Out Back Austin: 6.13.12 Greenbelt Blues

A complete day off and with us hitting Blues on the Green tonight I thought Ky and I could go check out the Barton Creek Greenbelt. I had been wanting to check it out for some time now. We parked by Barton Creek Springs and went out from there on the trail. We immediately found a hidden spot to get wet. With all the snakes I am hearing about lately the area made me nervous. But we splashed around snake free for a minute then headed on the path. I have to say it was really hot. I felt bad for Ky. We went quite a ways and all I could see of the creek was that is was swampy and algaeish. Not enough water for us to play in. We also so several birds and lots of frogs. After a while of sweltering heat we passed some guys walking the opposite way and I asked them if there was some water reprieve up ahead and they agreed that there was about half a mile further. So we trekked on. Soon after we ended up in a more shaded area that included large rocky areas that looked good for climbing.

I would say that we only went about a quarter of a mile before we found a spot that was spring fed and looked like some secret watering hole off the path. There was a homeless guy and a bunch of kids. The kids were jumping off some small cliffs. We got int he water for a bit to cool off. While we were there a cute guy pulled up on his bike and he was stopping for a rest. After just a few minutes of talking with him I realized he was a little strange so Ky and I went further along the path to see if we could find anymore hidden spots. We finally came to a place where the water was mostly dried up. There were cliffs on the far side and there was a hollowed out spot close to the top where some guys were hanging out in lawn chairs. Ky and I made our way over some very large rocks and followed a large flat rock a ways before I decided we should probably try and head back so we weren't late for the concert.

So we turned around and headed back the way we came. Stopping again to cool off at the not so secret pond (by now there were more people.) On our way back we ended up following a guy whose dog wanted to play with Ky. He didn't seem to want them to play so we kept having to hang back to stay far enough away that the dogs weren't trying to meet up.

We got back to the Jeep to take a break and change clothes.

I started getting calls from everyone that they were getting to the park so we went over to where we had sat the last time. Xander and I went over to one of the booths so he could try and win a bag for his mom. I went and got my face painted it took a while and didn't look like much but I liked it. We sat and listened to the music. Ky found a puppy friend next to us. The only problem was Ky's butt kept ending up in the puppy's owners food. Xander played with Ky a bit. Manny, Patrick and Liz were also there too. It seems when I have Ky with me I end up watching her more than talking to people but then again without her I think I talk to people less.