Author: townadmin (Page 26 of 45)

Two adventurous women, LindaBW and JanisK, drove a total of three hours one way to kayak Lake Austin at Walsh Landing. We discovered the pay lot machine would only accept payment by app. Thanks to Linda for setting this up.

We paddled along the shore into a quiet inlet, no wake area, where we saw many turtles, birds, a great blue heron and an owl. On our way back we found a creek to venture down. That’s the fun part of kayaking because we can go places where other boats can’t go. Heading back we again stayed close to shore as boat traffic was getting heavier but we had fun riding the waves. Afterwards, we went to Mozart’s for a nice cool refreshing drink.
Happy Paddling, June

Hello all, 

It was a hot and sweaty Sunday hike for for ambitious hikers, Effie, Debbie, Kim, and Marsha. We had no canine companions today, but we all picked up possibly millions of beggars seeds that stuck to our clothing,  socks, shoes, shoelaces,  etc. We had to stop and get the seeds off, but still managed a hot 4.2 miles.

 It is very hot and sweaty and if you hike please be over protective and bring extra water. 

Until next time….

Happy Trails,  Marsha 

Hi all,

We had a nice group today of 7 women, Sarah, Debbie, Effie, Kim, Lisa, and Marsha, joined by faithful furry friends Junko and Bella.

We tried various hills today and ended up climbing almost one mile in elevation. It was hot and steamy, but miraculously we were spared of mosquitoes today. We were entertained by the chirping of the birds and the rushing of Barton Creek.

One of us, who asked not to be specified in the report,  slipped and ended up sitting down. It was so miraculous that we actually stopped 3 bikers that were behind us.  Fortunately there were no injuries except for possible  scrape.

It is getting hotter, so please remember to take more water not only for yourself, but also for your furry friends. We cannot always count on the creek having water available for our canine companions..

Until next time….

Happy Trails,  Marsha 

I was joined at the veloway today by four TOWNies – Marsha, Carolyn, Janne, Jan, and one family member – my husband Michael. Fortunately it was a generally overcast morning with a nice breeze when riding. We had some very experienced riders among us. Jan gave us some great tips on how to successfully make it up the short, but super steep hill. Marsha, not surprisingly, was as driven on a bike as she is leading her hikes! Janne shared interesting details of life in Denmark. Lastly Carolyn, a cycling novice, did a terrific job getting around the veloway several times on a borrowed bike! Thanks to Michael for helping transport the extra bike.

Once again it was a fun time spent with fellow TOWNies while getting a good work out in a lovely natural setting and dodging little roadrunners.
Until the next ride! Effie

What a beautiful morning we had kayaking on Lady Bird Lake! There were seven Town women JaneB, EffieK, KarenK, JudyA, PattyN, JanisR and GailP-C who met at the Rowing Dock at 9:30 am.

The Rowing Dock has purchased some new kayaks that right now have padding. Quite comfortable. We kayaked around Red Bud Island, then paddled on past Mo Pac bridge. We enjoyed visiting and getting to
know each other. We had a good workout. The water was clear, calm and we had a wonderful breeze. There were many turtles sunning and we saw one crane who pretended he wasn’t seen. The traffic was light on the water.
Afterwards we went to Shady Grove for a bite to eat and Maria joined us for lunch. We had a fun visit and enjoyed a good lunch.

The next dates to kayak on Lady Bird Lake are Wed 6/19 and Wed 6/26 in the evening, meet at the Rowing Dock at 5:30 pm. Hope to see you on the lake!
Gail

Hello TOWNies,
I was joined yesterday by Debbie, Kim, Tom and Michael at the veloway. We started an hour earlier this time hoping it would be cooler. Debbie shared interesting details from her very recent trip to Japan! Kim and Tom, the experienced trail riders amongst us, talked about previous trail rides and possible future ones.
What a fun way to get a workout in a beautiful setting, dodging little road runners and listening to interesting conversations from fellow TOWNies and their family members! Effie

Hello all! It was a calm hike today with no coyotes and Debbie, Kim, Jenny, Lisa, and Marsha enjoyed the hike along with super dog Junko. Junko was relegated to leash status.

Lisa reported that Junko had bad dreams after last weekend’s hike, but no nightmares tonight except for possible dreams of wanting cooler weather. 

We all finish the hike sweated and drenched, but in good spirits and we were able to hear the  forceful rushing of the Creek and the songs of the birds. There were many other swimmers and hikers enjoying the green belt at an early time as to day is supposed to hit the 100ﾟ mark.

We got 4.3 miles in but our pace is a little slower and due to the heat. We will continue to hike through the summer and continued to wish and dream of cooler weather.

Until next time…..

Happy Trails,  Marsha 

The enjoyment of Nature is TOWN’s specialty.  Linda F. and Jackie D. met at Trudy’s and explored each other’s nature for a while, before adjourning to the Regal  Metropolitan 14 (It turns out we are neighbors) for Ron Howard’s film about the Italian tenor, Luciano Pavarotti.   Below is the Rotten Tomatoes review, and also a preview, to get an idea of what we heard if opera is unfamiliar to you. 

We enjoyed some lovely singing, that of Mr. Pavarotti, his colleagues, and from his time as a member of The Three Tenors. Mr Pavarotti regarded his musical ability as a gift from God.  In his later years, began a  very successful round of charities and charitable performances with otherwise-unlikely-seeming musicians from other genres.  The film was a thorough and  touching exploration of the nature of a very remarkable man.

A terrific group joined up to brave the heat at lovely Belton Lake.

Sharon and Molly from Corsicana arrived early braving a fierce storm, which they could watch over the lake from their scenic site.  Beverly, co host Linda B, Maria, and Susan (with Eola) joined up Thursday. Rounding out the group Friday was Gloria, Joan, Pam and 5 guests.  Marie W. drove up for the day. We enjoyed a taco potluck, scenic views from our partly shaded and breezy sites, water activities, and of course more food and Gloria’s famous margaritas!

Susan treated us to home churned (by hand) ice cream in lieu of a trip to DQ. 

There was no skimping on food, drinks, laughter, and fellowship!  We watched the space station two nights.

Animals seen were many deer, a fox, a locust coming out of its shell, a giant walking stick, egrets, turtles, a snake, a  catfish Bev caught, and two baby fawns!  

Alas Bev’s boat broke dow,n but several went kayaking in a nice quiet cove.  As always TOWNies welcomed visitors, helped one another, and enjoyed the great outdoors. Linda, Bev and Rachel ( Bev’s grand daughter) finished off Sunday evening with a serious lightening /rain storm followed by a spectacular sunset. Thanks to all!

Bev and Linda B

What a fun day!  This morning, I was joined by Janne B., Jackie D., Jacque A., Joan B. and Effie N. on a visit to the Bob Bullock Museum to see the Texas From Above exhibit.  The exhibit features the photographs of Jay Sauceda who was both the pilot and the photographer.  Texas Monthly commissioned Jay to photograph the entire perimeter of Texas from the air.  Jay took over 44,000 photographs in his effort to capture the 3,822 miles of Texas border lands.  Here is the link to the brief Texas Monthly article  https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/photography-texas-from-above-jay-b-sauceda/   Here is the link to a longer piece with some of the lovely photographs.  https://features.texasmonthly.com/editorial/3822-miles/

I particularly like the second link because there are some captions for the pictures.  At the museum, there were not any captions to inform us but the photographs were grouped by geographic areas.  After browsing the exhibit, we watched clips  depicting the history of Austin City Limits and then we viewed the La Belle.  This expedition ship sank in Matagorda Bay in 1686.  It remained there for over 300 years until it was located in 1996.  Archaeologists worked for decades to excavate the hull and preserve more than 1.6 million artifacts.

The Bob Bullock museum is full of treasures including amazing and dedicated volunteers who devote their time and energy to sharing their love of Texas history.  We barely scratched the surface and exhibits are always changing so we will have to go back.  After seeing Texas From Above, we decided to head underground, specifically to have lunch at Arturo’s Underground Cafe.  None of us had ever visited the restaurant, which is in easy walking distance from the museum, and we were delighted with the fresh salads, sandwiches, quesadillas, and coffee.

A special “thank you” to Judie T. who let us leave several cars at her house so that we could carpool to the museum and minimize parking costs.  

Hope to see you out and about soon!

Lisa Sands