Yesterday we went to the lake and Joel joined us with his out of town visitor, Chris. We sailed up to the basin and back. Winds gusting in the high 20’s & low 30’s made for a great day.
This is a shot of Kurt & Kevin on Dancer, who sailed along with us for the day.
We’ve been busy! This past weekend, we made a roadtrip out to west, stopping first at William Chris Winery, where we caught up with a friend of ours that we ran into, by chance; then we hopped over to Wildseed Farms to pickup a bunch of seed; then made it over to one of our faves, Becker Vineyards, where we had a tasting, a picnic, and checked out their new field of zinnias. Just beautiful.
On the way home we headed over to the Real Ale Brewery in Blanco. We took the river road south/southeast from Hwy 290 to Blanco, and stopped along the way several times to check out the now lazy river that was uncontrollably raging just 4 months ago, tragically sweeping away homes and families over Memorial Day weekend.
At Real Ale, Monte sampled a flight, and I sipped my favorite – Hans Pils.
Then Sunday rolled around, and we headed out to see the Anderson Mill historical site, near its original location at Cypress Creek on Lake Travis. The Anderson Mill Gardeners do a wonderful job of preserving the site and its history.
We made it to the boat in time to cheer the Seahawks on to their first win of the season, enjoying the recently repaired air conditioning on Nirvana (yay!).
About an hour before sunset, Kurt, Barbara, Dakota and little Leila joined us on the boat, and we motored out to the body of the lake to drift and watch the supermoon lunar eclipse.
Have I mentioned taking photos of the moon and stars on a moving boat is hard? I didn’t get any good shots. But I thought this one was kinda cool… you get the idea.
It was a great weekend, indeed.
Yesterday was pleasantly windy – 15+ knots. So we set out for the lake and met up with Lori & Joe on Camelot, and Kurt & Kevin on Dancer, for a long sail towards the dam. We managed to weave our way through the Austin Yacht Club regattas, and made it to Mansfield Dam Park and turned around. What a marvelous day! We had a slip up and talked all night with Lori & Joe. Just like old times. I miss the rest of the gang! 🙂
Here’s a shot of Camelot on the way back.
We had alot of fun with Fran and Rachel this week. The house is guest-free again. Well, except for the parrot we are house sitting. 🙂
We enjoyed a fun weekend on the lake – Saturday’s sunset:
We spent Labor Day down by Zilker Park and paddling on Ladybird Lake. A friendly swan:
The paddling scene:
Then we threw some lambburgers and hamburgers on the grill to celebrate the holiday.
A short work week is a busy work week. I didn’t make time to post til now. I’ll try to not be so slow with my updates. Have a great weekend!
Well, mostly the river taketh away.
It’s a risk we deal with, spending so much time playing on the water. And, it so happens that this past weekend I lost yet another pair of prescription sunglasses. I was helping put up a friend’s wind scoop on the bow and the wind whipped things up and the next thing I knew they were sinking below the surface of the lake. I summarily jumped in to try to grab them, but to no avail.
I lost a different pair of prescription Raybans on the San Marcos rapids a few years ago. Monte lost a pair of prescription glasses there, too. A friend lost their wedding band on the same rapids. I’ve lost three favorite hats, a towel, and know of at least one bathing suit top and diamond earring sitting at the bottom of the lake. And, amazingly, we lost our entire flag and flagpole that was flying off our transom – on the Fourth of July, no less! It happens so frequently that we keep a Lost Sh#t Log on the boat.
But every once in a while, the river gives back. About 10 years ago, I lost a pair of prescription eyeglasses in the lake. One minute they were sitting on the cabin-top while I tightened my pony tail. The next minute they were gone. Over the following few years the lake alternately rose and dropped. Until, about 3 years after I lost them, the lake was finally low enough that the place where we anchored the day I lost my glasses was high and dry. So one Saturday morning, I announced that I was going back to that part of the cove to look for my glasses. And I did. I combed that dry cove for an hour or two. I found a snorkel, swim goggles, a swim fin, numerous pieces of fishing tackle, several pairs of sun glasses, a hat, an anchor, lots of trash, AND my lost-for-three-years eyeglasses!
They were sun-bleached and cruddy and one ear piece had broken off. But there they were! I can’t bring myself to throw them away. So they sit in a drawer until I take them out for a chuckle every once in a while.
🙂
When rafting up with friends on Lake Travis, we invented this game to amuse ourselves – everyone takes turns playing a song from their iPod that they think is awesome. We pass the plug from one person to the next. You strive for a song that others will agree is awesome. Some songs take people down their own memory lane, some are just funny, some songs everyone sings along to, some are songs other people never heard before. It’s a great way to pass the time, under the stars, on a boat, with friends, slightly impaired, at anchor, off the grid, into the wee hours of the morning. Here’s the typical scene.
Awesome! 🙂
Pre-dawn today was to be the peak of the annual Perseids meteor shower. So last night after work, and after the rush hour traffic had subsided, we headed to the marina. We anchored in the cove after sunset and made comfy spots on deck to lay down and watch the stars.
The best time is typically between 1AM and 4AM. There was no moon to interfere. We just had to wish away the partly-cloudiness that arrived with sunset. And the clouds did clear up and we saw the first burner by about 10:30. More clouds came. And then the sky became crystal clear around 12:30. We were treated to a nice show – dozens this year. Star gazing on a boat does not lend itself to photographing meteors, so I have no awesome pics to share.
Even if we hadn’t seen any meteors, sleeping under the stars and this morning’s sunrise would have made it all worth the trip out.
Now…off to work!
We enjoyed a slow day at the lake. Anchored in our spot and had the cove to ourselves by nightfall.
For the last week and a half, Monte and I hosted his family’s bi-annual reunion. We started out with a big 3-day weekend, enjoying reconnecting and having fun at the house and in the backyard with 21 of our relatives that came from pretty much every corner of the country. Then, for the next week, ten of the family that could stay longer came to stay with us at the house. We packed it with as much food and fun as we could. It was really a special, wonderful time. Sailing, floating, grilling, cornhole, homemade pasta, bimini ring game, barbeque, card games, homemade pizza, geocaching, karaoke, low-country boil, gardening, sno-cones, sightseeing, even taking part in our neighborhood’s 4th of July parade. Over the last few days, our party dwindled until it was just four of us yesterday. We set out for the lake and sailed to Starnes Island to anchor up and watch the fireworks show. It didn’t disappoint. We squeezed every bit of fun out of the time spent with everyone.
Today we said goodbye to the last two revellers. It’s just our flock now. The house is quiet.
I leave you with two shots from the fireworks last night — here’s to family!
A glimpse of the beautiful sunset last night.
Today the lake is lapping close to 665′. How amaze-balls is that??!!! The forecast has settled down enough for us to plan a night out. And it is amazing. The lake is up 45’+ and we are anchored up in a cove we could only look at on maps 2 weeks ago. Thank you! 
Kurt & Kevin joined us a little while ago. Who else is in?!!
We headed out to the lake yesterday. The rains have FINALLY been falling over the basin that flows into Lake Travis. We have been watching the LCRA lake levels like kids in a candy store. The lake is up to over 648′ today! which is up about 25′ from where it has been stuck for the last few years. We still want more – 30 more feet and brimming would be nice – but boy was it thrilling to see. I actually felt my heart rejoice. 🙂
The band of grey, exposed limestone is thinner now. Sometimes Islands are islands again! I’m glad I spent one afternoon walking the length of the peninsula while it was exposed earlier this year.
Our marina has moved half of its dock back to shore. All of the ramps for the letter docks are floating. And one of our boat ramps is usuable again. We went for a sail with Kurt and Kevin. We saw alot of debris in the water. And alot of these….. balls of red ants floating in the lake. Beware folks, you do NOT want to swim into one of these!
We anchored in our cove and spent the afternoon marvelling over how great it was to finally have our lake back. 🙂
Oh, and…. i want one of these:
We enjoyed a lovely night on the hook. We cooked up some grilled red peppers, chicken poblano sausages and rice.
We’re spoiled now…used our phone as a wireless hotspot and then streamed shows off of amazon prime on TV down below until we both fell asleep. Not exactly roughing it. 🙂
This morning I paddled for quite a while then went ashore to scrub 6 months of gunk from the bottom of the kayak. I also checked on some geocaches I’d hidden nearby. All good.
Pretty sights: 
Tonight Kurt will join us for another night in the cove. An almost full moon should light things up.
We hightailed it out of town after work. The sunset from the back deck:
Sheila365 