Longhorn Caverns

A great way to beat the heat during the dog days of summer is to go underground!  Longhorn Caverns State Park is a little over an hour away from Austin in Marble Falls. 

Longhorn Caverns is one of the few caves made from a rushing underground river.  Most caves in the area are made from dripping water from above. 

The result is that this cave has some different formations than those found in other caverns in the area: domed holes from whirlpools, architecture that is more flowing and fewer stalagmites.

The cave also has a very colorful history, having been used as a tavern, chapel, Indian burial ground, weapons locker and bomb shelter!

We have been twice this year, and both times found the tour guide friendly, entertaining and informative.  Strangely enough, with different tour guides, the tour differed enough that we didn't feel like we were repeating the experience.

We took the Daily tour - an entertaining hour-and-a-half, three-quarter mile underground hike out and back. 

However, the caverns offer some speciality tours that I would love to return and take. For children over 11, it has the Wild Cave Tour which goes into less accessible places and requires helmet, knee pads and flashlight.  There is also an evening paranormal tour once a month.  Supposedly the cavern is haunted, and the evening tours occur at night and sound pretty fun and spooky!

After we left, we headed back through Marble Falls and stopped at Bluebonnet Cafe for lunch.  This was our first time eating there, and it was a treat.  We enjoyed the Hot Roast Beef sandwich, but the highlight was the huge selection of pies!

Tips and Thoughts

The tours seem to run every hour.  You can call ahead and make reservations, or you can just show up. 

We arrived at 11:30 and were assigned to the noon tour.  With a little extra time to spend, we explored the observation tower on the premises.  There is also an interactive museum next door that details the works of the CCC.  We did not make it into the museum, as the kids were totally enarmored with the magnets in the gift shop!

The tour fee is $12.99 for adults and $7.99 for children.  In addition to the tour, the tour leaders do accept tips, so bring a few spare dollars to thank your tour guide when you leave.

No food or drink is allowed in the cavern, but you may bring in a water bottle.

If you are looking to make a whole day of it, Inks Lake is just a mile or so down the road, and a fun place to spend the rest of the afternoon!

Splash Night at Deep Eddy

What could be better than relaxing in the cool waters of Deep Eddy, Texas' oldest swimming pool?  Relaxing in the cool waters while watching a movie :o)

Deep Eddy is just about as Austin as Austin can get!

The pool is divided into two sections. 

There is a very large wading area that is perfect for kids and waders. 

There is also a deeper section (up to 8 feet) with swim lanes and a recreational area that is perfect for jumping! 

A concrete barrier divides the two. 

The water from the pool is as natural as Austin. It is pumped in from a hand-dug well and is non-chlorinated. 

Every over night, all of the water is pumped out of one side of the pool, the pool floor is washed and in the morning new water is pumped in!

 During the summer, Deep Eddy hosts Splash Nights with a family-friendly movie shown on a large blow-up movie screen.  Viewers can watch from the grassy slope or lounge on a float in the pool.  

We had a great time, one of our boys spent most of the movie in the water, the other sat wrapped in a warm towel for the latter half. 

Afterwards, pumped up from a good night, we decided to make it even later by grabbing a late night pizza from Mangia, located right outside the pool!

Tips and thoughts:

You'll want to bring floats to watch the movie, but also a blanket and/or camp chair.  Hard to believe in this incredibly hot summer, but the pool can get a little cold at night, and it is nice to have a spot to dry off.

The movie begins when it gets dark; around 8:50 when we were there, so it is a late night.  We didn't leave until 10:30 last Saturday.  Parents of young children with early bed times may want to forewarn their children if they don't expect to stay and watch the whole movie.

Spots on the grassy slope begin to fill up around 7:30, so come a little early if you want to be assured of a good spot.

There is no extra charge for the movie, the standard City of Austin fee of $3 for adults and $1 for children

**As of last Saturday, there is only one remaining Splash Night on August 4th - where the city is showing the movie Tangled.  Check it out if you can!

Rock N River Family Aquatic Center

Today, we headed north to Round Rock to enjoy their Rock n River Aquatic Center.  This is basically a pool on steroids! 

The park is run by the City of Round Rock, so the prices are very reasonable - $5.50 for adults, $4.50 for children, with a dollar discount for residents.

For older children, one draw of the park is the two large curving slides.  Children must be 48 inches or they cannot go down them (and this seems to be pretty strongly enforced). Today the line was long to ride the slides, but it seemed to go pretty quickly.

There is also a nice water playground with slides and entertainment for younger children.  It also has a beach area with small fountains.  This is great for very small children, as they can sit comfortably in the water while moms sits close by.

For my kids, the favorite was the lazy river.  In fact, they spent all day going around and around.  Some times in a tube, sometimes just drifting, and occasionally sharing a tube.  The only time the left the water was for a short lunch break :o)

A Day at Mckinney Falls State Park

Yesterday we threw our bikes in the car, packed up a picnic lunch and put on our swim suits to spend the day at McKinney Falls State Park.

We arrived early (around 10am), and it was still cool enough for a nice bike ride. 

The Onion Creek Hike and Bike trail is a three mile asphalt path around the perimeter of the park.  We are not expert bikers, so this was a perfect distance for us.  The trail was mostly shaded, so it wasn't too warm, and it had some nice benches to stop along the way.  I have a road bike with thin tires, and I was a little nervous going over the rough spots, but on a typical hybrid or mountain bike, this trail would be absolutely no problem!

After we finished our bike ride, we packed our water bottles and headed down to the Lower McKinney Falls.  It is about a half mile hike to get to the lower falls from the Upper Fall parking lot.  There is a hidden path to the right of the lower falls to get down to the "beach" area at the bottom of the falls.  The boys had a wonderful time digging in the rocks, catching frogs and attempting to catch the huge pollywogs.

After about an hour, we packed up to go.  Although on previous visits we have taken the long hike around the homestead, we were hungry and hot, and decided instead to head back to the car for lunch.  But if you've never taken the homestead trail, on a cooler day, it is very pretty!

Right above the upper falls are some nice shaded picnic tables that were perfect for lunch. 

After we ate, we traipsed across the falls and down to the beach area of the Upper Falls, where we hung out for another hour or so.

Some thoughts and tips:  Right now both falls are just a trickle, but the water is still moving.   Due to the warm water and drought, I have made the rule that the boys can get in the water up to their chin, but they cannot get their head wet (meningitis is just scary!).  The park takes a water sample every week, and as of this week, the bacteria levels are within safe levels, but it never hurts to be careful!

Also, we did not bring our fishing gear, but there are some nice fishing spots along the Onion Creek Trail.  Next time, we will be sure to bring our rods!

Definitely bring lunch and lots of water.  The hike down to the lower falls is short enough that a backpack with lunch supplies wouldn't be too cumbersome.

Finally, there is a nice visitor center near the Upper Falls parking lot.  The center is closed mid-week, but on previous visits we have stopped in and had a good time.

 

Peter Pan and Pease Park

For our most recent outing, the boys chose to spend the morning playing mini-golf, followed by an outing to a sprinkler park. 

And for mini-golf, our favorite location is Peter Pan mini golf just south of the river.

How can you not love a place that has been around for 65 years? 

Peter Pan is just about as old school as it gets.  There are no electronic moving parts, it doesn't glow in the dark, there are no light-up obstacles, but it is still lots of fun. 

 

It's two 18-hole courses have a collection of fairy tale characters, a loop-de-loop and a huge dinosaur to putt under. 

We've been coming here for a number of years and we were pleased to see it had recently gotten a new face-lift. 

All of the obstacles have received bright new paint jobs.  And we weren't quite sure, but it seemed like even some of the obstacles were different than last year?

Each course takes about an hour to complete, and you can choose whether you want to do just one or both (with a discount on the second).  And after the completion of the course, Peter Pan offers snowcones for a dollar a cone!  Pretty awesome!

It has been our tradition to head over to Butler Park after we finished both courses... But since the boys and I have already been to Butler Park a number of times this year, we decided to try something new.

I haven't been to Pease Park in years, but I had recently read that the park had a new splash pad, so I thought we'd check it out. 

As we pulled up, I saw the small concrete pad and limited number of fountains and was a little worried.  This clearly was a park for younger children.  I figured we'd eat our picnic lunch, pack up and try a new location.  But after arriving, the kids really wanted to get wet.  So I let them play for a bit.

And as often happens, 'a bit' turned into an hour.  Then they wanted to climb down to the creek bed below the splash pad.  There they spent another hour catching frogs, minnows and feeding the birds bread. 

We then checked out the playground for half an hour or so.  The playground was nicely divided with a section for younger children and one for older.  And it had one of the largest collection of swings that we've seen in awhile.

The kids' attention was then drawn to a group of older men who were playing an unfamilar game.  It turns out they were from the French Legation and they were playing Patanque - a game that seemed (to me) similar to horseshoes. 

The men were very friendly, explaining that the group frequently hosts the game at the park, open to all bystanders.  We watched for about ten minutes, until I looked at the clock and realized it was time to go.  Some how, our 'little bit' turned into three hours.  :o)

Peter Pan Tips and thoughts:  We always try to get to Peter Pan early, as the course gets uncomfortably hot in the afternoon.  As another option, they are open late, and you can play after the sun has gone done.

If you are only going to do one 18-hole course, the west course is more challenging than the east course.

Blues on the Green

KGSR's Blues on the Green may be in their 21st year, but this was our first time going. 

We arrived downtown around 7pm, but traffic was so heavy that it took us twenty minutes to get into the park.  We parked in the grass lot right under the Mopac bridge for $3.

The music had already started by the time we had collected our stuff and started walking toward the stage, but finding a place to sit was no problem. 

I wasn't sure what to expect, but this is Austin, so expect just about anything.  To my left was a group of twenty year olds drinking beer and loving the sounds.  To my right was a woman who came by herself with her three dogs.  Ahead of me were two families with their toddlers.  And ahead of them was a woman with her young baby - sporting huge Bose-style headphones.  I guess she wanted to hear the music, but didn't want it to be too loud for her baby :o)

We enjoyed the drop of evening while listening to the music and eating from the trailers along the side.  They had a wide selection of food: Salt Lick, Kirby Lane, Burgers, Gatti's pizza and the prices were really pretty reasonable.  My kids' favorite was the frozen bananas! 

Tips and thoughts:  The web site says you can bring two factory sealed bottles of water with you.  In reality, you can bring just about anything you want.  I saw people rolling along huge coolers filled with every assortment of food and drink. 

Parking is a bit far from the park, so make whatever you bring portable.  If you have kids, bring a ball or frisbee - light-up ones if you can find them! Towards the back, the music is not as loud, and there is room for them to run and play.  And definitely bring a blanket or chairs to sit on the grass.

But most of all, if you are hesitant about going (like I was), I suggest just trying it out.  Since the concert is free and the parking fee minimal, you can go for an hour, try it out, and leave whenever the family is ready!

Decker Lake

K has really gotten into fishing recently and we were looking for a different lake to try out.  A couple of online sites with information about fishing with kids recommended trying Walter E Long Lake (previously and still locally known as Decker Lake.)

 The only other time I have been to Decker lake was for a triathlon a few years ago.  Then, I hadn't really been focused on the fishing :o) So this was a sort of new place for us!

Overall, the lake isn't incredibly pretty.  It has a left and right wing, with picnic tables and shore access to the lake and in the main area there is a boating dock and fishing pier.  I didn't notice any restrooms.

From previous experience I know that the area around this lake (skirting the exterior of the park) is very nice for bike riding.  The roads are wide and there is a very little traffic.  There is a nice ten or so mile route around the lake that is scenic and enjoyable.

While the lake touts that swimming is available, the shallow mud would make for a pretty squishy wade, and I'm not sure it would be my top pick of swimming holes.

But, the lake is stacked with bass once a year, so there is a chance of snagging a larger fish to take home.  Though, to be honest, I haven't a clue what I'd do with it, if K ever did catch a big fish! ;">

After we drove around a bit, we decided to try out the pier and docks.  K did manage to catch a total of 10 perch (or bluegills or whatever small fish they were) in about three hours, so he was thrilled!  We chose not to take any home with us :o);

Overall, I'd say this lake is a nice place to fish, bike ride or boat, but I don't know that I'll be adding it to my top 50 list!.