Rediscovering Austin
Lake Travis
We decided that it was time to begin to emerge from the pandemic security of our little corner in Windsor Park. Lake Travis ( which is a dammed up portion of the Colorado River) is where we spent four years enjoying the Lake from the deck of Hey You, our 1986 Catalina 30. Mansfield Dam Park is just around the corner from Commanders Point Marina where Hey You was docked. We were familiar with the park since it within walking distance from the marina and we would sometimes take walks through the park and since it is adjacent to Mansfield dam we would walk across the dam. The dam is off limits now and the park now has a ranger booth and you have to pay to enter. It has a huge boat ramp that is very popular since it is the one closest to Austin and no matter how low the lake elevation goes you can almost always launch from there.
The lake is pretty low
But you can still launch your boat from here.
Replacing light bulbs on the dock.
Pray for rain.
That is the dam in the distance. many years ago it also served as the only two lane road to get to the lake. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield_Dam
This duck has most of the place to himself today
As long as we were in the neighborhood we drove over to Commanders Point Marina to check it out.
The entrance to Commanders point.
This pic I took from their web page, it shows the Marina when the lake is almost completely full.
These docks were brand new when we were here, everything is pretty weathered now.
The marina is down in a fjord and is protected on three sides from weather and wakes.
A friends Pearson, glad to see he is still here.
The weather station at Windy Point.
This point of land always has the most wind on the lake. Sailors, wind surfers, and many other lake people pay attention to this weather station:
Sometimes Islands appear as the lake levels decline.
The Admiral and I came here a couple of times to launch our 16' Hobie Cat. I reminded her about the time when the wind died so we beached the Cat and went up to a covered picnic table for a snack. I had left the Mainsail up but forgot to take the mainsheet out of the cam cleat. The wind came up and the Cat sailed away. I ran fast over rock and bush, dove in the water and swam as fast as I could to try and catch the boat. Fortunately a police boat was near by and spotted the sailorless vessel, they snagged it and brought the vessel toward the guy in the water who looked like he lost his boat.
Well this is a new idea of wind Surfing, the sail is inflated with air and not connected to a mast, They just hold the sail
All of this should be underwater.
The next week we chose Mt. Bonnell
102 Steps
Almost always good for sunsets.
Lake Austin
This property is so valuable because it does not flood.
This stretch of the Colorado River is known as Lake Austin, a constant level Lake.
So whatever water is released by Mansfield dam is likewise released by the Tom Miller Dam.
Our son Graeme said "Hey y'all need to check out the new Waterloo Park downtown"
Then we popped over to the Hike and Bike trail at Lady Bird Johnson Lake (also the Colorado River)
Well some things stay the same, like this squirrel & Lake Travis, and the Colorado River,
+ it has the Moody Amphitheatre!
Wow saw our first Blue Bonnet for the Spring!
Well this guy means so much more to me now than ever since I have spent the last year studying and playing the blues. He is responsible for reviving the entire genera of Texas Blues and bringing the sound to the world.
God Bless You Stevie Ray Vaughn
Like all Major cities I'm sure Lots of change and growth the last 10 years especially the last 5.
We just happened to go into a club down on 6th street back in the mid 70's when we had some friends visiting from Arlington, Tx. Doug Sahm and his crew were on stage, Our guest were blown away that we just happened to walk into a club and there they were! We were not surprised.
The next week we drove out to Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, But it's not where we expected it to be. It was originally out off of FM 979, out toward Webberville where we lived when we first moved to the Austin Area. It has since been moved and reimagined on 40 acres of 400 acres of University of Texas owned land in far Southwest Austin.
Texas, a different kind of beauty, Do you like lizards, Armadillos and snakes?
The Good news is if you stay on the trail you won’t get lost.
Doesn't matter if you plant prickly pear on the top of the tower, it will grow mostly anywhere.
A great water collection system
There are springs around.
All the rain water goes in here.
Well we learned we could actually get out and run around freely outside. We chose Monday's since most people would not. We got to see what has changed, and the parts that did not. There is a lot more to see though but there are plenty of Mondays coming up.
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