Adventure 362 McKinney Falls State Park/Austin/Post F

Our back yard at home.

It was a slow day in south Austin today. We took a couple walks (18,000 steps), rode an hour on the tandem, took a nap, read our books, and watched an old John Wayne movie (I mostly napped through that). I had a nice session of the form on a tent site. The granular brown sand made the spinning footwork fairly easy. I even managed to ignore the biting flies, my own monkey mind, and the efforts of the wind to push me off my center. In all, it was a pleasant interlude. We were surprised on our bike ride to discover so much suburbia here in South Austin. Several mushroom like blooms of houses poke their pyramid roofs out of the former ranch land. I guess it makes sense considering the population growth Austin has been enjoying of late. Actually, this location is quite convenient to town. Last night, on our way home from the Continental Club, it took us under twenty minutes to get back to the park. We've decided that though we love Texas, we're destined just to be tourists. Austin included, we have yet to find a place to live better than our current home. Having said that, I do think we'll continue to leave our lovely home during the winter. Our daughter, Leticia, called today, wailing, "Eat some tasty BBQ for me; right now it's white out conditions and twenty-two degrees. My teeth are chattering, the dogs are shivering, and the pipes are threatening to burst." "No worries," we replied. So for now, we'll continue to enjoy our time here in the warmth of Texas. Tomorrow, we head to one of our favorite places, Fredericksburg. We'll spend four days there. We'll listen to the pickers every night out in Luchenbach. We'll ride the hill country roads on the tandem, and just for Leticia, we'll enjoy some tasty BBQ out at Cranky Franks. We commented as we took another couple laps on the bike/hike trail here at McKinney Falls today, that it's easy for us to keep ourselves insulated from the real world. It may not be fake news, but Judy calls it our "fake life". Whatever it is, we're blessed to enjoy it, and we're happy to report that life is good, especially today.

 Leticia on stage with Dale Watson at the Little Longhorn Saloon in Austin. She wishes she was here now.

 We found this boulder overhang on our walk around the park today.

 Downtown Austin way in the distance.

 We went out and back on Thaxton Road for about twelve miles,

 Nopales (Prickly Pear Cactus) abound in McKInney Falls State Park.

 A few are beginning to bloom.

 The leaves, which have nasty spikes at the ends and throughout, sometimes split into shapes.

 New leaves are at first little sprouts which then flatten out into the pears shape.

 I think because this used to be a horse ranch, most of the live oaks are small. This venerable old fellow is an exception.

 The trail, 2.8 miles, is easily walked and quite serene.

 My guess is this group of sun bathers are all guilty of cutting their afternoon classes at UT. Clearly, they're learning to live the good life.