So we got back to Round Rock on Thursday night at dusk. Naya was still driving and I told her it was time for deer to start jumping into traffic and be super vigilant. She was and we got to the house without much issue. Lucy's sister and my BIL went out and got dinner and brought it back. We feasted and had cocktails and generally hung out the rest of the evening.
This pic is here for the header and will make more sense in a bit. Bear with me :)
Friday was baby shower prep day. My amazing sister-in-law was doing all the food for the shower and it was over the top. I helped with a number of items, then got a break in the afternoon and hit a couple of local liquor stores, looking to build on my rum collection. The rest of the day, we went over to Lucy's aunt's who lives pretty close by for lunch.
Saturday was the baby shower and it was really nice and my Sis & Bro in Law knocked it out of the park with a great event. I was released around 1:30 PM as I had a friend in town.
As you may know I have an affinity for the last of the dinosaurs so to speak. The '91-'96 General Motors full body on frame station wagons. The frame and suspension on them can be dated back to the 1950s technology and by the 90s it was fully sorted and a great machine. I have been involved in the community since 2007 and have personally owned 14 of these wagons and one Cadillac Fleetwood (shared driveline and many other parts). Along the way I have met a number of characters. One is Mike and he lives only 15 minutes from my in-laws in Round Rock. Every year there are a couple wagon gatherings around the US. As it turned out the day of the baby shower there was an event in upstate NY (the original Wagonfest). It was there in 2010 that I met Chris. I had known him from the wagon online forum but finally got to meet him (along with a host of others) that year. Anyway, I kept up with Chris over the years (and bought a wagon, and said Cadillac from him). He saw that I posted I would be hanging out with Mike in Texas and he hatched a plan.
In the BTDT realm going from South Carolina to NY in July he'd made the trip a few times and was ready for new adventure. His sister just moved to Alabama and I was a convenient excuse lol.
He bombed down from Montgomery, AL on Friday and got in town around 8PM. I went over and fetched him and we went for Tex-Mex, then dropped him back at his hotel. On the way to dinner I made a wrong turn and drove by the round rock.
I was surprised and told Chris that Mike would show it to him tomorrow (he did) as he showed it to me as well on an earlier trip (Mike is a great tour guide BTW).
I got done with the shower the next afternoon and headed over to his hotel and we waited for Mike to call as he promised sightseeing. We had a few beers in the room and then Mike called and we headed over to his place.
Well both of these guys are OCD about their rides and it was fun to watch, two long time friends (online) meet for the first time as I have known both for over a decade. It was a bit of the mutual admiration society as they both have impeccable rides (both wagons and other cars). Chris had many performance modifications and here is Mike taking them all in for the first time.
After a few minutes we hopped into Mikes Suburban and went for a ride around town for a couple hours. I have been to the Austin area about 10 times now, and I have to say EVERYWHERE Mike took us, I had never been to before (aside from the Round Rock, lol).
So Round Rock was part of the
Chisolm trail.
Round Rock was a crossing and watering place. Apparently you can see wagon wheel ruts worn into the rocks here (I didn't go check, but Mike says there are there so I'm sure they are).
Different view of the Rock.
NW of town Mike took us up in the start of Hill Country to see this view of Downtown Austin he knew of (used to work nearby here and very cool). I was close to the 360 bridge if you know where that is.
Shortly after this we slipped on down to the Oasis and took in the view from the top of the cliff of Lake Travis. It was HOT.
From there we checked out Mount Bonnell
Looking toward Downtown
Interesting info about the Escarpment that is the edge of Hill Country
More backstory on Mount Bonnell.
From here the day shifted into Dazed and Confused mode. Personally it's shocking, but I have never seen the film, but now that Mike has taken me to half a dozen set locations around town, I feel obligated.
He started by showing us a few landmarks (including a diner that Janis Joplin got started singing at) Including the building from the pool hall scenes and some paint dumping.
How it looks in the movie
Warehouse for paint scene
From here we headed back to Mike's to pick up the Wagons for the night.
Mike's wagon and Chris' in the back at Mikes house. Mike's is very close to stock except for wheels and a few touches and SUPER clean.
Heading out for more Dazed and Confused locations in Chris's very customized Buick Roadmaster. He bought this wagon from Georgia and it was rode hard and hung up wet with high mileage but a straight rust free body. He had another wagon that was rusty with a beautiful interior. He swapped the red nice insides into a green wagon and calls it the Santa edition (or similar). Now before you vomit in your mouth, we have a mutual friend who bought and sold over 750 (not a typo) of these wagons over a ten year period and he had one that was special ordered in this color combo so this is now one of two, lol.
Also notice the instrument cluster from a 4th gen Z28 Camaro and the cowl hood. I won't even get into what's he's done under the hood and with the suspension, etc. There is ALOT of love and $$$ into this car.
So a big part of the allure for a really long drive to hang out with Mike and I was Top Notch Hamburgers. This place is a time warp. It is truly the early 1970s on this property.
I guess they shot a lot of the film here. Anyway the owner is a car guy and has kept it as a time capsule (but the prices are not 1970s lol.) and has many car shows. Unfortunately, this was an off weekend, so only a handful of cars showed up.
The Caddy, is just like the one Chris sold me, identical color and options, but not the same car. It was bought by our mutual friend Bill 'The Verb' Crovo in New Hampshire. Well how did it end up in Austin you ask? Well Billy bought a Corvette in Houston and this other Impala/B/body Ohana whose parents live outside of Austin bought it. I'm a relative new comer to the family only being involved since 2007.
If you like the Caddy its for sale lol, lmk I'll hook you up with John the owner.
This awesome lens filter is actually Top Notch french fry grease on my lens. I took the shot, realized and cleaned it up. I kinda like it ha ha.
Chris, John, and Mike living the good life at Top Notch.
Apparently Top Notch is a good place to invite people to the
Moon Tower. Guess where we went next?
Well we eventually got there but first Mike drove us all over downtown Austin, past the Capitol building, down 6th street. Cops pulled up on us and complimented the cars and asked if we were a club lol.
We then stopped off at the Doug Sahm Hill Path, although Mike called it by a colloquial name I don't recall. It was a big mound but offered up a cool view of downtown.
The big finally was the Moon Tower. Mike kept talking about the party at the
Moon Tower. As I haven't seen the film I had no idea WTF he was talking about but it sounded cool. We drove up there and well, it was a 165 ft tower with lights. Essentially a street light, but over 100 years old, before street lights were a thing,
I took pictures, but I needed space, so only have this download of John's pic of the ass of his Caddy and a post I put on his feed.
We were there for all of 5 min and the police rolled through. I guess they thought we might
climb the tower . Anyway, that was the end of our tour and we headed back. We followed Mike for a spirited drive up the tollway back to Round Rock. I bid Chris a fair adieu, and headed back to the barn as I knew he had 700 miles in front of him tomorrow .
Watch the movie! Jeez! ;)
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