Sun Nov 9th - Duck adventure / Fun in the city

Sun Nov 9th - Duck adventure / Fun in the city

2014-from Safaris to  Duckboats!!! All FUN!!

Duck beaks - Ready to terrorize Asutin

Texas State Capital Austin

And IN WE GO!!

UHHH.... HELP!We're stuck out here!!!

On our way finally!

So the rich and famous live here!! But no privacy!!

Some are living the high life on Lake Austin!!

This paddle trimaran looks fun!!

Top of Tom Miller Dam, Lake Austin

What a great day. We booked to go on a Duck adventure tour with Lisa and Mike.. but the day ended up to be so much more. We all packed into the truck and drove into the city, with plan A and plan B all set for a lunch spot before our tour at 2pm... but Plan A restaurant was closed and Plan B restaurant was lined up out of the door, so we opted for the non-existent plan C and ended up at 'Champion Sports bar". Great spot for a quick bite before boarding the 'duck boat', which is an amphibious bus (drives on roads and navigates the water). Upon boarding we were all issued a yellow duck-bill shaped duck-call whistle which we (well Janice anyway) blew with the great delight reserved for 5 year-olds, at all and sundry people on the streets.
The tour around the city before entering the water was interesting and informative, then we proceeded to the ramp and floated away into the lake, after about 5 Looooong minutes our driver / captain finally managed to engage the propeller. Up to that point we thought we were in for a real adventure… you know ……bus load of tourists rescued from lake by helicopter or something like that!!!! It was a great trip with some lovely lakeside properties.

Back on dry Land

Mini do-nut fans

Shipping container bar

After the tour Lisa and Mike guided us to Rainey St area of Austin which is the 'in' place for eclectic bars/restaurants etc all housed in tiny old houses / food trucks or in one case a bar made from shipping containers all welded together in various positions... very funky! We started our walk through by getting freshly made cinnamon mini-donuts from Lucy's tiny donut truck... addicitive!!! One bar had a fabulous 9 member Ska group called NightOwls... excellent. 

Inside container bar.. containers are lounges etc

NightOwl ska band - great

Good times, good friends!

Beautiful View from Mt Bonnell

On our way back 'home' we went up Mount Bonnell road to see a fabulous vista of the Colorado River and the gorgeous homes on the banks. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Bonnell). We were all getting a bit hungry so we got back to the RV resort, parked the truck, and hopped on Lisa and Mike's fun 'golf cart' to go to the local Mexican retsuarant by the resort (Los Pinos)... the complimentary tortilla chips and homemade Salsa are delicious (but spicy)... Chicken Nachos are a definite 'sharezee' plate. 
What a great day full of laughs, giggles, and good memories.  thx Lisa and Mike!!