East Texas Spring Sidecar Muster May 13-15, 2011

I stopped by the Rusk KOA on Friday 4/8/11 to check out the rally site. There are some shade trees around the camping cabins and tent sites. There are fire rings throughout the park with firewood available. Also, Walter said they could cook a meal for us, I'm thinking breakfast on Sunday. He also said they have about a dozen cabins/sites already spoken for during the rally, and I've heard of a couple of rooms reserved at the T J Rusk Hotel downtown.

Contact Info:
Rusk KOA: Walter & Carol Preble -- Phone: 903-683-6641 -- Email: ruskkoa@mykoa.com

T. J. Rusk Hotel: 903-683-2000

Other lodging:
Southern Motor Inn: 903-683-2688
Weston Inn Motel: 903-683-8383

We plan to arrive Friday afternoon after stopping for lunch at the 7th Street Restaurant in Cushing.

Lee where is Rusk Tx? My mape quest dosn't know where it is.Rudy

rudyr - 4/15/2011 8:52 PM

...where is Rusk Tx?...

Rudy, Rusk is Southwest of Henderson and Northwest of Nacogdoches, on US84 30 miles West of Mount Enterprise and 30 miles East of Palestine; it is also on US69 15 miles South of Jacksonville and 40 miles North of Lufkin.

The KOA is on the Southeast side of town on FM343 about 1/2 mile East of US69.

There are much better Farm-to-Market (FM) roads to travel to get to Rusk than the US Hwy's. I will post up some possible lunch stops. /Lee

P.S. This should link you to a google map with Rusk marked as "A":
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Rusk,+TX&aq=&sll=31.856564,-95.289917&sspn=0.772167,2.197266&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Rusk,+Cherokee,+Texas&ll=31.933517,-95.125122&spn=0.771521,2.197266&z=9

Some good area eateries for lunch on the way in to Rusk, or for a Ride to Eat, accessible by great FM Roads -- Most all of the FM Roads in the area are good back road traveling:

-- SCRATCH---North: The Olde Store in Gallatin -- 10 miles out via FM768 --- SCRATCH. We just heard The Olde Store has recently closed its doors. Drats, another good eatery off the beaten path is gone.

Southwest: Moosehead Cafe in Crockett -- 45 miles via FM's 2022/228/tx294/28

South: Yellow Jacket Cafe in Alto -- 20 miles via FM's851/343 -- or 10 miles via US69

East: 7th Street Restaurant in Cushing -- 24 miles East via FM225/343

🙁

Here's a list of Rusk area attractions from the KOA booklet:

[Edit 5/4/2011: The pic is out until our albums can be restored, but the list is attached.]

Thank you for the info Lee. I am hoping that I will be able to make it, but still don't have my 1500 running, the latest setback was when I dropped one of my carbs, and broke off one of the float hinge pin towers, waiting for a used carb to arrive, so that I can finish rebuilding them. I'm really looking forward to getting the rig on the road.

Lloyd - 4/18/2011 5:30 PM

... I am hoping that I will be able to make it, but still don't have my 1500 running.... I'm really looking forward to getting the rig on the road.

Hey Loyd, we sure hope you get the rig up and running. However, may I suggest you consider coming even if the bike isn't running, as it's a great opportunity to meet and visit with fellow sidecarists.

Thanks Lee, I'm going to do my best to get there, if I don't get the rig running I may rent a small car, can't afford diesel for the truck. 🙁

SwampFox - 4/15/2011 9:47 PM

Some good area eateries for lunch on the way in to Rusk, or for a Ride to Eat, accessible by great FM Roads...Southwest: Moosehead Cafe in Crockett -- 45 miles via FM's 2022/228/TX294/28

If you are new to the area, the ride from Rusk down toward Crockett is interesting as the land begins its transition from piney-woods to mixed-oaks, and there is 22 mile loop on the west side of Crockett that venture's into the central Texas mesquite/prairie and post oak flats.

OK folks: I've set up an appointment for 10:30am Saturday for us to visit with Tom at his Toyland Military Museum. See http://www.tomtownsend-toyland.com/toyland/toymain.htm for preview, etc. Admission will be $5 per person to help with his overhead.

Jena & I plan to leave the KOA about 8:15am to head down the FM roads to Alto for breakfast at the Yellowjacket Cafe', then head up to see the military vehicles -- and miniature horses & cows too. 🙂

Looking forward ot it Lee. Campfires are in order. The weather report looks GREAT too. See you there. HB

if my calculations are correct, leaving New Waverly very shortly after 6am, i should be able to meet you in Alto. i'm glad we got the rain today here in the Huntsville area, and glad the forecast is for good weather the weekend.

one-night - 5/12/2011 8:02 PM
... should be able to meet you in Alto....

We'll be looking for ya. We don't plan to leave the Yellowjacket Cafe' until after 10am.

Should you miss us, head North on US69 for 5 miles to FM241;
Turn Left on FM241 for 1 mile to CR2407 to left;
Look for us about 1/2 mile down on the right at "Toyland."

Had a great time at the Spring Sidecar Muster, thanks for all that you did Lee. We enjoyed meeting the people, and seeing the rigs, really got me excited about getting ours running. Thanks again. 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉