Austin, Texas - July 15th to 18th, 2023

The summer heat wave continued through our stay in Austin, Texas. Keeping our outside activities to the mornings and evenings while retreating to cool places during the afternoons became our routine. We were surprised to see how many others in the Austin area took to the outdoors with us.

On our drive Saturday from South Holiday Park Campground in Fort Worth to McKinney Falls State Park in Austin, we stopped to visit a friend of ours. Sandy’s family owns a farm near Waco, so we were given a tour of the farm along with meeting her relatives. Their farm has all kinds of animals, from sheep, goats, and chickens, to horses, geese, ducks, and guinea fowl. A couple of dogs help keep all the other animals safe and in line.

For lunch, Sandy drove us over to Helberg BBQ in the town of Woodway. The food was excellent. They had some unusual side dishes that were fantastic. Two of us had chopped brisket sandwiches while Keith had a pork steak sandwich. We split three of the sides so we could get a sample of each. They were potato salad, chimichurri slaw, and Brussel sprouts. The potato salad was good and the slaw had a different, but wonderful flavor. However, our favorite was the Brussel sprouts, pan-fried in salt and butter, topped with smoked sour cream and candied pecans. What a treat!

After stopping at a grocery store, we arrived at the campground in time for dinner. It was still a scorcher outside, so we didn’t want to prepare anything that involved heat. It took a while for the air conditioner to cool down Red Tail (our Winnebago EKKO) after we set up camp, even though we had the vehicle AC on during our drive. In the back, it was still 104 degrees when we reached the campground. Before making dinner, we hung out on our beds, under the AC vents, with the fans blowing on us until the rest of the rig cooled down. We were still full from lunch, but we threw together some chicken salad sandwiches paired with the watermelon we had picked up the previous week.

Sunday we explored McKinney Falls State Park. As had become our routine as of late, we got an early start in the morning to beat the heat of the day, hitting the trail at 9 am.

We left right from our camp site, taking a spur trail over to the Onion Creek Hike & Bike Trail, taking the loop in the clockwise direction. Most of the trail was through the woods, with open patches of prickly pear cactus. Then it followed alongside Onion Creek, passing by Upper McKinney Falls. There was about a dozen people cooling off in the deep water by the falls. Kids were jumping off the rocks into the water. The water level was low, so the waterfall itself was not very impressive, just a trickle through a narrow crevice in the rocks, but the area was still beautiful.

The trail continues over to the Visitor Center. From there we picked up the Rock Shelter Trail towards the Lower McKinney Falls. After passing by a rocky alcove used by native Americans as a shelter, we found ourselves on top of a large expanse of limestone. The water of the creek had carved interesting formations into the rock. According to the map, this is where the Lower McKinney Falls is, but we didn’t see a waterfall there.

We continued to the far end of the exposed rock to another swimming hole, with another little trickle of a waterfall. A larger group of people were enjoying the water in this area, along with a small, rocky beach. We found a shady spot on the beach to sit down, enjoy the view, and eat a snack. Both swimming areas can be reached from nearby parking areas, so a long hike is not necessary.

Retracing our steps back towards the Visitor Center, we rejoined the Onion Creek Hike & Bike Trail, continuing the loop back to the campground spur trail. We returned to our camp site by noon, just as the temperatures were reaching into the 90’s. In total, we hiked 5.5 miles with an elevation gain of 318 feet in just under three hours. It was hike number 34 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2023.

During the heat of the day, another scorcher in the 100’s, we hung out inside Red Tail again. Taking showers revived us. Keith took advantage of the time and worked on a few small projects.

He hooked up using the city water again, this time with the flow meter (paid link) installed in the line. Our fresh water tank was low and he didn’t want to stand out there in the heat while it filled. Plus, fresh water from the line might be cooler for our showers than the water that was sitting in our fresh water tank. At first we tried connecting the flow meter onto the elbow connector inside the water compartment. However, we couldn’t get the connection tight enough so it wouldn’t leak, so we moved the flow meter to the end of our water filter at the campground water spigot. Then we realized we didn’t change the valves inside the water compartment to their correct position for a city water connection. That may have had something to do with our connection leaking, since the water probably had nowhere to go. The flow meter helps us keep track of how much water we’ve used when we are on city water so we can judge when our gray tank is getting full. We don’t trust the gray water level gauge that came with our EKKO. The flow meter also helps us verify how much water we are putting into our fresh tank. When we are only using the fresh tank, we are pretty certain that our gray water won’t overflow because it holds about the same volume as our fresh tank, as long as we empty the gray tank at about the same time we fill our fresh water.

Since it has been so warm, we thought it was a good time to add some bleach to our fresh water tank and our gray water tank. This is not a sanitization of the fresh water, since we are not flushing it out. So we only use one teaspoon of bleach for each ten gallons we put in. That way the fresh water remains drinkable. We don’t need to be as careful about how much bleach we put it the gray tank. We normally put in about half a cup. We’re mainly trying to keep it from smelling.

During our hike, the grip on Ann’s trekking pole came loose. We had previously only fixed two out of our four poles. First we tried silicone, which didn’t hold, then we used super glue and that seemed to do the trick. So Keith pulled out the super glue and fixed Ann’s pole. As a preventative measure, he also re-glued the one remaining pole that had not been fixed yet.

The last project was installing a couple of cup holders in the bedroom. We normally sit up in our beds facing the rear of the Red Tail. Putting drinks on the bins between the beds or on the steps is awkward and too far away to reach easily. Keith had previously installed one on his side on the outside wall. However, he felt the plastic holder felt cheap and was concerned if it would hold up. So he ordered a couple of metal ones (paid link) which we received while we were visiting relatives in Ohio. He replaced the plastic one with the metal one on his side of the bed, but then struggled about where to mount the second one. The wall space on the driver’s side of the bedroom is different and there was no good place to mount the holder on that wall. He ended up mounting it underneath the bathroom light switch, on the same wall as the furnace, water heater, and air conditioner control panels. It is a little awkward accessing it from Ann’s bed, but it works. It is actually in a place that is easier for Keith to reach from his bed than the one mounted on his side. So he likes using it when Ann is up front. In fact, Keith is usually the one in the bedroom anyway, so not having a good cup holder for Ann is not a big deal.

On Monday, we drove to downtown Austin and went for a bike ride. Ann had picked out a small parking lot in Zilker Metropolitan Park, right next to the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail. However, Lou Neff Road was closed due to some kind of event. Perhaps they were setting up for the Blues on the Green concert the following night. We continued on Stratford Drive and parked in a large gravel lot. There were parking fee machines, but the signs indicated that you only had to pay on weekends, holidays, and for special events. We assumed there was not a special event going on, since we saw no signs indicating one, so we didn’t pay.

The Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail circles Lady Bird Lake, what they call the portion of the Colorado River that is swollen by the Longhorn Dam at N. Pleasant Valley Road. We joined the trail near the pedestrian bridge that goes over the Colorado River near the Loop 1 highway. The trail was pretty crowded, especially near downtown and within Zilker Park. Because of all the other bikers, walkers, and joggers, we kept our speed down. We could only imagine how crowded the trail must be on the weekends. Thank goodness we decided not to ride the trail on Sunday.

The loop took us down the north side of the Colorado River all the way to the dam, where it crossed back over to the south side of the river alongside Pleasant Valley Road. Then it headed back on the south side of the river. At Barton Creek, it made a little jog away from the river to a pedestrian bridge over Barton Creek. The trail was mostly shaded, except for a few stretches on the south side. The exposed sections were on concrete boardwalks out over the river, so there was a nice breeze off the water. Given the heat, we were thankful for the shade and breeze.

Along the way, we passed by several places to rent or launch small boats, such as kayaks, canoes, paddle boards, and sculling boats. There were quite a few people out paddling on the water. It looked like a great place to paddle, with pretty calm water. Ann thought about going out on her paddle board, but was concerned what Keith would do while she was paddling around. It was too hot to hang out in Red Tail without the AC running. We probably could have run the AC for a little while off the batteries, but Ann decided to skip paddling this time.

The 10.9 mile loop with an elevation gain of 289 feet took us two hours to complete on our e-bikes. We had the power assist turned off most of the way. It was about 11:30 am by the time we were done, just as the temperatures crossed into the 100’s.

For lunch, we decided to try kolaches. We’ve seen billboards for them in Texas. Kolaches are a Czech pastry that has been adopted by Texans. Traditional kolaches are fruit filled, but you can also find savory kolaches filled with meat, which are technically klobasneks. We wanted to try them, so we headed for the nearest place that served them, the Kolache Factory. It is a chain and probably not the place to get the best kolaches, but it was convenient for us. Keith had the Polish sausage while Ann had the Texas sausage. The Texas sausage was a pork and beef sausage stuffed with jalapeños and cheese. They both were wrapped in the kolache dough, which is a soft, yeast dough, slightly sweet. For dessert, we split three sweets, a cherry kolache, a cream cheese kolache, and a mixed berry strudel (not a kolache). Keith has a hard time passing up strudel. All the food was tasty. Not bad for a chain.

After lunch, we swung by REI. Keith needed more socks, a bag of some sort to attach his sunglasses to his backpack, and a wide brimmed hat for the sun. All he brought with him this season was his ball cap. With all this heat, he wanted more protection from the sun. Ann ended up buying another hat as well. The ones we picked out have a split brim, so it makes it easier to wear with her pony tail while also shading the back of her neck better.

Then we headed back to the campground to hang out the rest of the day inside Red Tail in the air conditioning and cool down with some showers. We’re hoping this heat wave ends sometime soon, as this is getting rather old.

Tuesday, we drove down to San Marcos to the Meadows Center on Spring Lake. The Meadows Center is run by Texas State University. They run glass bottom boat tours on the lake. Ann saw that they had snorkel classes about once a week in the evening. She tried to get into one for the previous Saturday, the day we arrived in Austin, but the classes were booked all the way into the fall. Spring Lake is fed by springs and stays a cool 72 degrees year round. The water is clear and there are a few endangered species that live in the lake that exist nowhere else in the world. In order to protect the lake environment, they control who is allowed in the water there. Only snorkel classes, scuba diving classes, paddle board tours, or kayak tours are allowed. Just past the dam, near the Kerbey Land Cafe, the public is allowed to swim in the water, the start of the San Marcos River.

We opted to just do the glass bottom boat tour. The tours run every 30 minutes. We arrived in time to take the 11 am tour. The tour lasts about 45 minutes. It is not as spectacular as the boat tour we took in Silver Springs State Park in Florida (Silver Springs State Park, Florida - March 30th to April 2nd, 2023), but it was still nice to see the fish, plants, turtles, and springs bubbling up from the bottom. After our tour, we walked the short boardwalk through the wetland area before heading inside the AC of the Meadows Center Discovery Hall to cool off. Inside were a couple of small aquariums along with a nice display of artifacts that were discovered in the area, from a mammoth’s tooth, to arrow heads, to pottery.

From there, we picked out a pizza place nearby for lunch. However, when we drove over there, the parking lot was a little tight and we didn’t feel comfortable trying to squeeze Red Tail into the lot. So we picked out another pizza place in the town of Kyle on our way back to Austin. That was the first time we’ve given up on a place because we couldn’t find a place to park our rig. Usually we can figure out something that will work. However, our stress level was running a little high that day.

Our stress was probably due to a combination of factors. We were getting tired of the extreme heat. The roads around Austin, and most of Texas so far, have heavy traffic, with a maze of ramps and overpasses that we find confusing. We were familiar with the interstate access roads in Texas, that parallel both sides of the interstate. But we are not big fans. It just seems the access roads are just extra lanes of the interstate, with a slightly lower speed limit, still one way and multiple lanes of heavy traffic. They just mean you have more lanes to merge into, out of, and cross to get on and off the interstate. More than once we missed our turn from the access road to a side street because we couldn’t work our way across the two or three lanes of access road before the turn. It takes miles to get onto and off of the interstate.

In Kyle, we stopped at Pizza Leon. Our pizza was just OK, but it was much easier to park in their lot. They did have quite a variety of pizzas. Keith opted for the margarita pizza, but thought the sauce was rather “heavy”. Ann ate the Creamy Garlic Chicken which was tasty. The pizza crust is more of a cracker style instead of the New York style that we love, but it was OK.

From there, we drove into Austin to Precision Camera and Video. During our bike ride the day before, Ann lost the dead cat off her external mic on her camera. We didn’t fell like riding the eleven miles again to find it. The first store we stopped into, on the south side of Austin, did not have the dead cat she needed. However, they were able to look it up and see there were several of them at their other store in north Austin, about half an hour away. We decided to make the drive. It was better than getting outside in the heat. We purchased a bright blue dead cat this time, hoping the bright color would be easier to spot if it fell off Ann’s camera.

We also bought a shielded cable to connect the mic to the camera. The one Ann had was not shielded. On several occasions, she gets static in the audio when she shoots video. One time, she even picked up a nearby radio station, since the unshielded coiled cable can act like an antenna. The new shielded cable is a little long, three feet, but we’re hoping we can make it work. Picking up static doesn’t happen often, but Ann normally doesn’t know it happened until later when she is processing the video, so it is rather annoying.

Our original plan was to go back to the campground during the heat of the day, then go into Austin to watch the bats emerge from the Congress Avenue Bridge after sunset. However, it was already 3:00 pm and we were still on the north side of Austin while the campground is on the south side. Instead, we found an ice cream shop nearby, then drove down to the parking near the bat viewing area to claim a spot.

The ice cream shop was Lick Honest Ice Creams, a Texan chain. Ann chose a scoop of dark chocolate, olive oil, & sea salt paired with a scoop of fresh mint & chocolate chunk. Yes, very predictable. They didn’t have shakes, but they did have root beer floats. Keith’s float was made with Hill Country honey & vanilla bean ice cream with Southside Craft Soda’s Root Bexar, from San Antonio, poured over the top. Both were delicious.

It was 4 pm by the time we reached the parking lot at Statesman Bat Observation Center. It is a pay lot and we paid to stay six hours. It was a little long, but we didn’t want to hang out somewhere else and have to move later. We found a shady spot in the corner of the lot, put the shades in, and turned on our air conditioner. We knew we could run the AC for a few hours without completely draining our batteries, but we kept an eye on it. We actually left the AC on until about 8 pm, with still about 50% power left on our batteries.

We were hoping the Observation Center had a building to go inside of to check out. But no such luck. There were only some interpretative signs outside. On the fence nearby was a poster from the Austin Bat Refuge, with a QR code and URL for more information. We wish we had stumbled on their website earlier. It had the most complete information about the bats, along with recent data about when the bats will emerge. It is estimated there are between 700,000 and 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats that live under the bridge during the spring and summer, making it the largest urban bat colony in the world.

We actually sat outside half the time we were there. Even though temperatures were in the 100’s, there was shade and a breeze, which made it tolerable. We made and ate dinner. Sitting in our camp chairs in the shade, we read, got caught up on social media, and worked on blog posts.

Around 7:30 pm, people started showing up. They lined the bridge overhead, sat on blankets in the grassy/dirt viewing area where we were, and stood under the bridge. Tour boats were out on the lake along with kayaks, canoes, paddle boards, and swan pedal boats. The bats didn’t start coming out until almost 9 pm. First just a handful came out, then, just minutes later, the bats became a steady stream. Since the sun had already set, it was somewhat hard to see the bats. The best viewing angles were looking up, so the dark bats would contrast with the light sky or the lit up skyscrapers of downtown.

The bats exit the bridge on the east side of the bridge. From our vantage point, it looked like most of the bats were coming out on the south end of the bridge, but it’s possible we just couldn’t see the ones coming out on the north end. We ventured down under the bridge to get a different view. We could hear the squeaking of the bats and get a faint whiff of bat guano. After about 15 minutes, it seemed like the heavy flow of bats was letting up. By then, most of the spectators had left. We packed up our camping chairs and headed back to the campground. We made it back before the campground gate was locked, but there was no rush since we had a gate code.

Austin has a nice feel and outdoor vibe. It is a wonderful place to visit any time of year. However, next time we visit, we probably won’t pick July or August but instead opt for a time with a little cooler weather.

Check out our related video: Austin, Texas

(Ann)