funrivers.com blog

Thoughts from the trail

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 10:18:02 -0500

On a recent weekend on the Frio as we placed flyers on hundreds of vehicles along the right of way on CR 350, FM 1120 and River Road, there were a number of things that struck me:

• It's amazing how many of the vehicles in the Frio Canyon any given weekend come from more than 200 miles away. There are as many who (are from or come from) from the Houston area as (there are) from Uvalde. From the south we see lots of vehicles from Corpus Christi to Brownsville. To the west and southwest we have Del Rio and Laredo visitors and from the north are the cars and trucks from Lubbock and Dallas, Waco, Austin and even some out of state vehicles. Gas prices may be high but folks have to go somewhere and we're glad you chose the Frio River Canyon.

• We are very pleased that folks are glad to see us distributing the funrivers.com flyers. We often are stopped as we walk along the lines of vehicles and asked to give the passing motorists a copy. We appreciate that, as printing and distributing these flyers is a major funrivers.com marketing expense. We also appreciate that we rarely find our flyers tossed carelessly away; in fact, Frio Canyon visitors have mostly left the roads clear of debris. And don't forget to pick up one of those free litter bags to carry with you on the Frio.

• It's sad to be stopped on a busy weekend by a carload of folks who have come to the Frio River without making advance reservations. It's almost impossible to find a place to stay at the last minute as many of the lodging facilities are booked a year in advance. Even with a large number of new and expanded facilities out here you need to make your plans early if possible and get your reservations as soon as possible, especially for all the holiday weekends.

Sometimes you just gotta TUBE!

Sat, 31 May 2008 21:00:14 -0500

While we were out today passing through the Frio crossings and doing our routine flyer distribution, there was one Frio Bounder we had to get on video. On River Road at the 2nd Crossing, we noticed a gentleman appearing to come straight from work outside his vehicle filling up a raft with an air pump. Of course, we didn't think too much about it and figured he was meeting someone waiting for the float at the Frio.

Well, after doing our flyers and crossing over, we realized we forgot something and turned back. Luckily we did because while crossing the river, we noticed the same gentleman in the Frio on that very float, rafting in the same wardrobe! Watch the clip and you'll see the devotion some have for the Rio Frio or how the Frio will drive someone to jump in with no reservations. Enjoy!

Thanks A Million (or at least 1916)!

Thu, 29 May 2008 20:32:37 -0500

Every morning when the staff of funrivers.com arises, one of our pleasurable routines besides pouring up a cup of coffee is checking the site's stat results for the previous day. This morning we had reason to celebrate, actually we have been able to celebrate quite a bit lately from the morning tallies. Reflecting back to last August, when we launched funrivers.com, the site was just a lonely island in the Internet Sea, now we are becoming a highway in a large city.

Only a few months ago at the start of the new year, funrivers.com was hosting an average of around 100 unique visitors a day; currently we are averaging over 350 visitors a day with around 50 of them being returnees. Yesterday, we hit a new record; to be exact- we reached 538 unique visitors, 1,916 page views, and 96 returning visitors!

We are very happy with the growth of the site and increasing traffic, however we are only truly content and successful when our clients are happy and having success from our efforts. A couple weeks ago while meeting with a few of our clients, one in particular told us since they came on board with funrivers (for a website) about 3 months ago, they have already had close to 100 bookings for their cabins which they recently finished building. We were all smiling deep inside and out when we heard the great news.

Less than a year since our launch, all the hard work is paying off and this is just the beginning. We have a lot up our sleeves in the upcoming months and years and anticipate hosting thousands of visitors in the near future. When we originally started the site, our goal was really just to make the beautiful Frio River and the towns of Rio Frio, Leakey and Concan Texas (also known as the Frio Canyon) known to the world (today we had someone from France on for almost two hours) along with providing visitors and even locals a portal for every lodge, cabin, RV site, store, restaurant and other businesses in the area.  
Along with being a hub to the Frio Canyon, we have expanded our services to building websites, advertising, designing brochures and magnetic signs. As many of our clients and the locals know, every weekend we are out working; distributing flyers, taking pictures and lately shooting YouTube Videos in Leakey, Rio Frio and Concan.

If you see us in the yellow Jeep passing by, don't be shy - you may be in the next video or picture posted on the site! Besides offline marketing, we have also been busy actively promoting online and doing very well with the major search engines which is very noticeable in our daily stat analysis. Most importantly, we like to take a moment and thank two very important groups; our hundreds of daily visitors and all of our clients because without them there would be no funrivers.com. The feedback from our visitors and success of our clients is what keeps us keeping on. Those clients include:

Camp River View Canyon Charm
Casa Del Frio Lodge
Clearwater Ranch and Resort
Dora’s Nursery Frio Fly-In Cabin Frio River Cottage
Frio River's Edge Frio River Wholesale Lumber Parkview Riverside RV Park
Real Rentals River Bluff Cabins
River Rim Resort RR Starr Cabins Sunrise Ridge Cabins
Valley Vista Texas

We welcome our latest addition:
Dudlley's Ranch House Furniture 
There are more websites in production and more advertisers coming soon. If you’d like to join in on the action, just give us a call at 830-232-6498 or send an email to info@funrivers.com 
(Links in yellow indicate funrivers.com designed and hosted websites)

 

Here we come, hey hey we're not the Monkees, just funrivers.com

Wed, 28 May 2008 22:16:30 -0500

funrivers.com Memorial Day Wrap Up...

As we wound down from this Memorial Day weekend 2008 and watched the carloads of Frio River Canyon Campers, Lodgers, RVr's, and Families pack up their
vacation gear and head back home, funrivers.com can't help but feel sad seeing the tail lights fade on 83 and 127.

Every weekend, funrivers.com hits all the major "hotspot" river crossings to pass out flyers and spread the word for all the great lodges, camps, rv sites, restaurants, stores and events in the Frio Canyon. This holiday weekend, we were especially busy distributing overa thousand flyers, taking pictures and shooting YouTube Videos (new addition to funrivers.com) at Magers Crossing on 350, First Crossing at the Concan Bridge, Second Crossing, Clint Arthur's new parking area and river access at the Third Crossing, and 1120/ Rio Frio.

Leakey and Concan's combined population is under 500, yet thousands of visitors make reservations in advance to avoid being turned away due to non-vacancies. The Garner State Park crowd alone causes the Uvalde County population to surge to more than double these holiday weekends. With near 100 degree Texas Hill Country heat, the Rio Frio (Cold River) was the perfect remedy this weekend as Frionites (Fionians? Frionistas? We need a name here!!) tubed/kayaked, swam and lounged in the always beautiful crystal clear waters.

On top of the activities at the Frio, the Canyon hosted breakfast, lunch and dinner events. Over a hundred attended the Cowboy Breakfast at the Frio Canyon Motorcycle shop, barbecue lunch was served at Las Colinas de Concan Restaurant parking lot for the Reagan Wells Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department Fundraiser and the Chamber of Commerce held a Shrimp Boil Dinner at The Frio Canyon Lodge that was heavily attended. We had two or three plates of shrimp each!

Sure we need rain to fill up the river and would it be nice to see gas closer to two or three dollars instead of four, but so far the summer season is off to a great start anyway. We hope to see you soon somewhere in Leakey, Rio Frio or Concan, or at any spot in between. You can't miss us, we're in the bright yellow Jeep with the funrivers.com signs. Smile, we take pictures!

Working Hard For Your Visit

Thu, 22 May 2008 20:44:22 -0500

As we drove the Frio Canyon the past few days visiting some of our lodging clients it was amazing to see how hard they are working to get ready for your visit this season. At each place there are signs of construction and other activity necessary to prepare their facilities for the summer onslaught.

We have seen their sweat and Im sure there’s been blood and tears as well. Building a new facility, adding new cabins or remodeling others is a daunting task. These neighbors have bent over backwards to make sure you have a great experience this year and that you will want to return time and time again.

Whether you drive to the Frio Canyon from Houston or Dallas, Lubbock, Longview, San Antonio or San Angelo, you will find that folks here will welcome you by putting their best foot forward. Thousands of visitors are making return trips, some back for their second time, others for their twentieth.

If you are coming here for the first time you will likely find fun regardless of where you stay. And if you found your accommodations through funrivers.com we are glad to have been of assistance and hope you will mention it to your vacation hosts.

See you soon!