Monday, April 22, 2013

Monday, the guys visited the Twisted Sisters but I went to San Antonio to visit Morgan and Ares.
I rode to San Antonio through the country west of the interstate (35) on curving, winding roads.
Along the way I passed Canyon Lake and its huge dam, built by the US Army of Engineers. It's obviously a place nearby residents use for recreation: walking (on top of the dam - Vikeda Real Walkway), cycling, fishing... I took most of my pictures from or around Overlook Park.
I met Morgan and Ares at the Two Step, a trendy type of restaurant along San Antonio's "loop" highway. Great food and excellent company. Ares was certainly in a good mood.
I took Interstate 35 back the majority of the way to Austin but turned off to visit Buda again. This time I wanted to snap pictures of the cute community. Even though many buildings were contemporary in age, they were built to be "old-fashioned". Decorations on these buildings included old bird cages.
Near Buda there was a stagecoach park but I only ventured far enough in to take a picture of a "star" ride. I stopped to take a few other pictures... a couple of a typical Texas "river". Typical for a Texas river means that it's there BUT on a regular day, it doesn't have much water. Also along the same road (the old road to San Antonio) was an enormous "double" tree that I thought was very cool.
Once back in Austin, I went back to the Mansfield Dam on the Colorado River (ANOTHER Colorado River, not THE Colorado River) via Ranch Road 620. Next to the dam was the high bridge for motor traffic that Ed and I had ridden across the previous Friday. On the high side of the dam is Lake Travis, an absolutely beautiful recreational area. On the opposite side, there is a "low river crossing" which accessed a few houses along the river but mainly seemed to be used for fishing and dog walking. I chatted with some of the people doing one or the other. One dog was really cool... an "elder statesman", a Sharpei/Shepherd cross.
I went down a road across the Mansfield Dam Bridge (Comanche Trail) to get a view of Lake Travis as the sun set. Nice! There was a neat resort along the road with a great view... The Oasis.