The brochure & schedule for the 2018 Texas Trail Roundup are now online! You can preregister by mail, for now. We’ll soon be adding online registration that will allow credit card transactions.
We’re starting the Friday Friendship Walk on February 23 earlier in the day — at 7:00 am — and ending earlier, at 1:00 pm. The opening ceremony is a little earlier too, which will give those who want to time to attend . . .
The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo! Tickets are $27, and we’re asking that if you want to go you purchase them through us by 15 October, 2017. Our new best friends at the San Antonio Convention and Visitor’s Bureau have advised us that once the music lineup is announced tickets sell out quickly, and we didn’t want to be in the position of taking your money and having to refund it if tickets are no longer available. This ticket gets you into everything: the grounds (including the midway), the stock show, rodeo and the evening country music concert. It does NOT include transportation, but we’ll arrange some affordable group rides. If you want a beer or a corn dog it comes out of your own pocket. Yippee!
We were disappointed — and you may have been, too — that for the 2017 Texas Trail Roundup the only way to see all four of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Missions was to sign up for the 42km Marathon. That’s quite a hike! So, we put on our thinking caps. In 2018 we will bus the 22km walkers to the furthest mission, Mission Espada, and you walk back to the event hotel, having passed through ALL FOUR missions. There will be a modest surcharge to cover our costs for transportation. The marathon, 13km (to Mission Conceptión and back) and the 5km through city streets, including the historic King William neighborhood, remain the same.
We have a new restaurant for Saturday’s International Friendship Dinner — El Mirador, which means “the watchtower” in Spanish. It’s been a favorite in the Southtown neighborhood since 1968, serving authentic family recipes from Guanajuato and Nuevo Leon. It’s earned kudos from The New York Times, Esquire magazine and the Food Network. We’ll be dining in their newly-restored Garden Street House, built in 1890. Seating is limited, so we’re asking that you purchase meal tickets ($35) by 1 February, 2018. Your ticket will get you appetizers, a plated entree from a selected menu, dessert, and hot coffee or tea. Cold drinks are extra. And good company. Did we mention good company? And mariachis! (The picture below is of the TTR volunteers checking out the party house at El Mirador.)
At the 2017 Texas Trail Roundup folks were ready to hit the trail on Sunday before the start window opened, so we’ve moved the start up to 8:00 am (7:30 for those doing the 22km walk.) The finish table still closes at 4:00 pm, so there’s a big window that will suit your travel plans.
Our start table was a little crowded, so we’ve rented all three sections of the downstairs ballroom and will be operating the start table from there. It should give everyone a little more elbow room. The finish table will still be upstairs, co-located with the hospitality suite.
It goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway) that we are tweaking the walk directions and will continue to monitor them to make sure that they are clear and accurate on the days of the walks.
See you in February!
