Mansfield Dam & Round Rock -- Mum & Dad Visit Texas – March & April 2011 (Part Three)

DAY FOUR:  Friday, 1 April 2011

As we’d gone “south and west” yesterday, we went pretty much due west today to revisit Mansfield Dam, which is set close to the village of Lakeway, one of the more affluent section of the northwest Austin and Cedar Park area.  As we turn off Route 620, it goes into a small parking area where we could get a decent view of the dam itself.  A side road goes down to the actual state parkland (with picnic area).

The parking area has a grassy section which can give visitors a little bit of elevation of the Dam, although access to the top of the structure is restricted.  I wonder if at one point if traffic drove across the top of the Dam, and then had the road diverted around towards the front of it at some later point.  Something to research for another day.

From where we were, I pointed out a building back across in the direction we’d come.  There’s a restaurant at the top of a hill known as Steiner Ranch Steakhouse.  It’s something which is normally out of my price range, so the only time I’d ever been there was when the Austin Planetarium had one of our monthly fund-raiser meetings there.  Since I’d learned it had a great view of Lake Travis (the water behind Mansfield Dam) we went up for a visit.

Steiner Ranch Steakhouse wasn’t actually open for business, as they’re a “dinner only” establishment.  I didn’t realize that when I was there.  Still, they were nice enough to let us wander out on the back deck in order to do some sight-seeing.  One of the things I did point out to Mum & Dad was how much the water level had gone down.  Austin news stations always let us know what the lake levels are during the year, and we knew it’d been going down.  The bare pieces of land in the middle of the lake was really hit that home.  The lighter-colored edges of the shore also were sections which had been exposed by the lower water levels.  Mum commented that she remembered how full the lake was, and would have to compare the pictures she took today with the ones she had back home (taken back in 2003 on their first visit).

Per normal, we tend to do spontaneous weird shit when we can.  It’s a way to have fun and enjoy ourselves.  That can range from taking pictures of each other taking pictures, lazing around in odd ways enjoying the sun, making funky hand gestures, or using things where we’re visiting as props.  Since there was a shoe-shine stool at the steakhouse, Dad decided to squeeze me for some money.

Once we grabbed some much needed lunch, we shot back over to Round Rock to the Chisholm Trail Park.  I’d taken Mum & Dad there back in the 2007 visit to see the statues of the 1880s pioneers and cattle, the wagon tracks in the river bed, and the actual “round rock” the city is named after.  When we were there, it had been after some heavy rains, and a portion of the road was closed due to high water.  The “round rock” was a island with the water level nearly up to the edge of the circular table-like portion of the rock.  This time, due to the drought, the water level was much lower, so I could climb out to stand on the rock.  Remember, I said we like to do odd things.

We spent a bit more time wandering around the park before heading back to my place.  Since it wasn’t quite dinner time yet, we had an opportunity to walk around the neighborhood park also.  Mum commented that she hadn’t any good brisket this trip yet.  That meant one place we should visit for dinner, as it was a local Austin chain:  Rudy’s “Country Store” & Bar-B-Q.

For those who have never been to Rudy’s before, it is kind of “fast food.”  You want in line until the next available register opens up, and you let them know what you want.  The menu is designed so the patron gets as much as they want (half-pound of moist brisket, quarter-pound of turkey), and the meat is cut to order.  The seating area is filled with long tables with checker-board table clothes, so it’s like you’re at a huge picnic with a bunch of other people.

After eating, when we were heading down Interstate 35 to get the exit which would bring us to my place, we saw a strange dark cloud in the sky.  The sun was getting low, but it wasn’t close to twilight yet.  Holding our hands out at arm’s length against the sky, the cloud was just slightly larger than our palms.  At first we thought it was a huge mass of mosquitoes (as you know, everything’s bigger in Texas).  A few moments later, we realized it was a huge bat colony (as opposed to a colony of huge bats).  These were the Brazilian Free-Tailed bats which come up from Mexico during the spring, and only head back south during the coldest months.

It’s these species of bats Austin has its love affair with, as the original hockey team had been named the “Ice Bats,” and the Congress Ave bridge downtown was designed to be a bat roost.  It was a spectacular sight for my parents to see on their last night here before getting them on their plane for Dunnellon, Florida (roughly equal distance between Gainesville and Tampa) so they could continue their vacation.

More information can be found on the places we visited at:

            Mansfield Dam:  http://www.lcra.org/water/dams/mansfield.html

Steiner Ranch Steakhouse:  www.steinersteakhouse.com

Chisholm Trail Park:  http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/home/index.asp?page=1529

Rudy’s:  http://www.rudys.com/page/location/name/bbq-round%20rock

Brazilian Free-Tailed Bats:  http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/brazilfreetailbat/

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