My after hiking dinner was at Opie’s Barbecue in Spicewood. I had brisket, pork ribs, spicy corn, butterbeans, pickles, and iced tea. Check out their menu online and prepare yourself for a good meal if you happen to be in the area and decide to stop by.
I took a shortcut through the Texas Hill Country via Old Spicewood Road to get to my next destination. The sunset was too beautiful to capture on film, but this gives you an idea of what part of my drive looked like.
Follow Hamilton Creek for about 3/4 of a mile from Hamilton Pool and you will get to the spot where it joins the Pedernales River. This is a nice, easy hike and you will probably see turtles, birds, and fish along the way. The water is typically clear and a beautiful emerald color.
Hamilton Pool is less than an hour outside of Austin, and a very popular swimming hole and hiking spot. A short quarter mile hike down some steps from the parking lot and you will be greeted with a nice view of the collapsed grotto and 50 foot waterfall. Take the trail around the grotto and enjoy the scenery. The beach there is a great spot to throw out a blanket and have a picnic lunch.
This is a photo from my cell phone taken on February 12, 2013 from when a friend and I pulled over to the side of the road on Interstate 35. That sunny afternoon there was a funeral procession stretching over 200 miles and ending at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. After this photo, we left the car, climbed up the embankment, and joined the people on the bridge to honor the service and life of Chris Kyle. The atmosphere was somehow both solemn and celebratory. How amazing to be a part of this, and later in life to see the movie about Chris’ life and service as a Navy Seal. Clint Eastwood did an outstanding job as the Director of this film, and Bradley Cooper is most excellent.
“Get Some, Motherfuckers!”
There is one major requirement for a lovely sunset – sun! After about 360 days of cold, cloudy, overcast, rainy weather in the Austin area (it seemed like that long, but I lost count), the sun finally returned to warm us up. We all thought we had moved to Seattle. Hooray sun!!! Please come back tomorrow. 🙂
Yes, I have become sort of a regular customer at Pinballz since my first visit in September. I don’t know whether to curse or to thank Elaut Amusement Games – the creator of the Wizard of Oz Coin Pusher Game. It is addictively fun for some strange reason. I have collected most all of the player cards that fall off the edge including Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Glinda the Good Witch, and the Wicked Witch of the West. The one card that continues to elude me is Toto. I’m pretty sure Toto has special powers in this game.
Glinda, the Good Witch of the North: Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?
Dorothy: I’m not a witch at all. I’m Dorothy Gale from Kansas.
Glinda, the Good Witch of the North: Oh. Well, is that the witch?
Dorothy: Who, Toto? Toto’s my dog!
I don’t know how you people who actually live in cold weather climates survive the winter. I imagine you skating, sledding, skiing, snowboarding, and ice fishing as beautiful flakes of snow drift all around you with awesome mountains as your perpetual backdrop.
In the Austin area, we don’t know what to do when we get a few weeks of weather in the 30s. It got so bad today that I actually contemplated going to the gym. I’m not that bored yet. My list of Winter Survival Skills includes going out for pizza rolls. Austin’s Pizza in Round Rock is a good place to do that with specials on Tuesday. I’ll think of you out enjoying those snow flakes and mountains as I dive into my pile of pizza rolls. 🙂
On the way back from my walk, I took a few photos of the Frost Bank Tower. It was an overcast day with a high of 52 degrees in Downtown Austin.
earthrobert 