Labor Day road trip ideas take center stage, with suggestions for escaping hurricane season by exploring charming Texas towns like Fredericksburg and Bandera. The hosts share personal anecdotes and highlight attractions such as wineries, haunted hotels, and dinosaur parks. The episode then shifts to an engaging discussion on what car colors reveal about their owners, covering traits associated with colors like red, black, and green. Finally, a detailed review of the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla showcases its performance and unique design, sparking excitement among car enthusiasts.
Topics:hurricane evacuationroad trip destinationscar color psychology2025 toyota gr corolla reviewsmall town attractionscar performancefamily-friendly activitieswine countryhaunted hotels
Tired of the same old hurricane evacuation routine? We've compiled a guide to turning your necessary departure into a memorable Texas adventure. Instead of crowding into chain hotels with your family and pets, consider charming destinations like Luckenbach and Fredericksburg with their creek-side cabins, dance halls, wineries, and boutiques. Or venture east to Jefferson, one of Texas's most haunted towns, complete with ghost-filled hotels, antique shopping, and riverboat tours through atmospheric bayous.
For families, Glen Rose offers the prehistoric wonder of Dinosaur Valley State Park where kids can track real dinosaur footprints, while Bandera—the self-proclaimed "Cowboy Capital of the World"—delivers authentic western experiences including unique hillside architecture that creates the feeling of entering old-time speakeasies. These alternatives transform a potentially stressful evacuation into an opportunity for discovery and adventure.
We also explore what your car color reveals about your personality. Drive a red vehicle? You're likely passionate and adventure-seeking. Black car owners tend to be mysterious sophisticates who value elegance, while white car drivers are practical planners who keep things neat and organized.
The segment culminates with an in-depth review of the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla—a 300-horsepower compact that's far more than its namesake suggests. This factory race car generates a cult following among 30-something enthusiasts and delivers thrilling performance that rivals the Volkswagen Golf R and Honda Civic Type R, proving that sometimes the best things come in small, powerful packages.
Ready to rethink your hurricane evacuation plans or curious about what your vehicle choice says about you? Subscribe to our podcast for more insider automotive insights and unconventional travel recommendations that make life on the road more enjoyable.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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"...ne. Subaru WRX is $37.750. Not as powerful. Honda Civic Type R, $45,595. This is a fun car. I'm telling y..."
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All right, Mr. Mars, driving destination, sir. So I got to thinking, Labor Day's coming up, and we've started watching the golf. We're looking for the hurricane, because of the weather, because of where we're located at. And I got to thinking, well, you know, everybody can go off to San Antonio or Dallas or Waco, any place in the north. Just go find some place. And I've done that a couple of times with the wife and the kids and the dogs and the cats loaded up into a motel six, because that's the only place it would take the pets.
It's not a lot of fun. So I was thinking about what else you could do. And then so I thought some of the other places you could go that you might make a little bit of a road trip in a hurricane out of it. Somehow the hurricane blew in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So go to up into Luke and Bach in the Fredericksburg area. You know, you can go find you some hill country bed and breakfasts or you can get some cabins. Luke and Bach actually has cabins on a little creek across from the post office thing.
You can go to the Luke and Bach dance hall and been there. Yeah, been there. And you can also go up to Fredericksburg. It's right next door with the wineries, beer gardens, the National Museum of the Pacific War and lots of boutiques. Then if you're looking for something a little bit, a little bit more to the north, go to Wimberley, which is another artsy small town. And you can stay in the river cabins that they have there or the Wimberley Inn. They've got the Wimberley Glasswork Studio. You got places to go swimming like the Blue Hole or Jacob's Well.
Then you could also go through the Wimberley Valley, Valley Winery to get wound up at the end of the day. The other place a little bit more to the east is Jefferson. Now this, you can stay at the Jefferson Hotel here because and this is famous for being haunted. Jefferson's considered one of the most haunted towns in Texas. I did not know that.
You've got plenty of antique shopping. You've got to train the Jefferson Railway. They'll take you out through the Piney Woods, got a Bayou River Boat Tour, lighting off in the desert. They even have a gone with the Wim Museum there that I did not know. Well.
Then you can also go a little bit more centralized, go to Tyler. It's in East Texas, but it's known as the Rose Capital. Got a lot of them.
Got a lot of stuff for evacuees. You can go to the Tyler Rose Garden. They got a zoo. They got lakes to go and play with and plenty of hotels, medical facilities and restaurants.
We were ever played with a lake of you. Well, play in. That played a lot of other things.
Yeah, yeah. A town I really like and my wife loves it is Nakadochus. Now it's more, it's not really that far north, but it is farther north. Got a historic charming. It's actually the oldest town in Texas.
Nakadochus? Nakadochus. Got brick paved downtown. Got plenty of museums. Stephen F Austin is there. They got trails to go hiking in if you want to get out and about. They don't have that many hotels there because it's not that big of a town.
It is a college town. So you got to make your reservations here, but it's a real nice place to go visit.
If you want to do something more with the kids, Glen Rose is another small town. Now this is home of the dinosaur valley state park.
There's actually fossilized dinosaur tracks that you can go down through the river beds and check out.
But here, if you're an evacuee, you don't have to necessarily stay in a hotel. You can camp, you can hike, you can go do all kinds of things in that area.
And the last one I wanted to bring up was Bandera. Now this is a little more west. If you're going out towards San Antonio, you want to go a little more west.
Now this is the cowboy capital of the world. Now this is a place for rodeo fans, Western culture lovers.
One of the things that I liked whenever we've been there before, along with their museums and the cowboy look to it and everything.
It's very hilly there. So like on these, the entrance to the stores and stuff and the bar right behind where these cowboys are riding down Main Street.
You actually have to go downstairs down the side of the hill and the bar and everything's down below and it's kind of like going to a speakeasy.
So there's just be a few places that you could go and if you're going to evacuate and maybe have a little more fun than a motel six in San Antonio. There you go.
Nice.
Time now for Jeff's car culture. What your cars color says about you.
You betcha. And here we go. So this first one, even though it's just the whole shot there, Mike copper.
If you've got a copper vehicle, you're not afraid of getting your hands dirty. Hard work and character. Leave that alone. Here we go.
Next one is red. Passionate adventure. Drivers who are drawn to red cars have fiery passion and won't hesitate to fight for what they believe in.
They get personally invested in things, but they crave most is adventure. Fast rides, pulse pounding experiences and exciting encounters are what makes life worth living when you have a red car.
Next one is black, Don. Mysterious and sophisticated. That's me, baby. Black car drivers like to keep themselves, keep to themselves and don't reveal too much.
They like to retain some mystique. These drivers are perfectionist and won't leave a job unfinished unless it's a margarita glass. If they leave it at all, their elegance is sophisticated and can capture a room.
Next one we have a practical planner would be a white vehicle. Just like their favorite color, white car lovers keep things neat and tidy. Maybe two extremes.
You're happy when things are simple and your practicality means that when it comes to group outings, everyone looks to you for the best plan.
Absolutely. Okay, then we got a blue one. Blue is common collected, Mike. Like the blue ocean. You're too serene and cool on the surface. You generally like to take life as it comes, but underneath that surface are unexpected currents.
You're probably a far deep thinker and you let it on and you to let on and you can't resist the challenge of a good competition.
And then we got green. Green is the environmental protector. That's a good shot of that little car. I drive that. What else would a green car driver be but more passionate about the environment?
Yeah, everybody knows that. You're always doing your best to make sure that you're being sustainable and you're probably love the great outdoors too.
And the next one we have if you get one of these, you're a yellow beam of sunshine. How about that?
Your car, yellow car drivers are as bright as their vehicles. Happy, optimistic. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.
You're socially active and the life of every party, Michael, just like you. Bobby Spark, but there you go. It's to be expected though because you love to make people laugh and you share in their sunshine.
And then we got one purple for those that are purple people. The artistic expression purple lovers have real bearing on what they draw attention to and having to seek it out.
They're just so good at expressing themselves. They have impeccable taste whether it's in friendship, music or art. So you'll never have a hard time finding subjects to discuss.
I painted the front door of my old house with a purple door.
Brown salt to the earth. I like this car. Look at that. Brown, your favorite color. You're down to earth. You treat everyone the same way.
Like our social professional standings and it works for you. I like it. People love your honesty. Thank you. Would you buy and drive that? I drive the car.
Kathy had a brown car. She did. You're dependable person who enjoys the quiet evenings instead of loud parties.
You're the last one to take off from the stop sign. I drive that car. I would.
Perfect. You know, I'm sorry. I know brown and green though. You know, Chevrolet made a lot of trucks and taos and suburban that color.
And it was like that brown. Yeah, it's like why? My cutlass is brown. It was chestnut brown. It was a cat. GM was real big into that brown. It was really sweet.
Flat, ugly brown. It was like a root beer. Dirt brown. That's a duck brown. No, no, no. That was the duck yellow. That was the yellow end of the duck you're looking at. It's jerk.
There you go. Your car color tells us a lot about you. Yeah, it does. Yeah.
Time now for this hour's car review. How to chance to drive the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla. What is that? GR stands for Gazoo Racing.
Final assembly location. Toyota I.E.C. Japan available trim levels core premium and premium plus review trim level is the five door premium plus this is a compact little sedan.
All new in 2023. exterior exterior features include oversized front grill gives it a menacing face in my opinion.
Bouging fenders can barely hold the big 18 inch wheels. Air vents at the rear of each front fender severely raked windshield.
This is not some sort of a doover of your standard Corolla. No, it's not. It's its own car. They just use the Corolla name.
It has a black roof panel on the top of it. The car just looks fast. Several 30 year old dads that I ran into in different parking lots around town. Stop me.
Oh, man. I love that car. I'm going, you do? I had no clue. It's got a cult following it does. And I'll give you the actual competitors to it here in just a second.
What could use improvement? Nothing. I'm sure that the aftermarket boys are all over this car. Interior highlights, big bolstered seats with GR logo emblazoned on the headrests embroidered too.
Traction adjustment between the shifter and the cup holder. G meter and other performance displays in the changeable instrument cluster.
Small screen works well as far as the infotainment screen is concerned cargo trunk room tiny. What I liked about it, you can toss it around like your old little eighth grade girlfriend.
What could use improvement? No leg room in the back seat. One point six liter four cylinder engine, 300 horsepower, 295 pound feet of torque, eight speed automatic transmission.
The manual is also available. Jeff, are you blushing? He's blushing. No, I'm fine. No, you're not. I can't believe you just said that.
Miles per gallon. I didn't say that. Nineteen city, 27 highway for combined at 22. It's not a lot. But remember, it's a race car. I got 25.4 miles per gallon. That's pretty good. Over 385.6 miles. What I liked about it. Powerful fun for a little motor. What could use improvement? I don't know, more power. I'm sure the aftermarket's got it. Toyota needs to rethink calling it a Corolla though.
I kind of compare it to the Ford Mustang Mach E has no relationship to the Mustang whatsoever. That's the same thing for this. This is a Corolla. No, it's not. It's its own thing. They're just using the Corolla name. I don't like the way they do that.
Anyway, what I liked about the ride and handling, all-wheel drive, stiffened structure with a different floor pan underneath it. Extra wells are included. Plus this one had a $720 option called the chassis brace in the cargo area. What could use improvement? Nothing. I love factory race cars.
Base trim price? $47,515. Price is tested. $50,433. Base model price for this car is $39.160. This is the hopped up version of it. All right. Now, as far as competitors, Volkswagen Golf R, starts at $47.1, which is the base trim price of this one. Subaru WRX is $37.750. Not as powerful.
Honda Civic Type R, $45,595. This is a fun car. I'm telling you, be ready for being stopped in parking lots by random guys that are about 30-ish or so. Last week, I had a guy stop me. He had his wife and his two kids with him, small children.
Man, I sure do like that car. Do you want to look into it? He says, oh no, I've already looked into it. I'm drooling as we speak. I'm trying to talk the wife and to spin in the money. You said you had 25 miles of gallon, which is good. Did you do the toss around? Did you drive it? No, I didn't.
But you could tell, this car goes 100 miles an hour around a corner, easy. It's just that kind of go-kart. Yeah, sticky feel. Most definitely.
Okay. Hey, if you'd like to get in touch with us, shoot us an email. The address here is info at inwheeltime.com. We'll be back after this quick break.
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