A Tale of Three Sisters and BMWs Past

[crystalworks]

This weekend the annual TexFest gathering was held. We missed last year's for the same reason many people missed events. The previous one I attended took place near Canyon Lake between San Antonio and Austin. This year's was held in Ingram, TX out in the Texas hill country. Truly beautiful area. It started as a 5er event but welcomes all BMW metal really. My wife and I are fairly anti-social so we didn't meet everyone and usually hung out by ourselves, but I remembered some of the attendees from 2019 and had some good convos with others.



Fortunately Red did not require much to get ready for the event as I did not really have time to do anything in terms of prep. Just a quick dust off and some tuning of the new stereo setup on the laptop before heading out on Friday morning. It's only about an 1.5 hour drive from our house, which is good because I had to go back for the wife in the evening after she got off work. I feel for those who come from out of state. There were a bunch of people from CO in particular (one of the event sponsors is Denver Beer and Oil).

We were being hosted by Lazy Hills Retreat & Conference Center and had the whole place to ourselves. Booked the place out, which is good when loud vehicles and loud people are involved. The staff was uber friendly and I don't think the event wore out it's welcome as they are booked again for 2022 according to the desk at checkout. This is a very nice place focused on outdoor activities. The rooms are comfortable, but sparse without a TV in sight. Cell service was sketchy in some rooms as some of the buildings are concrete. Made for some interesting walks to make calls.

Upon arrival I took a lone walk around some of the premises. It's a very big property (725 acre). I was promptly greeted by the local fauna and got 15+ fire ant bites across both feet/legs. I swear they coordinated the attack and waited until sufficient troops were in place before attacking. I am mildly allergic so my legs got a little tingly and of course got the obligatory puss welts... but that's what I get for not looking where I was standing. They got me while taking the last of the below shots. I promise there will be cars eventually.









Shortly after that Mouse and his wife returned from the local Wal-Mart. She needed some more things so we sent her in Red (she doesn't drive his manual LS swapped e30) and we checked out some of the cars on our way to toss a football. We're getting older, but it's always been a tradition to bring a football to chuck around so we continue. Our shoulders definitely feel more sore than they used to afterwards... but I digress.





This e28 w/ I believe a Zender body kit as probably my favorite of the event. Mouse liked it quite a bit as well. There were so many nice cars it was a tough choice, but something about this one just calls to me.





E28 M5. Mmmmmm. No explanation needed.









Talked to some of the attendees for the next couple of hours before having to go back to San Antonio for the wife. One owner brought an E30 touring with a euro S50 swap in it. Very nice. Another with an E34 touring that had a crazy rear wing on it. Not my taste, but it was interesting and loved by someone so added nicely to the ambiance. These gatherings are always full of wrenching as well. One guy had bought an e34 manual in San Antonio and had it towed to the event. He brought another transmission and clutch with him and completed the swap over Friday and Saturday. Drove it out on Sunday. Love that stuff. Another did a front strut housing swap after buying some parts from someone... and I'm sure there was other wrenching as well.

Wife was a little perturbed as I was about an hour later than expected for pickup that evening. Came back through San Antonio during rush hour. More to follow. Saturday brought unexpected adventure on more than occasion.