Category: Uncategorized (Page 27 of 46)

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

Hello all,

It started so ordinary, just like any other Sunday with Janice, Effie, Kim, Jacque, Lisa and Marsha joining together for a hike, joined by our faithful canine companions , Junko and Sheba. It soon morphed into such an unusual day, a day that brought us closer  together, a day that showed what TOWNie determination can do….

Shortly after we started, about 3/4 of mile after the start, Junko decided to explore and would not come back regardless of the pleas. Worse, we could not hear her. Lisa thought we should go on as Junko  would find us or that she would stay and search,  but the TOWNie motto is to never leave anyone behind, including our faithful canine companions. We decided to break into groups to look for Junko, the Wonder Dog. I had heard two coyotes yips, but had not told Lisa so I went that way to look for Junko, while the others took separate paths, points of various directions as you never know what a good dog will do on a hunt for a bug or rabbit. .

Kim and Janice went to the creek, Lisa and Jacque went back up hill, and Effie stayed in the  same general area in case Junko returned. We all searched and with more alarm and fear we started calling each other on phones,  checking for signs. By this time, our shouts to each other could not be heard…..

I bushwhacked and prayed. I found Junko but she was surrounded by 3 coyotes and more rustling in the nearby brush. I cursed and then yelled and finally Junko came to me, tail tucked between the knees. The coyotes were still looking at us and I must admit, I let loose  a stream of cursing. The coyotes left and Junko was by my side. Life was good. I took off my shirt and used that as  a leash, thus ruining one of my favorite  tank tops by cutting hole in it for leash. My $4.89 at Wal-mart shirt ruined.

Junko and I sat and collapsed, both of us panting,  and with Junko securely leased to me, we started down hill, knowing we would  hit the creek at some point. Here I am walking without shirt, although with sports bra, wielding a knife and thanking God for His help, alternating with some curse words every now and then. I made it to the creek and knew where I was, but surprised a hiker who was startled to find half-naked woman wielding a hunting knife, holding onto a dog with a tank top cleverly and stylishly made into a leash. I had  kept yelling “Kim”, but was not able to be heard. After the nice man gave Junko and me  water, me drinking after Junko from the same dish, he went ahead to alert the other searchers. Somehow, I lost my water bottle.

Kim knows the trails well and we met and celebrated the return of Junko. Sheba, the Diva, was also put on leash then. It must be remembered that this is pup season and the coyotes who live here too are in the need of food. One coyote  is not too scary, but a pack can and will kill.

We went 5 miles, but due to my lost water bottle and others running out of water, we had to share. There is no hardship when you share with friends. This was a  five mile hike filled with adventure, but one that also showed what TOWNies are…. friends who are loyal and true. Each TOWNie searched and each TOWNie went the extra mile to look for our friend. Is  there nothing better?

Until next time….

Happy Trails, Marsha

I was joined by Jacque, Kim, LisaS, and Debbie for the Saturday morning Veloway ride. Fortunately the morning started out overcast and cool until about 11 am. The park was busy with lots of roller-bladers and cyclists and yet peaceful at the same time as we were surrounded by the abundant wildflowers and nature. We rode the beautiful course, completing 3 loops until the sun came out and we became drenched with sweat. At that point we decided it was time to get some lunch at Waterloo ice house.

Next time we’ll get the ride started earlier!
Effie

We had 5 hikers today,  Lisa,  Effie,  Kim,  Carolyn and Marsha,  along with Junko who returned from doggie  camp with entertaining adventures of her time away. 

Not to be outdone, we human hikers slathered up with bug spray  prior to the hike and we were mosquito free and free to make our own adventures  with running water in the Creek noisily serenading us, dancing squirrels,  chirping birds and tales of good tidings among the hikers. 

Junko went swimming and did the obligatory shaking off of water on Kim. 

All in all, a nice 4.5 mile hike.

Until next time…..

Happy Trails,  Marsha 

This was the Special Touristic version of our usual outings.  It’s been a while since we’ve headed east and not toward Redbud Island. Perfect for TOWN Secretary Lisa McM’s guests Kerrie Q. and Monica G., and first time TOWNie Cindy L.

Traffic for Blues on the Green is always a challenge, but Lisa, with Kerrie, and Monica, took the scenic route across the Emmett Shelton Bridge and along Stratford to the Rowing Dock’s back door.  Cindy braved the strollers, backpacks, dogs, kiddos westbound on Barton Springs Road and came out a winner, turning right on to Stratford with no impediment.

What could be more iconic than a paddle into Barton Springs past the two lovely bridges, hearing warm-up music from Blues on the Green musicians plus kayaking in the heart of Austin’s downtown?  Gail P-C spotted a raccoon, quietly going about it’s business just under the many feet on the trail just above (no, it was not a nutria), and also a row of eleven turtles arranged on a branch above the water, from smallest to largest. Somehow we avoided the young men hurtling off the bridge.

Kerrie runs on the Hike and Bike trail, so seeing it from the water was a new angle for her, and her out-of-town colleague Monica will be looking for kayaking opportunities when she returns home to Ft. Worth. Cindy L is fond of films at the Austin Film Society Cinema near 290 /35 so we could look forward to some cool outings there as the weather heats up.   Lois K. set the pace from the start in her own red boat.  Leading from the rear, I saw, at some distance, an almost impressionistic canvas of water with colorful boats, shirts, and life jackets of our group spread across the width of the river. Good news: the Rowing Dock has a whole bunch of new sit-inside 10′ Perceptions.  They are wonderful colors and are guaranteed to look fantastic in any of your photos.

Dinner at Hula Hut was a good suggestion from Gail and our different dishes came amazingly fast. Sitting alongside the Tom Miller Dam gave rise to plenty of conversation about recent flooding.  Several of the group remembered the story of the young couple a few years back, whose boat was disabled on the water and carried over the dam.  We think that the boat did not survive, but the young man and his passenger did. So a happy ending for all of us. TOWN’s next Kayaking outing will be the daytime paddle with Gail P-C on THURSDAY 13 June at 10 am (meet at 9:30 at the Rowing Dock), then an evening trip with the effervescent Lisa McM Wednesday June 19, meet at 5:30, plan to be on the water at 6, and then the same again on Wednesday 26th.

Thursday, GailPC, JudyA, Jacque, and Sheba hiked the Travis County Park Turkey Creek in Emma Long Park.  We encountered a few other hikers and lots of dogs.  We did meet two women who are possibly interested in TOWN.

Creeks crossings water levels were the highest I have encountered there.  We quickly had water over our high top hiking boots.  Judy choose to wade.  We each used our hiking sticks to manage the slick rocks.

TOWN women do indeed know how to carry on!

Jacque

After a couple of weeks of rainy weather, 5 TOWNies, Kim, Jacque,  Jenny,  Effie and Marsha,  joined by delightful canine companion, Sheba the Diva, enjoyed sunny skies and singing  birds as we hiked 4.4 miles on the Greenbelt today.

We also were joined by 14, 000,000 mosquitoes,  resulting in all of us dancing like the Village People as we were swatting the pesty companions.  After we slathered up with bug repellents and got closer to the Creek,  where the water was still noisily dancing down stream,  we were less acrobatic, but rewarded with an enjoyable hike.

Until next time…..

Happy Trails,  Marsha

Hi all,

The 4″ of rain left the Greenbelt very muddy, so we hiked today on trails that were not in the Greenbelt. Regardless, the hikers, Effie, Kim, Lisa and Marsha, still struggled through mud.

Junko was the only one who was not deterred by mud or the beggars lice plants.  The acrobats perform by the four hikers was quite talented. 

Even with all the seeds that were hanging on to our clothes and the mud, it was very delightful as the air was fresh with the rain and we were treated to a chorus of birds. Flowers were refreshed and there were new blooms out with Jasmine and verbena.

Overall,  a nice hike.

Until next time….. Happy Trails,  Marsha 

Hello  all, 

Eight women were bravely  trekking across the Greenbelt today, Jacque, Jenny, Lisa, Effie, Debbie, Sara, and guest Meredith,  who was a delight to have with us. Three canine companions include Sheba the Diva, Junko on her return from injury and Bella who likes spelunking. 

We had a nice day and we were all so grateful the weather is still pleasant. There were a few mosquitoes but not as many as last week.  We heard what seemed to be cardinals and were able to a identify some of the beautiful flowers including Black-eyed Susans and Indian Blankets. We also were able to listen to the rushing of Barton Creek and feel peace and tranquility.

Until next time…..

Happy Trails,  Marsha