ride through Big Bend National Park with stops at Santa Elena Canyon, Boquillas Canyon Overlook, and Chisos Basin (Lunch). Head to Alpine for the night - 249 miles

Lunch at Chisos Mountains Lodge Restaurant

Dinner (6:30) at the Reata Restaurant

Sun, March 24 - Head for home - 504 miles.

Lunch at Underwood's BBQ & Cafeteria in Brownwood

Approximately 1,668 Miles Total

2019 Big Bend Ride Registration

2019 Big Bend Ride Registration
2019 Big Bend Ride Registration