Here we are at the Natural Gardener again. If you recall I did part one and then took a Fourth of July parade break. There are a lot of photos but few words. (Thank you, John) I hope you enjoy the stroll.

As a reminder, here is a map of the place – huge.

Natural rainwater station.

Tropical plant hut.

Tropical plant eater.

Herb garden

Babbling brook. (man made)

One kind of reptile habitat.

And a reptile more worrisome than snakes.

Plants to buy.

Lady bug hut.

Goat pen.

Chicken house.

Bird watering hole.

Yard sculpture.

Yellow submarine

Receiving department.

Guitar garden.

Handmade Gazebo.

Rock labyrinth

Interesting words about the labyrinth.

Budda.

Shed with a theme. (employees only)

I hope you enjoyed the walk around. A lot to see and sorry for so many photos.

Since this week was the Fourth. I thought you would enjoy some of the sights and sounds of the Lakeway Fourth of July parade. There were over 100 entries in the parade so I was forced to edit the numbers of photos. There are still way too many but sometimes it was hard to cut.

Mounted police to begin

The first responder honor guard

The grand marshall Astronaut Navy Captain (Ret) Kenneth Cockrell

Austin Mounted police

Utility float.

A representative of the business floats

The parade honors the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

A bloodmobile

Cub scouts.

Vintage cars.

Hot rods.

Lakeway precision beach chair drill team.

Golf carts with flags from all fifty states

Viet Nam veterans

In honor of the fallen warriors

The Chick-Fil-A cow was there

As was HEB (A Texas Food Store chain).

Band members riding not playing.

We love the bookmobile.

The final picture is a reminder of the Apollo 11 mission.

Today we are visiting the Mansfield Dam, which is close to the neighborhood. Mansfield Dam is 278 feet (85 m) high, 7,089 feet (2 km) long, and 213 feet (65 m) thick at the base. The concrete gravity dam was designed to control flooding. Built on the Colorado River by the Lower Colorado River Authority it stores 369 billion US gallons of water and generates 108 megawatts of power. The lake formed by the dam is Lake Travis. The Spillway Elevation is 714 feet above sea level. LCRA begins to open floods gates when water reaches 681 feet above sea level. At 681 feet above MSL, discharge capacity exceeds 130,000 cubic feet per second as the lake rises. Construction was begun in 1937 and completed in 1941. It is named after Joseph Mansfield who was in the house of Representatives for thirty years and chaired the Rivers Committee.

I hope you like the tour.

A monument to Joseph Mansfield.

I had not thought of bringing my drone, but it would have been in vain had I thought of it.

There was a highway that went across the top of the dam. Traffic got too heavy for these two lanes, so another bridge was built.

I would have loved to get a shot up and down the river, but no trespassing.

Razor wire and I don’t get along so I’ll heed the sign.

A shot of the dam, river, and highway bridge.

A little bit of a view of Lake Travis formed by the dam.

A turbine fan on display. It stands about eight feet tall.

A different view of the dam to give you an idea of the expanse.

This is a shot from a road that runs below the Dam. This was as close as I could get.

Here is what the Colorado River looks like downstream from the dam. The water flows out of one spillway and continues down the river. On the banks is a residential area with water access points. That is a group of kayakers in the background.

The river, dam, duck, man, and his dog

I took this shot since it seemed odd to me that that guy had not jumped from the bridge. If you are going to violate one rule, why not break them all?

Thank you for coming along.

This week I thought it would be fun to go and visit the Country Clubs that are in Lakeway. Not that I would join any, but I thought it would be fun to go and see what they looked like.

The first is named Yupon. Here is a shot of a fairway with some golf carts on it.

This is the outdoor eating and drinking area. The practice tees are in the background.

This is a shot of the clubhouse lounge. (A step back to the ’60s for sure.)

Here is the pro shop.

The next is Flintrock Falls. Unfortunately, I was stopped at the gate and couldn’t enter. W. C. Fields comment came to mind. “If a club would have me as a member, it’s not worth joining.” Maybe this one is worth joining.

The next is The Hills of Lakeway. This is a shot of the putting green.

This is a photo of the entrance.

Looks like a wedding later.

A shot of the bar and casual dining area

The fifteenth tee.

This water lies between the 18th fairway and the green. I imagine there are a ton of waterlogged balls in there.

The 18th green.

The 18th Green looking back toward that water.

 

I hope you enjoyed the little trip.

Today our walk through the neighborhood will be spent at the Hamilton Greenbelt. I hope you brought your walking shoes and enjoy the stroll.

Here is the entrance to the Greenbelt.

The land and perpetual care for the Greenbelt was donated by Lakeway residents Jack and Myrtle Hamilton who lived in Lakeway from 1975 to 1993. The Greenbelt was opened in 1990.

A broad view of a man-made pond.

The close-up view of the same pond.

Abundant wildflowers and photo spots. Here are bluebonnets.

A sign warning of ants and snakes. Rather deal with an ant than a snake.

Lovely crushed granite paths and more flowers.

These markers are here in case you get lost or hurt you can identify to responders where you are. (Good idea to carry a phone)

I thought the sun through the trees illuminating the cactus bed was peaceful. Too bad I don’t have a $1000.00 camera with filter for a better shot.

A little wall for sitting and contemplation.

More paths and flowers.

A lovely bed of Iris.

An oak that was an acorn during the revolutionary war.

These little white flowers are also in our yard. I wonder what they are?

Here is a location map. We only walked a small portion today. We will come back for the waterfall and other features some other time. Thanks for walking with me.