Friends, Trails, and Other Stuff

We got some good news this morning. We have some friends, Alan and Jo Hunter, who are heading for Texas, Austin to be specific, from England, arriving tomorrow evening. Peggy and I made their acquaintance about three years ago when they were here in Austin for a short time and now, it apprears they may be staying a while since they have a five year visa. Here, you may take a look at their blog and, if you want to see one of the most comprehensive collections of aircraft photos in exsistance, take a look at the Futurshox web site. Here is a link to my RV-6 , on the futurshox web site. That is me in the left seat and Jo in the right. This was taken at a small gathering we had at the Lago Vista airport a few years ago during their first visit. The occasion was the first flight since restoration of Lyle Alexander's 1936 Rearwin Sportster. If you want to look around for more photos of the event on the Futurshox web site you will find a couple more photos of my RV-6 and maybe a couple more of one of my old Tri-Pacers.

Been getting in some good running since getting moved into downtown Austin. I generally head out west on Barton Springs Rd. along the south side Zilker Park until I get to Mopac, then north under the bridge to get on the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail. From there I go east on the trail to the Lamar Street bridge where I get off the trail and use the sidewalks for the short run back to Pecan Grove. Takes about 35 or 40 minutes to make the circuit.


Here, on the left, is a view of the Lamar Street bridge from the trail.












On the right is a photo of the foot bridge across the Colorado River which, at this point along it's course to the Gulf of Mexico, is called Town Lake.


Below, I am including a photo of the Capitol taken from the Hike and Bike Trail from just west of the Lamar Street bridge. In fact the Lamar Street Bridge is visible in the lower part of the photo just below the capitol dome.


I think the trail system in Austin is probably one of the best in the nation. It is definitely one of the top reasons we enjoy living downtown so much. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department maintains over 50 miles of well surfaced, scenic trails in Austin. The one we use most often is the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail which is 10.1 miles in length.