DAY 53 - AUSTIN

  Alice, our guide extraordinaire, took us on an 11 hour tour of Austin!!  First we walked on the hike and bike path, then we drove out to Lake Travis and had lunch at The Oasis overlooking the lake. Even though it was a cloudy day, we enjoyed the great views of the lake. After lunch we drove back to town and around the University of Texas campus where we saw the tower from which Clarles Whitman shot students and then had a great tour of the Capitol Building, learning about Texas history and government.  The legislature meets only every other year!  Next was a short visit to South Austin where we went into a few eclectic shops before going to a Tex-Mex restaurant for an early dinner.   Our day was capped off with a boat ride on the lake to see the Mexican Freetail Bats emerge from under the Congress St Bridge at dusk. It was incredible. There are 750,000 pregnant females who arrive in March and live in the numerous cracks in the bridge. Every evening they leave in a black swarm to hunt for food, and people line the bridge and take boat tours to watch them. In August the babies will be born, and the number will double!!  On our way back to the car we were on the hiking trail and came across a girl who had tripped and either fractured or badly sprained her ankle. She did not have her cell phone and did not know her boyfriend's phone number, so we helped get her to the hotel where we parked and then drove her home. Another opportunity for a good deed.