Karen visits Austin

Karen was in Austin for a short 2-day visit, sharing time with Jane (and her family) and with us. We covered a lot of ground: visited and bought barbecue at both Smitty’s and Black’s in Lockhart, went to the Broken Spoke, took the kids swimming, had a nice view of Lake Travis from a table at the Iguana Grill, went on a tour of the Collings Guitar factory, played five-handed hearts, and visited two Texas State Parks: Pedernales Falls and McKinney Falls. Imagine what we could do with four days!

We took a few pictures:

Swimming

Collings Guitars – the guide said this guitar, when finished, would cost about $10,000. And that it was underpriced; considering the amount of manual labor and the competitors’ prices for similar products, it should be priced at about $17,000.

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At McKinney Falls on a hot Saturday afternoon, there were quite a few swimmers.

Visit Pedernales Falls State Park

This morning we went to Pedernales Falls State Park, about 45 minutes west of Austin. In much of the park, you can walk near or along the river, but there is a $500 fine for wading or swimming in the river. In a calmer portion of the park/river, swimming and wading are permitted. These two pictures are from the no-wading portion.

Austin Table Tennis Club

When I retired I started playing ping-pong (aka table tennis) seriously. Austin has a nice club that has 16 tables and is open several days each week. If you play - seriously - and want to play me in Austin or Roanoke, feel free to contact me.

Memorial Day Picnic

On May 31 we had a picnic dinner with Jane, Eric, Ben, and Mary.

It was in a park just south of the Mansfield dam. The park was near the lake/river, and had picnic tables, a playground, a wandering dog, and flies aplenty. They all had a good time, as did the humans.