A Day at Austin's "Beach"

One of the main things Toby and I were worried about when we were moving to Austin was that it was not on the coast therefore there were no beaches. With both of us growing up near the water we were accustomed to water activities and we wanted to keep it that way.

After some good research and help from a friend of Toby's who used to live in Austin, we found out that Austin is full of water. The Colorado River runs right through the city. There has actually turned out to be more water access here than I even imagined. You can swim in most of the lakes and creeks here. Mobile has alot of water surrounding it, but who in the world wants to swim in the Mobile Bay or Dog River??

There was another discovery Summer and I made while swimming in the springs today. There is no sand to stick to you, there is no salty stickiness after swimming..hence, making the sand stick to you, there are no creatures in the water waiting to attack i.e. jellyfish, crabs, sharks, etc.

Although it was a very hot day, the natural spring fed pool at Barton was still freezing. Summer was chattering non-stop but she didn't let the cold water stop her.

Here are some pics of the pool. Make note that this is not a regular pool. It is a natural pool so it has algae, plant life, salamanders, and fish swimming around in it.

I tried to get a shot of the whole pool but it's too big. I can only get a section at a time.



Here is Toby about to take a dive off the diving board.