Lone Star Birds Rally in Schulenburg

[mbulriss]

The Lone Star Birds had another successful rally this weekend in
Schulenburg Texas. We had 13 Birds present. All were Texas based
Birds for this rally. We missed the OK and LA based Birds, so we
called Ralph and the Gureaskos to chat. Thanks go out to Chet Geist
and Tony Holtermann for arranging this rally.

The highlight of the rally was the "painted churches" tour on Saturday
morning. We caravaned to four area churches built by German immigrants
in the 1800s. To say the interiors were spectacular is an
understatement. The interiors were typically all wood, but the
support columns were marbleized to look very convincingly like stone
columns. OK, I admit it; I touched one to be sure in one of the
churches. The ceilings were typically plain lathe board and then
painted. In many cases the ceilings looked three-dimensional and you
had to look closely to realize that they were plain wood boards and
not multi-layered wood cove moldings and beams. The altars were
absolutely works of art. It was a very interesting tour. I don't
think I have ever seen that many Birders looking up with their mouths
open.

On Saturday afternoon, the gals went shopping while the guys attended
a tire and wheel seminar put on by a manger from Meyers Tire Supply.
It was full of good information and reminders. All attendees received
a full set of new air stem caps (Myers Double Seal Inflate Thru Valve
Cap - see detail at
http://www.myerstiresupply.com/pls/myers...id=hm\
br1535
or at http://tinyurl.com/2lw352

After the talk, I bought the yellow 475 ft.lb. torque stick he had for
display ( http://tinyurl.com/2nk7ol ) and Eric scored a deal on the
Cross-Fires he had for display ( http://tinyurl.com/3awn3q ). I had
been looking for a torque stick for a while, and he threw in another
plastic wheel protector ( http://tinyurl.com/3y532j ). I have had two
aluminum wheels cracked by "tire pros" with 1" air guns "set to the
proper pressure" and we identified at least one Bird present with
broken lugs, probably due to 1" air guns "set at the proper pressure"!
Now I will get to hand them the torque stick before anyone remounts
any wheels for me. A lot cheaper than replacement wheels!

Other than that, we ate and ate and sat around talking, laughing and
watching big spiders build their webs at night! Whoa, hold the
excitement down! All in all, a very relaxing rally and a good time
with good fellowship.

Oh yeah, there was a stump the kid Q&A one night, but all the adults
got stumped when someone asked "Why do they call them goat rails?"
Does anyone know the origin of that term for the roof rack rails?

The next LSB Rally is Nov 30 - Dec 2 for the Holiday Rally. We need
people to sign up ASAP at Buckhorn Ranch RV Resort in Kerrville so
that we can make arrangements for the meals and other items. Drop me
a note if you have registered with the park.

I filled up at Flying J on the way back and was excited to have gotten
5.2-5.3 mpg on the last couple of trips. Not quite Prius range yet,
but exciting to break 5! Just a fine running machine!

Hope to see you all at a Lone Star Birds Rally soon!

Mike Bulriss
1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan"
San Antonio, TX